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Community Corner

Local Family Turns Farm into Community Affair

Portage River Farm's produce is a highly sought-after commodity for area residents.

Just north of the Livingston County border off Dexter-Pinckney Road is one of the area's newest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms. John "Fox" Adelmann, an automotive engineer by day, and his wife, Janet, a trained accountant, and their three children bought what they've named Portage River Farm in November 2008 and started gardening just for themselves the following year.  

In 2010, the Adelmanns started the CSA on what was then a 20-acre farm and soon expanded it to 30 acres. Last year, 42 families joined the CSA. This year, membership has grown to 85 families with a waiting list, and the plan is to expand again next year.

Portage River Farm grows 140 varieties of vegetables and herbs, raises free-range chickens for eggs, maintains beehives for honey and maple trees for syrup.

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"We want to share the farming experience," said John Adelmann, who grew up in southern Ohio and was inspired by his grandfather, a farmer. "I often am working until 2 a.m. tapping maple trees because it's maple syrup season."  

The Adelmann family runs its CSA right out of their house, which can mean a lot of traffic on distribution days.

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"We get to know a lot of different kinds of people through the CSA," said Adelmann's daughter, Freya Kniaz, 15.

Currently, 55 of the 85 member families volunteer at the farm and get a discount on their membership. They're asked to put in 25 hours of time per year.  

The Adelmanns have a seed-growing area in their basement and a hoop house — a greenhouse with a plastic roof wrapped over flexible piping — that allows them to grow vegetables year-round. They're also building eight root cellars.

The family raises chickens, ducks, goats and mulefoot hogs and hopes to establish a breeding population of the latter, and will soon add turkeys, geese and sheep to the farm.

Janet Adelmann is interested in producing dairy products.

"I have dabbled in cheese-making and hope to have goat shares available soon," she said. "You get the joy of fresh food and get to know your neighbors. It's the people involved that keep me going."  

CSA members come from the Dexter and Ann Arbor areas as well as from Livingston County. Nearly 90 percent of the members live within a 20-mile radius of the farm. The Adelmanns plan to customize each family's interest next year, and in the meantime, they encourage families to leave what they don't want and donate any surplus to the local food bank.  

The Adelmanns are currently caring for a baby goat in their home.

"By bottle-feeding Allie and milking her mother ourselves, we can be assured that all of the mother's milk is extracted and her production stays high," explained Fox Adelmann. "Bottle-feeding Allie also gives us control over what she is eating and the timing of her weaning."  

Aidan Adelmann, 9, said he enjoys living on a farm.

"It's a lot of space to run around," he said. "I used to like store-bought cucumbers, but the stuff here is better-tasting."

Portage River Farm operates its CSA 50 weeks of the year. Once a month, the Adelmanns host a gathering for members, ranging from potluck dinners to square dances to bonfires.

For more information about the Portage River Farm, visit portageriverfarm.com.

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