Middle Way Farm

Middle Way Farm Serving the Grinnell area directly with fresh, high quality, organically produced food. Our Annual Plant Sale is the first weekend in May!

Middle Way Farm is a commercial market garden located on the Lacina farm just north of Grinnell and run by Jordan Scheibel since 2013. 2022 is our tenth growing season. Middle Way Farm offers Certified Naturally Grown farm grown produce as well as products from other local producers for sale weekly through our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscription service and our Online Farm Stand May - December, with time off during the summer.

04/12/2026

Just a follow-up to my post yesterday since I wrote a lot of words but still managed to skip over some basic facts :

- I work for Grinnell Farm to Table now, I have been executive director since December and will be continuing to work for that organization for the foreseeable future. My increased workload there is a definite factor in needing to end my farm lease and fully move on but I made that decision willingly.

- I never lived on the farm, I have lived in the same house in Grinnell since 2009 and always commuted to the farm. I have no plans to leave Grinnell. I have now lived here longer than I did in Connecticut, where I grew up till age 18. I'm looking forward to gardening in town this year.

Thanks for all the kind and thoughtful responses. I am not planning on saving much from these accounts when I take them down but I definitely will be saving and cherishing the responses to my sister's death in 2020, ending full time farming in 2023, and the responses I've gotten to this announcement.

Well, friends, its been three years and almost one month since I made my decision to scale down Middle Way Farm and to s...
04/12/2026

Well, friends, its been three years and almost one month since I made my decision to scale down Middle Way Farm and to stop full time farming. Its spring again, and the time has come for another momentous decision. I have decided that I will be closing Middle Way Farm altogether and giving up my lease at the Lacina farm by the end of the summer. I will not be holding an annual plant sale this year and over the next few months I will be gradually harvesting my last crops, cleaning out spaces I’ve used for the last almost decade and half, and selling off most of my remaining tools, equipment, and supplies.

I will be posting a complete list of what’s available for sale in the coming weeks as I find time to catalog and price everything. More immediately I have a couple pallets of Vermont Compost Fort Vee potting soil (45 quart bags - $25 each) and manure compost (40 quart bags - $17.50 per) that I purchased back in December when I was still considering farming part time in 2026 that I am hoping to get into some other growers hands sooner rather than later. ~30-35 bags of each available. Minimum 5 bags (can be a mix).

I also have some sweet potato slips ordered that I would like to mostly sell off. They are Beauregard from Kansas State University Horticulture, and will ship no later than first week of June (I’m 75% sure that’s true given their past track record). Should have at least 425 available. Minimum order 25 slips, $.50 each. Orders over 25 I can drop the price.

Please feel free to inquire directly with me before I post the full listing of tools, equipment, and supplies available. Happy to entertain offerings or answer questions before I have that list out. I was hoping I would have it done by now :)

I will also be closing my Facebook and Instagram accounts for Middle Way Farm, probably as soon as I can wrap up any sales through here. I will still be using social media for my role with Grinnell Farm to Table but that’s the only engagement I’ll have going forward. Please, if we don’t know each other in person but we’ve interacted here and you don’t want to lose touch, reach out for my email and phone.

Continued in comments…

One of the most improbable “wins” of my years farming is today harvesting about 100 pound of carrots before the freeze t...
11/07/2025

One of the most improbable “wins” of my years farming is today harvesting about 100 pound of carrots before the freeze this weekend (out of a plot that ideally would have yielded 5-10x that) that were never weeded or cared for past germination. I think I mowed them once but I’m not even sure I did that! Looking at the field the carrots that survived are just discernible in patches among a sea of weeds.

Similarly these potatoes, which yielded about as expected under normal conditions (125 lb per 100 foot row) had minimal care (one cultivation/mounding, no irrigation) and were planted from free leftover seed from other growers.

Finally the cover cropped fields show the effect of self seeded legume hairy vetch in smothering out weeds after winter rye was harvest for straw, while another field without the vetch is a sea of foxtail grass weeds.

I share these examples not to suggest that growing this way is ideal or “how we should be doing it” but it’s always interesting and useful to observe what happens as a result of neglect or giving up. There are lessons within both successes and failures. There are sometimes limited wins within failures. I’m very happy to have enough carrots for our family the whole winter and some to share.

I am teaching a free beginning meditation class at the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice at Grinnell...
09/29/2025

I am teaching a free beginning meditation class at the Center for Religion, Spirituality, and Social Justice at Grinnell College over the next three weeks, starting tomorrow (Sep. 30). Classes are Tuesdays 8-9 pm at 913 8th Ave, between Park & Broad Street.

The classes will cover 1) meditation posture and mindfulness of breathing meditation, 2) dealing with difficulties and challenges in meditation, and 3) integrating meditation and mindfulness into daily life.

Tomorrows class is the most important because it’s the core instruction. So if you can make any it should be tomorrow’s class.

This class is free and open to all, including community members. Email [email protected] if you have questions.

Looking to move some assorted heirloom & seconds quality red slicing tomatoes for immediate use & bulk processing before...
09/23/2025

Looking to move some assorted heirloom & seconds quality red slicing tomatoes for immediate use & bulk processing before I leave town tomorrow afternoon. Certified Naturally Grown. I have around 30 pounds available for $50. Pick up can be today before 5 pm or tomorrow by 6:30 pm at Grinnell farm to table, 1032 main st. Message me here or text 641 821 0753. Cash or check made out to Middle Way Farm at pick up.

I have 50 pounds of split / blemished but very useable Certified Naturally Grown beefsteak tomatoes in need of a home. $...
08/28/2025

I have 50 pounds of split / blemished but very useable Certified Naturally Grown beefsteak tomatoes in need of a home. $1 per pound for all of them. Not interested in selling smaller increments but someone who can take and process all.

They should be used now through this weekend at the latest. Please message me here or email/text. Contact info is at middlewayfarm.com.

Address

3633 Highway 146
Grinnell, IA
50112

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