Oak Creek Farm Blends Shared Housing, Hand-Tilled Fields and Weekly Produce Boxes

On a 14-acre farm in Oak Creek, about 15 minutes south of downtown Milwaukee, four people share a house, a workload and a mission: growing food for their neighbors. The operation, called Village Farmstead, blends a working farm with a deliberately close-knit household.

Owner Sara Krohn acknowledges that outsiders may picture a commune. "Yes, kind of. But we wouldn't say it's a commune," she said, describing the setup instead as "a really intentional living situation." She stressed that the residents are adults who take it seriously. "It's definitely not like a party house," she said.

Krohn and her partner, Sam, launched the farm roughly nine years ago. Krohn said its aims are community, food, changing the food system, and eating well while enjoying the work. The farm began by selling at farmers' markets but later shifted to a community-supported agriculture model, known as a CSA.

Under that model, customers subscribe year-round and receive a weekly box of produce whenever fruits and vegetables are in season. The farm grows zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, broccoli, carrots, radishes, turnips, lettuce, peppers, eggplants and more. Krohn said the CSA lets the farm know how much it is growing. "We don't like to have a product that's super perishable and not a plan for moving it out the door," she said.

Nearly everything is done by hand, and the farm has almost no large machinery. Krohn said the choice is not a stance against mechanized agriculture. "We've just set our farm up to use hand tools," she said. The approach also helps volunteers get to work quickly, since they do not need training on heavy equipment.

Alex Stromski, a farmhand, has lived on the property for about a year. He first volunteered on the farm for three years before moving into the house. "No commute. Yeah, it's good work. I love growing food for people," he said. Of the decision to move in, he said that after a few shared meals, "it just felt right."

Life in the three-bedroom house runs on shared routines. Each resident cooks dinner one night a week, and chores rotate. Decisions are made as a group, down to guest invitations. "If somebody wants to have a friend over for dinner, they, like, tell the group before they do that," Krohn said. At one point, nine people lived in the house.

A group of weekly volunteers who live elsewhere also helps out. Amanda John has volunteered for about a year and receives a box of produce in return. She described the work as "another way to zen out" and said she wanted to reconnect with the soil. "Being in the dirt is something that I cherish," she said.

Looking ahead, Krohn said the farm is weighing how to house more people if interest grows, including building an outbuilding with a couple of residences. For now, the focus is on finishing the harvest season.