Valley Bounty: Keeping that farming romance alive: Cara and Michael Zueger run Free Living Farm in Petersham

In many ways, farming can seem like a romantic way of life. “Being outside, providing for yourself, providing for your community – and the health changes I saw in myself, eating fresh food from the land – it all resonated so deeply,” says Cara Zueger, who runs Free Living Farm in Petersham with her husband Michael.

The full picture is more complex, and usually a lot dirtier. Every day, farmers face things beyond their control, from mother nature to the global economy. The hours are usually long. The money is far from guaranteed. Satisfaction often requires seeing some deeper value in the work, finding joy in daily tasks, and hopefully keeping a spark of that first farming romance alive. The Zuegers seem to do all three.

“Our farm, Free Living Farm, is a market garden-style farm growing a variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and pasture-raised eggs,” Zueger explains. “We use organic and regenerative farming practices, focusing on soil health, plant nutrition, and ecological integrity.” They harvest enough produce on an acre and a half to feed hundreds of families through their CSA (community supported agriculture) program and sale at farmers’ markets and their farm stand.

The Zuegers’ story starts in California, where they met working seasonal conservation jobs. From there they moved together to Washington, where they joined their first CSA program at a nearby farm. Rather than just paying cash for their weekly harvest share, they worked off some of the cost by doing farmwork. Enjoying that, they decided next to work-trade on a small farm in Hawaii, which opened their eyes to a new way of life.

“We were amazed how you could grow so much food in a small space and make a living,” Zueger says. “We knew this was what we wanted to do.”

For the next few years, they settled into a seasonal rhythm. During summers they moved to wherever Michael Zueger could get seasonal work with the U.S. Forest Service. In winters, they would find work-trade opportunities on farms in warmer climates, learning as much as they could from every farmer they visited. This learning period culminated with the couple taking a season-long apprenticeship on a CSA farm in Maine, followed by a winter working at Four Seasons Farm, also in Maine, run by Elliot Coleman.

“He’s one of the forefathers of the organic farming movement,” Zuger explains. “It was a great learning experience, and the end of a chapter of apprenticing. After that, we decided we were ready.”

In 2018, the couple broke ground on the first iteration of Free Living Farm in Brookfield. Four years later, they signed a lease and moved to their current land in Petersham.

Throughout their journey, the Zuegers have come to understand soil health as a source of wellbeing that extends far beyond the farm. In fact, the farm’s name is a playful nod to the “free living” microbes that abound in healthy soil. As Zueger explains, “that term resonated with us, both in how we want to live our lives and how we farm, focusing on allowing soil microbes to thrive.”

One way they do this is by avoiding tilling or disturbing the soil when weeding or planting. This – along with adding nutrients through cover cropping and natural fertilizers – allows those microbes, fungi and other organisms to create a nutrient-rich, well-aerated soil that plants love. In turn, healthier plants are more resistant to pests and disease and often yield more food with higher nutritional value.

About half of Free Living Farm’s produce is sold through their CSA program, where customers subscribe to receive boxes of fresh-picked vegetables every week from the end of May through October. CSA shares come in two sizes, standard and large, with flexible payment methods and options to pay in installments. Information is available at freelivingfarm.com.

“Members receive a weekly blurb about what’s happening on the farm along with descriptions of each item, storage tips and recipes,” Zueger says. “This year we have a lot of returning members, but we are looking for a few more people who would pick up shares on-farm here in Petersham.”

Otherwise, people can find Free Living Farm’s pasture-raised eggs and occasional veggies year-round at the Petersham Country Store. They also sell at the Sturbridge Farmers Market, held Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Sturbridge common beginning in June, and starting in May will open their self-serve farm stand every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the end of Maple Lane in Petersham.

“Opening day for the stand is May 10 this year,” says Zueger. “We’ll be selling the first veggies of the season along with our own eggs and fresh tulips for Mother’s Day. We’ll also have veggie seedlings for sale all of May.”

In the coming years, Free Living Farm seems destined to keep growing. The Zuegers welcomed their first child this year and are poised to purchase their own land soon with the help of the East Quabbin Land Trust.

“We’ll keep farming here on our leased land too,” Zueger says. “But on land we own we can plant more perennials and fruit trees, maybe have a farm stand on a busier road, or even build a home. We’ll see. We have lots of dreams, but nothing is certain yet.”

Nothing is certain, but possibilities abound for a couple of farmers that seem to approach their craft with a clear-eyed sense of being where they belong.

“Now that it’s our business, farming isn’t quite as romantic as it first seemed,” Zueger admits, “but we still love the work, being outside as the seasons change. Every year has different challenges, but with those come opportunities to grow. It’s a lifestyle more than a job, but still, we really enjoy it. It works for us.”

Jacob Nelson is communications coordinator for CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture). To learn more about CSA farms and other local food businesses near you, visit buylocalfood.org.