+1 270-776-3652
littlebentfarm@gmail.com
495 Rapids Road Franklin, KY, 42134About Michael & Zach
We began gardening because we both value a healthy lifestyle and understand the importance of knowing where our food comes from. However finding quality local food in our area was and is difficult. Getting freshly grown produce meant a drive to Bowling Green or Nashville to a farmers market so we decided to grow as much of our own food as possible. In the summer of 2014 an abundance of tomatoes and summer squash from our home garden led us to become market gardeners.
Our friends and neighbors Kellee & Craig McMillan at the Macedonia Homestead let us sell our extra vegetables with their grapes and sweet corn. This was the beginning of a great relationship. We are eternally grateful to Kellee & Craig for giving us the opportunity to grow with them at the homestead in 2015.
As the end of Zach’s graduate program neared we were torn with the notion of moving to another area where more opportunity for better paying jobs exist. We made a not so easy but very conscious decision to stay and make Simpson County our home, do what we love and to improve our communities access to quality local food.
We know there is a lot of hard work ahead with many obstacles to overcome but our commitment to each other, to our home, our environment and to our community along with our agriculture and business backgrounds will guide us as we continue on this journey.
About the Farm
We are a micro-farm located along a beautiful stretch of the West Fork of Drakes Creek in Franklin, Kentucky. We have approximately 2 acres in cultivation and grow year round in unheated high tunnels. The tunnels allow us to grow cool weather crops throughout the winter months as well as plant heat loving crops such as tomatoes and peppers much earlier in the spring than would be possible in our climate. We grow a variety of seasonal vegetables, many unusual and hard to find varieties, and specialize in gourmet lettuces, greens, salad mixes and root crops.
Our farm supports a flock of laying hens and roosters that free range and produce the most delicious farm fresh eggs we’ve ever eaten, but we may be a bit biased. The chickens eat our vegetables and their diet is supplemented by feed sourced from a local mill that does not contain hormones or antibiotics.
We grow using natural, sustainable and ecologically responsible growing practices. Many of our varieties are heirloom varieties and we save a lot of our seed from one year to the next. Seed saving allows us to use seed stock from plants grown in our area that have adapted to our local climate.
We do not apply pesticides prophylactically and only use Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) approved insecticides. We have found that careful cultivar selection and sound growing practices all but eliminate the need for synthetics.
Our mission is to grow the most nutritious food we possibly can while raising awareness about the benefits of locally grown food.
Partner Farms
We grow as much as we can, but realize that we can’t grow everything and some things are better left to other experts. Therefore, we partner with other farms to bring you products that we feel are of excellent quality and supplement what we grow and offer to our customers. We will always strive to let you know where your food is coming from. When we offer produce from other local farmers, we have commitments from them that they grow in a similar manner as we. As with all things farming, availability season-to season will vary.
Interested in becoming a partner farmer? Contact us and we will send you a Partner Farmer/Maker Agreement.
