Hazzard Free Farm

In the beginning…

I remember vividly as a child the wooden bins of grain in the barn and in the loft of the corn crib, the heavy, silken feeling of them as you thrust your arm in, the dust in the air as the sun streamed through the window. It’s smell I cannot quite capture for you, I guess it’s a bit beyond words. I remember stuffing my pockets full to spirit some to the horses and chew them as I made my childhood rounds about the farm.

I would go to the corn crib with my grandfather Earl Hazzard and choose a few ears of corn, we would shell them in the sunshine then trundle across the yard and down to the basement. Grandpa would get the hand crank grinder out and we would make cornmeal. Up the stairs we would go to deliver it to my grandmother, Marguerite and she would make us corn cakes on her little iron skillet and for dinner we would have cornbread. The cornbread recipe on my cornmeal was adapted from her recipe, that skillet is in my kitchen as we speak, the lessons they taught me continue on through my beliefs and my work.

Philosophy and practices

Hazzard Free Farm places sustainability first and foremost. Whether it is ecological, environmental or economical, without sustainability we fail the future. We are proud to bring you a wide variety of high-quality heirloom grains grown in the organic tradition and stone ground using age-old techniques. The beauty of the local foods movement is transparency. And as the movement continues to flourish, we encourage our customers to visit the farm with family and friends.

We do not use treated or GMO seeds ever, opting only for ancient, open-pollinated or heirloom varieties. Organic foundation seed is planted whenever available. Chemical pesticides, herbicides, insecticides or fungicides are NEVER used.

We remain deeply committed to adapting ancient and heirloom grains to our soils and our farming practices. It can take three to five year or more to do this, these crops are incredibly adaptable over time and well worth the effort. Our investment in this process is a risk but it will pay off in the health and ecological benefits to our land, our products, the sustainable farming community and our customers' health.