Greetings from Stade’s Farm and Market!

As you can see we’ve changed our name from Stade Dairy Farm to Stade’s Farm and Market. Reason being, we feel it more accurately describes our farm. At this time, our focus is not so much on dairy is it is on our farm market. We remain a working farm that markets much of its products directly to the consumer. Only our name has changed.

Spring is about to break out. So here is our first newsletter of 2008! We’ve been very busy all winter planning for our 2008 season. Hybrids have been carefully selected, acreages of each crop have been determined, rotations were chosen, pest control programs had to be prepared, and equipment was repaired and maintained. We attended conferences, educational classes, and trade shows to keep us up to date on new technology and conditions in the produce industry. All this we do to bring you the highest quality and most nutritious farm products available. Yes, it’s very demanding, tedious, back breaking, stressful, and sometimes frustrating. But seeing all the smiling faces, hearing all of the positive comments, and receiving numerous e-mails thanking us for what we do makes it all worthwhile! Keep the e-mails coming! Our mission statement is: “To provide healthy homegrown farm products, agricultural education, and fine family entertainment at reasonable prices to our local and surrounding community.”

What a winter we had--record snowfall, severe cold, and even tornadoes! Speaking of tornadoes, our heart goes out to Edwards Apple Orchard in Poplar Grove, IL. They are our friends in the apple growing business who lost all of their buildings to the tornado in early January. Thankfully no one was injured, they are able to rebuild and will continue their wonderful business.

Back to spring! We will begin planting the first week of April if conditions are good. We will plant 5,000 asparagus crowns, 60,000 onion plants, 14,000 strawberry plants, and 4,000 pounds of potatoes. Much of this has to be done by hand! It should take about two weeks. Then in the second half of April we will start the first of many plantings of sweet corn, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, beets, and green beans. In May we plant the crops, which cannot tolerate the frost, such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and melons. We will plant many of the crops several times all the way until August 5. This supplies us with the finest quality produce until the first frost, which occurs approximately October 10th.

We are very excited about our u-pick strawberries. We first put the plants into the soil in April of 2007 and will be ready for harvest in early June and picking should last about a month. Watch our website as we will update you on the progress of this new venture.


Springtime — the renewal of all things. As a farmer of course I look forward to the beginning of the growing season. It starts with the grass turning green after the first warm spring rain. Then the magnolia trees are the first to blossom. The leaves then show on the maples. As I stated in the letter, we start planting onions the first week of April. They are put in as tiny pale, spindly plants and it’s a miracle to watch them turn dark green and grow at an amazing pace. In mid-April the sweet corn seeds are planted and through the miracle of germination, the sweet corn begins to spike through the soil and long green rows appear.

The renewal that I speak of is not only about the physical things on earth, but it is most importantly about our spiritual life. We acknowledge this renewal of our life with a celebration called Easter. About two thousand years ago, Easter Sunday was the day WE were renewed and set free — Forever!!

So this spring when you see that first green grass and those first flowers, be happy not only that winter has finally ended but more importantly that YOU can be renewed and live in peace here and now, and then in paradise forever! All you have to do is believe in God’s ultimate sacrifice.

Happy Easter,
Vern Stade

P.S. Please drive by the farm at night and view our brilliant cross atop our silo 100 feet in the air. You can be renewed!

Also, if you know of anyone who would like to receive this newsletter, have them go to our website and sign up. It’s easy!