Meet the Van Houten Family

written by

John Filbrun

posted on

May 28, 2021


Today I introduce Art & Lise Van Houten in our Customer Spotlight and share a little more about their family’s dream to build a very special farm of their own.

In Lise’s Words…

I currently have just 2 of my 8 children still living at home. We love to be outdoors working on projects around our homestead or hiking in the woods. We downsized from 13 acres to 5 a year ago. The new place was a soybean field so we have a bare slate to start with. My dream is to make it into an abundant permaculture farm (by planting permanent standing, long-term plants also known as a ‘Food Forest’ that includes nut trees). We've been working on infrastructure such as a barn, greenhouse, and chicken coop. We'll be planting 400 trees to create a windbreak. An orchard and garden will also be started. We will be getting 2 baby goats in May to compliment our 2 border collies, 2 cats, and 24 chicks.  

I am passionate about health and fitness. Supporting local businesses and knowing where my food comes from is important for my family's health and the health of the community. I discovered the Maker's Meadow around 10 years ago on localharvest.com. I felt an immediate connection to the Filbrun family and how they were raising their animals in the way God designed them to live. They strive to do all with excellence and integrity, being both kind and generous, giving all glory to God. Rebecca has become one of my dearest friends and I have learned so much from her.

My family loves the meat I get there. I order about once a month, mostly ground beef and a couple whole chickens with a couple roasts, some stew meat and chicken thighs. We always get a turkey for Thanksgiving and lamb for Passover. We love to have people over for dinner and always get compliments for how good it is. 




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