The Beginning of
Our Story
LGBTQ Owned & Operating Farm
“Where are we going?!” Squealed my 8-year-old son from the back of the car with toys littered around his feet. As my 2 year old throws another toy on the floor suddenly he twists his head as he gets distracted; his eyes widen as they meet the massive trees filling the view of the windows.
“I don’t know, I think we’re lost” my wife anxiously muttered as she white knuckles the wheel on the bumpy gravel drive. I popped my whole body around and exclaimed “We’re going somewhere no one knows about. A hidden place. The Secret Land!”
That little car ride became an important day as we made our way nervously down the overgrown ½ mile driveway with keys in hand in December 2022. We decided shortly after moving onto the 30-acre riverfront property that we had to share it with others!
Hello there! I'm Jewel. My wife and I are the owners of the farm we lovingly call The Secret Land.
From Hoarded Mess to Lively Farm...
This property was a hidden gem for over 100 years and as the new caretakers of the land, it was up to us to make it come to life!
We started with a massive clean-up of hoarded belongings left on one side of the property and a demolition process of outbuildings that month and hauled away tons of trash, cars, boats, buildings, and SO much more.
On the riverfront side of the property hand cutting trails, limbing thousands of trees, and slowly, painstakingly in the February snow building an intentional space for guests to enjoy. We drove nails into reclaimed lumber, we shed blood with many injuries, and we doubted if it was possible.
We made mistake after mistake and believed that if we just got up in the morning and did what was in front of us, we could welcome just one person to enjoy a still moment by the river, with campfire warming their boots, to sit and just be.
Starting Our Farm...
We began agroforestry farming as we reclaimed our land. Our primary crops are wildflowers, native plants, mushrooms, and wild berries. We also produce fresh farm eggs with browns, blues, and green color–it’s our specialty. We sell our goods produced on the land in our farm stand.
In 2025, we’ve planted over 200,000 wildflowers, thousands of mushrooms, and we’ll be starting our garden and greenhouse as we begin producing fresh herbs, vegetables, and medicinal plants. Our animals and our forest are our main agricultural producers and help us develop our land. Each animal on our farm has a role:
🦮 Dogs: Protect our land from bears, bobcats, and coyotes
🐔Chickens: Produce eggs, fertilize our beds, and keep our pests away
🦆 Ducks: Produce eggs, fertilize our beds, and keep our pond and water pests away
🐐Goats: Fertilize our fields, eat our trails, thin our abundant forest
🐖 Pigs: Eat our excess food waste, fertilize our fields, root our abundant forest
Our animals are so important to us as they work hard for us and they are apart of our farm experience so please feel free to support our farm by coming by to feed them, socialize, and ask your farming questions!
Be Our Guest & Grow With Us...
We welcomed our first guest in 2023 and the rest is history. We’ve welcomed guests of all ages and backgrounds with stories that have kept us motivated, allowed us to celebrate, evolve our approach, change our vision, and opened our hearts.
All the questions, comments, and stories we’ve gotten from so many couples that ask us how to do what we’re doing. Those many conversations with young couples that want land, and space, and to share their passions but feel a little lost on how to start have really been a driving force.
All these guests have held a large space within our hearts and kept us going. All that’s missing is you!
We’re looking forward to entering the next chapter of our little woodsy farm and in 2025, we want to welcome you to enter a place that’s been waiting for you.
We invite guests onto our land with acceptance and kindness always. This is a safe space that my wife and I found to be one of the first places we can freely hold hands without stares from anyone; well beside a deer or owl.
This land is particularly important as I have ADHD and autism. Our land provides me with an important sensory experience. From the gentle hoot of a observant owl to the thump of a running elk vibrating the forest floor as I work--this place it's truly therapeutic.
I've spent my life seeking belonging. I found my belonging here on our farm. My voice, my work, my voice is only heard if I can serve my community and that means we'd like to invite you into our noisy forest family.
We support you as you are. We invite you to the freedom of strolling this land owned by a loving couple who'd love to share our happiness and warmth with you today. We invite you as friends and hope you leave as family!
Cheers,
Jewel and Maile
Wife & Wife
The Secret Land Farmers
