CSA: Esther’s Place / Lamb of God Farm
(June-October)

Lamb of God Farm /Esther’s Place Value Added Agricultural Product Subscription Service provides our customers with a wonderful season selection of produce and other products from local farms in the area. A quarter of the box will include different items throughout the season like a selection of naturally raised meats,dairy,cheese, eggs, flowers, balms, soaps, fibers, canned items, pies, flour, bread and more from local farms and businesses we want to support. It’s a unique opportunity for you to try different local products and support local farms!!

A list of what we’ll be growing this year!
Lettuces, spinach, swiss chard, kale, arugula, asian greens, scallions, radishes, turnips, beets, parsnips, red and yellow onions, potatoes, sweet corn, green beans, lima beans, peas, kohlrabi, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, garlic, sweet peppers, hot peppers, summer squashes, patty pan squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes (large, small and everything in between!), tomatillo’s, ground cherries, watermelons, muskmelon, honeydew melons, winter squashes, pumpkins, carrots, gourds, basil, cilantro, parsley, herbs, and flowers

Contact Information:
Donna Lehrer
630-556-9665

CSA Details:
Season: June through October
Type: multiple farm
Since: 2000

of Shares: 40
Full Share: $45/week for 20 weeks

Pick Up/Drop Off Points:

Wheaton - Mondays
Billy Graham Museum , Wheaton College
East Parking Lot / noon-12:30pm
Phone: 630-303-8730
Address: 500 College Avenue,
Wheaton, IL 60187

Big Rock - Saturdays
Esther’s Place
Back porch shop/10am-6pm
Contact: Natasha Lehrer
Phone: 630-556-9665
Address: 201 West Galena Street / Route 30
Big Rock, IL 60511

St. Charles - Thursdays
Kane County Farm Bureau
Parking Lot/ 6:30-7:00pm
Contact: Donna Lehrer
Phone: 630-303-8730
Address: 2N710 Randall Road
St. Charles, IL 60174

Oswego - Mondays
Knights of Columbus Parking Lot
Parking lot 6:00-7:30pm
Contact: Natasha Lehrer
Phone: 630-303-8895
Address: 197 East Washington Street
Oswego, IL 60543

Lamb of God Farm

Sometimes God takes you on an adventure, changing your course and enriching your life as you ride along. That is what Lamb of God Farm is all about, and I would like to share how it all came about as I tell you the story.

Our family had long been that of a typical suburban persuasion. Scott worked for a typical American corporation, running that rat race and climbing that ladder of success. The moves from place to place, from job transfer to job transfer, was wearing the marriage thin and weakening the ties of family. Donna kept the home fires burning, raising two children and striving to develop a sense of community when it seemed so hard to maintain continuity.

Somewhere in the middle of that, Scott and Donna become disconnected and the inevitable came. Those divorce papers. The heartache. The struggle. Proceedings for the divorce however, seemed to come to a halt. One obstacle after another seemed to stall the finality of the divorce. Still for five years, separate households were maintained, and their two children lived split lives between both parents.

Yet one day, one very precious day in November of 1997, God stepped in. He is always there by us, but it has to be just the right time for His plan to unfold, and that was the day. In the proceeding months, feeling down with nowhere else to go, both Scott and Donna began to seek out a church family. Perhaps it was the feeling of hopelessness that drove them to seek something bigger than themselves. Or maybe it was just to fill some longing in their hearts for stability and security. But on that day in November, they found what they were longing for when they gave their life over to Christ.

They had a new perspective on life. A sense of belonging, a sense of community with a friend who always was there to listen to their needs. And they began to pray for their situation. Before long, they had agreed to meet with a pastor to do marriage counseling. In that counseling, their hearts were softened and their issues reconciled. They realized that above all, God had given them a promise to uphold in all phases of life, in all situations. It was to cherish one another in all life would bring. That meant looking past the problems and realizing God is the only one that could solve them.

With that commitment, the family was reunited and bigger changes were right on the horizon. I’m convinced that we are like a piece of clay in the potter’s hands. He is not content just to form a shape, or a vase. That won’t do. He has to continue to refine it, shape it, mold it until it is exactly the vision that the artist holds in their head for that piece of clay. They didn’t even have the slightest idea of what was in store for their family over the next ten years!

Scott had enough of climbing the rungs of that corporate ladder at the cost of his family and his values. When the company offered him a 50% reduction in salary, unbelievably enough, he saw this as an opportunity for change. No longer could they maintain their lifestyle status quo. But where to now?
Then came along a rainbow ultra-light glider. You may be asking what that has to do with life changing experiences. That glider flew above their home on one fall day, and Donna thought this would be a fun exploration for her children, whom they were now home schooling. A few phone calls later and a car drive later, they arrived at the Aurora Airport looking for their mystery glider. No glider was to be found, but their adventure was just beginning. That first trip out to Sugar Grove, IL was the start of many myriad of trips out west. By some invisible force, they kept being drawn to the western edge where fields of corn still stood, and people waved at you when you passed them on the road. This was a place of slower pace, simpler times and sweet beginnings for Scott, Donna, Natasha and Eric.

They moved to their little slice of heaven in May 2000. Nestled among their eight spacious acres was a brook, a pine grove, cottonwood stand, gardens, trees, house and barns. It was an ideal place to reconcile the hurt and heartache that had consumed their lives for so many years. Among the growing things and the fresh air, things were different. Simpler.

Until they started to acquire the animals…first three sheep, then chickens, then goats. But all of that was still enjoyable and now they had their own eggs, milk and wool. Yet, status quo never stays that for long and two years into their life on the farm, Scott lost his job. Now they had to keep paying the bills on their own, and they turned to the farm they resided upon. The gardens became market gardens, grass got turned over for more useful purposes and they were scheduled for their first farmers market in Wheaton, IL for the summer of 2002. But what to call their farm? Had they really given it a thought until now? Lamb of God Farm is what was settled upon, because it told the whole story in a nutshell. New beginnings and forgiveness. Hope and a future. It spoke of the One who changes things for the better and gives encouragement. It gave them a chance to tell their story.

Before long, they were traveling to three farmers markets a week. Those who knew them then, remember the salads, heirloom tomatoes and sweet corn of great popularity. Organically grown and fresh as could be, they strived to put forth the best tasting and most unique the market had offer. Every morning before dawn, the truck would get loaded and off to the market they went.

During the third year, they started to offer a CSA, or community based agriculture program. In addition to their markets, they had customers that would buy a season of produce during those cold spring months, and in return would get a box of produce each week ‘til the end of the season. They were a part of the ebbs and flows of the garden and became partners with the farm. Lamb of God Farm had forty subscribers at a point, with three drop-offs across the Chicago suburbs. That was in addition to serving the Wheaton French Market and the Yorkville, Aurora, Lombard, St.Charles and Wheaton Thursday markets.

Evenings would be spent preparing for the markets, days spent tending the gardens. Quite a few acres saw their share of tomatoes, salad and corn and over a hundred other types of produce. Yet God always has different directions in which He takes you. At about this same time, Esther’s Place was born and the golden age of Lamb of God Farm’s market production was growing dimmer.

Lamb of God Farm is still strong and working hard, but their goals have changed. They are mentoring new farmers who are starting out in this area. They are working in local and state organizations to make sure the voice of the produce farmer is heard. They are doing important work to make sure consumers have a chance to experience fresh-from-the-farm goodness, whether it is in teaching canning, or teaching school children about heirloom vegetables.

They enjoy encouraging others. Some people think one must have a college degree, or read all the books on the subject, or be raised on a farm, or intern in Africa, or drink wheatgrass everyday to make the transition from a suburbanite to a ruralite. But the difference is this: one must be open to working hard. Working hard on your farm, working hard to be a part of the community you are in, and working hard to make an impact on someone’s life each and every day. And you must have faith. Faith that there is a plan for everything that happens in your life and that God knows that plan. It’s just the fact that we don’t that makes it so frustrating. And last but not least, you must have humor. Laugh often and laugh much.

So I hope you can see now why I said that God takes you on adventures. The folks at Lamb of God Farm learned that. They know still that the adventure continues, and they don’t know what is going to happen in the days yet to come. Yet they have learned who they can trust.