Changes at Tipi Produce, + Many photos

Folks, we are in transition.  Starting this year, we will only offer on-farm u-picks.  Steve and I are headed toward semi-retirement, and are closing our CSA and wholesale operations.  We will continue growing asparagus, basil, garlic, strawberries, plum tomatoes and rhubarb. 

Our 2026 offerings:
– Organic strawberry u-picks (June).  We are one of the only organic strawberry farms in Wisconsin.
– Organic plum tomato u-picks (late Aug – early Sept).  Garlic and basil will be available too.

Join our u-pick email list to receive notification about u-pick dates.
We plan to offer both weekend and weekday strawberry u-picks, and will continue using a reservation system for the u-picks (at least on the weekends). Our u-picks and reservations will be open to the public this year.

If you are looking for a new CSA farm, we encourage you to explore the FairShare CSA Coalition’s Farm Search page.

FYI, we are still delivering winter produce to these co-ops:

Basics Coop in Janesville, Willy Street Coops in Madison area, Outpost Natural Foods in the Milwaukee area. We are currently delivering carrots, cabbage, beets, celeriac, daikon and other roots. Deliveries will continue until we run out, probably by April.  Don’t worry – we have a good supply of carrots for now.

This is a bittersweet moment for us.

We have loved feeding all of you for so many years. It is our career and passion and life work. Thank you so much for joining us. We were honored to feed you and your families. It is hard to fathom this transition yet it’s time for us to make a change. We will continue living on our farm for the coming years. We expect to begin renting our fields for organic production in 2026 and 2027. 

Thank you for many years of Tipi-loyalty!
See you at the u-picks!
Love,
Beth and Steve.

Photos!

Scroll down for photos collected over the years.

The final carrot harvest

We went out with a bang, harvesting one of our best-ever carrot crops this past fall.  After finishing our mechanical harvests, we left a patch of carrots in the ground until our crew could gather and harvest the last few together.  The final Tipi Produce carrots – it was an emotional moment.

Our 2025 carrot harvest totalled about 125,000 lb.  That’s a good yield and will keep our carrots on co-op shelves until about mid-April.

Our family

Steve and I raised two bright kids here at the farm.  They made good use of their childhoods here!

Maggie and Simone

Believe it or not, Maggie and Simone have worked for us for 29 and 27 years respectively.  Over time, they took on more and more responsibility, becoming field and crew managers.  We even hired Maggie’s daughter, who was born while Maggie worked for us.  We are so grateful for these two; we built this farm together. 

Check out the first two photos, taken about 25 years apart.  In the first one, they are showing off our best neoprene gloves.  In the second photo, well, we are having fun reenacting the first one.

Kerry, Carla, Ken

Let’s acknowledge three other individuals who worked for us for many years, bringing their intelligence, organization and humor.

Has EVERYONE worked for us?

We have employed SO MANY people over the years.  We cannot count them all.  If you have worked for us, get in touch.  We want to gather everyone who worked for us for a reunion this summer.  If you’re not in the photos below, send us one!

Farm history; a few highlights.

Steve helped start the Outpost Natural Foods coop in Milwaukee during the 1970s, and was the coop’s first produce buyer. In time, he decided to try farming himself, beginning on rented or purchased farms before settling on rented land in Fitchburg for 14 years.  Selling at the Dane County Farmers Market was an important outlet in the early years.

I (Beth) moved to the farm in 1996, we started a family, and purchased our own farm near Evansville in 2001. We made a lot of investments and grew the farm, starting our CSA program in 2004.  The farm grew, the family grew and it all worked out.

Farmers of the Year

In 2016 we were honored as the MOSES Farmers of the Year for the Midwest.  That was a true high point!

All the Eaters!

Thank you all for eating our food, whether you bought direct from us or through a local natural foods store!  This is a tiny sampling of photos.  It was difficult to narrow down this photo album.

Collaborations

We have been happy to collaborate with scientists from UW/Madison and seed companies many times, hosting research trials and field days with plant breeders, entomologists, plant pathologists, seed companies, and farm organizations.