Lazy Farming? Windhaven Farm Embraces Regenerative Agricultural Practices To Bring The Land to Life

Explore Alex Green and Vanessa Gillman’s Regenerative Approach at Windhaven Farm near St. Cloud, MN.

Written by Michelle Sharp in collaboration with Meet the Minnesota Makers | Photography and videography by Sarah Carroll | Video editing assistance by Onteya Zachary

Alex Green and Vanessa Gillman are the hardest working lazy people you’ve ever met.

That’s why Alex and Vanessa believe in the power of regenerative agriculture.

“See, I have you listening now,” laughs Alex. “Once you finally convert your way of farming to regenerative practices, you rely on the system that’s already there of Mother Nature doing what it’s developed over millennia. Then the whole process is lazy, because you just let nature do its thing. It’s already figured out.”

Alex and Vanessa, along with their budding baby naturalist Perrine, steward the 68 acres of land that make up Windhaven Farm. At Windhaven they raise eggs, chickens, and miniature grass-fed Hereford cattle following regenerative practices in central Minnesota, near St. Cloud.

FROM HOBBY FARM TO SMALL BUSINESS

Vanessa’s parents, Deb and Jerry, purchased the farm in 1994. They sowed the foundation for a sustainable farmstead. Deb and Jerry were early adopters of sourcing green energy such as solar panels, a windmill generator, and groundwater heat pumps.

Alex and Vanessa are in the midst of a transition from a hobby farm to a small business serving more of their local community. Now a fixture at the Annandale Farmers Market, Alex and Vanessa welcome everyone to visit the farm. They are eager to share how raising all their animals outdoors improves the welfare of the animals themselves, increases the biodiversity of their soil, and, ultimately, provides a healthy and delicious product for their customers.

“I love it when people tell me that our eggs are the best they’ve had,” smiles Vanessa. “I’m proud of that. I’m a proud egg mama, a proud chicken mama, and a proud beef mama. There’s pride in making this good food possible and having enough to share with others.”

The decision to transition from a hobby farm to a small business is, in large part, a question of economics. “We want to keep this land in agriculture, to protect it from building development,” shares Vanessa. “We wanted to keep the beautiful trout stream. We needed to find a way to help the land pay for itself.”

As a part of their five year plan, Alex and Vanessa are working with the National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Stearns County Soil and Water to implement multi-species rotational grazing. Securing an Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) grant and an

AGRI Livestock Investment Grant from MDA provide support for Windhaven to determine the smartest ways to integrate conservation into their working pastures. An additional grant from the Conservation Corp enables Windhaven to restore the bank of their beloved trout stream.

IN SEARCH OF BALANCE

Off farm Vanessa teaches math at St Cloud’s Tech High School. Alex commutes to Minneapolis to work with his family’s business, Mill City Roasters, which sells coffee roaster supply equipment all over the country. When you combine these jobs with raising their daughter, it makes for a lot of juggling to make sure the farm is taken care of. Every day they have to make sure the cattle have fresh grass and that the chicken tractor moves along. The night of our interview, Vanessa still had 150 student tests to grade.

Being pulled in many directions is exactly why they have to farm regeneratively, according to Alex. “When you keep applying band aids you never truly fix the problem. When you get a machine running correctly, when you actually diagnose the cause of the problem and fix it at the source, the whole system becomes balanced,” explains Alex. “You make your life easier in the future when you get at the root of the problem. It’s not going to break again. You’re not going to need to keep applying band aids.” When applied to agriculture, this means less dependence on additives including fertilizers and pesticides.

Windhaven’s practice had been to pasture raise their cattle since the beginning. Implementing rotational grazing is one of the systematic changes that Alex and Vanessa are embracing. They’ve seen that once the cattle get used to moving, they know what’s coming and want to move to fresh pasture.

The challenges of monocrop agriculture is evidence of the shortcomings of a system that relies on synthetic products to stabilize the land. “Using these ‘quick fixes’ has slowly killed the land,” observes Alex. “Learning to work with the land allows the land itself to thrive. Regenerative agriculture can be the laziest, easiest thing ever. You have to diagnose the soil, figure out what it needs, and adjust your practices correctly to enjoy the fruits of your labor.”

Vanessa cites Braiding Sweetgrass as part of her inspiration for the farm’s current path—both in terms of stewardship and the transition to becoming a business. “We need to look at our historical practices. I don’t want to say a return to nature because we’re not going back,” she explains. “Rather, we’re saying, okay, how can we move forward knowing the mistakes that have been made, seeing the damage that’s been done? How can we make steps towards healing?”

CELEBRATING THE LITTLE WINS

The goal is to thread the needle of being able to sustain themselves financially and remain a part of their community.

“I also wish that some of our customers would lose a little of their Midwestern humbleness and go brag to their friends about our products,” proposes Alex. “That would be super great.”

As their farm grows, Alex and Vanessa find motivation in their daily routines. “You have to find constant joy in the little wins. Every drop in the bucket counts,” shares Alex. “Sometimes it’s that you went to put in a fence post and it went in straight the first time. That can be enough.”

Vanessa finds pride in their work and their products. “It’s definitely a joy having people ask what the secret is with our eggs,” she says. “Our chickens are happy. We give them good food and space. We see them thrive outside. There’s no secret. There’s joy in that feedback.”

These “lazy” farmers reflect on the joy of serving their community and sharing the bounty of their land. Directly supporting farmers that choose humane regenerative practices for their animals eliminates some of the moral compromise around eating meat. As Vanessa states, “There’s a way to do it that is ethical, sustainable, and regenerative. However, it needs to be small, local, and from a farmer where you can go to a farm and meet the meat.”

READY TO EAT LOCAL?

Windhaven Farm raises rotationally-grazed, grass-fed, Miniature Hereford cattle, and offers both custom processed shares as well as individually-packaged retail cuts. Deposits are now open to reserve their 2025 custom processed beef shares. 

Every summer they raise and process two varieties of chicken for meat; Cornish Cross broilers, which are the fast-growing breed typically found in the supermarket with distinctively robust breast meat, and various Heritage Breeds—slower growing birds with a richer taste and more dark meat per pound.

Individually packaged beef cuts including filet mignon, T-bone and skirt steaks, chuck roasts, and specialty cuts are currently available in addition to the two breeds of chickens, and eggs sold by the dozen.

Visit windhaven-farm.com to place an order and learn more about Vanessa and Alex’s practices and priorities for themselves and their animals.

Contact Alex at alex@windhaven-farm.com and Vanessa at nessa@windhaven-farm.com

Follow their online adventure on Instagram and Facebook

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