Dizzy Goat Farms

🌱 Another Week of Growth at Dizzy Goat Farms! 🐐

The farm keeps changing almost daily, and it's exciting to see all the hard work beginning to pay off.

This week we tucked in a second round of crops to keep the harvest going later into the season, including lettuce, green beans, wax beans, and more cucumbers. Succession planting helps us extend the growing season and provide fresh produce for longer.

The summer squash is producing faster every week, and our fall squash is off to a great start as well. The tomato vines are now loaded with green fruit, the peppers are filling out, and the beans are coming along nicely.

Before long we'll be harvesting large quantities of tomatoes, summer squash, black beans, and pinto beans, with plenty more following behind them.

Every visit to the farm reminds us that farming is equal parts patience and persistence. A few months ago these were just seeds in the ground. Today they're becoming meals that will help feed our community.

Thank you to everyone following along, cheering us on, and supporting our mission. Every volunteer, donation, share, and encouraging comment helps us continue growing.

Here's to another week of growing food, building community, and proving that even a few acres can make a difference. 💚

Happy 4th of July from Dizzy Goat Farms! 🌱🐐

While everyone was celebrating Independence Day, the farm has been celebrating growth.

This week we replanted a few crops that didn't make it through their first attempt, including cucumbers, basil, and both yellow and green beans. Sometimes farming means giving nature a second chance (or many) and learning from our mistakes, and we're excited to see these new starts take off.

The tomatoes have really hit their stride and are growing fast! We also enjoyed our first small harvests of new potatoes, yellow squash, and hot peppers. It's only a taste of what's to come, but it's exciting to see the hard work beginning to pay off as the gardens continue to mature.

With all the rain we've received, the w**ds have exploded... but thankfully so have the vegetables! It's been a constant race to stay ahead of Mother Nature.

We also received a fun surprise from the pond. Our neighbor's son caught and safely released a healthy largemouth bass, confirming that we have bass and catfish (sighted but not caught) calling the pond home. It's another encouraging sign that the ecosystem continues to develop.

Between the storms, we even managed to get all the mowing finished, which felt like a victory in itself!

Every week brings new lessons, new challenges, and new reasons to be thankful. Thank you to everyone following along and supporting our mission to grow food, build community, and create opportunities to learn together.

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July! 🇺🇸

There are some exciting signs of progress at Dizzy Goat Farms! 🌱

Our tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash, potatoes, Swiss chard, and many other crops are really starting to take off. Every week brings a little more green, a little more growth, and another reminder that patience is a big part of growing.

Not everything has been effortless. We've been battling a few garden pests with neem oil and recently gave our raised beds a boost with Fish 5-1-1 fertilizer. We also discovered that some of our soil mulch contains more wood than we'd like, which has been tying up nitrogen and slowing growth in a few areas. Every challenge is another lesson that helps us build a healthier, more productive farm.

Due storms recently week, we were able to spend a peaceful evening out at the farm. Ironically, it was partly because our house had lost power. While many in the area were dealing with severe weather, we're incredibly grateful that the farm came through the storms without any major damage.

Thank you to everyone following our journey, volunteering, sharing advice, and cheering us on. Every week teaches us something new, and we're excited to keep growing together.

🌱 Volunteer. Grow. Feed.

🌱 Farm Update from Dizzy Goat Farms 🌱

It's been a productive week around the farm!

✅ Irrigation has been installed and is ready to help keep our crops thriving through the summer heat.

✅ We spent time hoeing and preparing two additional rows that are now planted with radishes, carrots, and more onions.

✅ Tomato season is getting closer! We've started building pole-and-twine trellises to support our tomato plants as they grow.

🌬️ We also experienced our first weather-related setback. The recent storms and Illinois winds damaged the tent covering our pond equipment. While it's disappointing, it's also a reminder that everything on a farm is a learning experience. It looks like we'll be designing and building a much sturdier structure that can stand up to what Illinois weather throws at it.

🤝 One of the best parts of the week was welcoming visitors to the farm. A special thank you to Jay, Deborah Seaberg, and Brenda Seaberg for stopping by and spending some time with us. We love sharing the vision for Dizzy Goat Farms and appreciate everyone who takes an interest in what we're building here.

Every week brings new progress, new challenges, and new opportunities to learn. We're grateful for everyone following along and supporting our mission to grow fresh food, build community, and create educational opportunities right here in Central Illinois.

💚 Thank you to everyone supporting Dizzy Goat Farms. Whether you're volunteering, visiting, following our journey online, or simply sharing our posts, you're helping us grow something bigger than a farm.

Progress report from the farm this week! 👇
​🌱 More rows officially planted.
🌾 Potatoes and onions got a heavy blanket of mulch for w**d control and moisture retention.
We had our first pepper ready to harvest.
🥒 Cucumber tower experiment is a go!
🦆 ...and the ducks are back!
​Growing season is officially in full swing. ☀️

Big news from the pasture and beyond 🌱🎙️

One of Our founders, Jonathan Smith, was featured on the latest episode of the Your Ultimate Life Podcast with Kellan Fluckiger, released May 26!

The conversation dives into:
• Why we launched Dizzy Goat Farms after years in corporate life
• Building a nonprofit farm focused on fresh food access and community resilience
• The growing disconnect in modern communities and how technology has changed human connection
• Creating purpose after becoming empty nesters and searching for something more meaningful
• The importance of volunteering, local involvement, and “getting your hands in the ground”
• Learning to farm from scratch, embracing failures, and documenting the journey honestly
• How small local actions can inspire larger national movements around food security and community support

One quote from the episode really captures the heart behind Dizzy Goat Farms:

“I think we’re losing a sense of community in the world right now. And some of that is technology and some of that is choice.”

If you’ve ever wondered why we’re building this farm and nonprofit, this episode tells the story behind it. 🚜💚

🎧 Listen here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7tOSVzh6Wy85nC6IFsrDe2?si=fwNtNFoLTDajsHt3NKqqGg

YouTube / Website:
https://www.yourultimatelifepodcast.com/1118

Apple Podcasts:
Search “Your Ultimate Life Podcast Episode 1118”

Please comment and leave a review if so inclined:)

Thank you to everyone supporting Dizzy Goat Farms and helping us grow something bigger than a farm. 🌾🐐

Why a Corporate IT Executive Started a Farm to Feed Strangers Most people dream about “giving back someday.” John Smith actually did it. After years in corporate IT, moving from Arizona to Hawaii to Illinois, John and his wife…

🇺🇸 Memorial Day on the farm 🌱🐐

This weekend was a fun, get your hands dirty, productive, and meaningful day here at Dizzy Goat Farms.

We planted:
🌽 Corn
🎃 Pumpkin
🫘 Pinto & Black Beans
🧅 Bunching Onions
🥒 Zucchini
💛 Yellow Squash
🎃 Butternut Squash
👑 Queen Squash
🛸 Peter Pan Squash
🍂 Additional winter squash varieties

Every seed planted today represents future meals, future harvests, and future opportunities to give back to our community.

Not everything went perfectly though. Our John Deere S140 mower decided Memorial Day was the perfect day to throw its belt, so we weren’t able to finish mowing the remaining acreage before sunset 🚜💨

Still, progress is progress, and we’re grateful for every step forward.

Most importantly, today we remember and honor the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Their sacrifice gave us the freedom to build, grow, gather, and serve our communities.

Volunteer signups will officially open later this week, and we can’t wait to start growing alongside all of you. 🌱

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Dizzy Goat Farms does not sell, rent, or trade personal information to third parties. Information may only be shared when required by law or when necessary to support farm operations, safety, or approved nonprofit services.

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Got back from Vermont on Sunday and joined Kelly Smith out at the farm to get some more planting done. We planted our salad and herb raised garden beds, tomatoes, and checked in on our previous work. Potatoes, Jalapenos, onions, and Radishes are doing well. Just before we left our wild ducks paid us a visit. More planting this week!! Then after getting some work done had a nice dinner at The FourNine

Another week getting things done out at the farm. Had some help from Nik again getting hay and finishing the raised garden bed builds. Took a few pauses to enjoy the ducks and especially the new baby ducks living on our pond. On mothers day my mother-in-law Carla Rotering came out and helped me fill the last two raised beds so we are ready to get our planting done in the next week or so.