Jefferson County family farm and market emphasizes sustainability

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Wis. - April 22 is Earth Day, a time to celebrate our environment and the world we live in.

We don't often associate farmers with Earth Day, but it's a relationship that benefits us all.

Off of Farmington Road in the town of Helenville in Jefferson County, it's a family farm in every sense.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

Jelli's has the jam!

"It's kind of my favorite part about coming to work every day," said Libby Knoebel.

And it's at Jelli's Market, every day, is Earth Day.

"We can't do our job, make our living, do what we love if we don't take care of the earth," added Knoebel.

Three times a day, she cares for the dairy and Angus calves. She then turns her focus across the street to the orchards and fields.

Taking care of the animals.

She cares for the land her family and customers depend on.

"Everything that we grow, either you, or I, or customers come to pick. Our produce, no machines," Knoebel noted.

They planted one acre 23 years ago. Now strawberries are their jam at Jelli's, and their growth isn't limited to the fields.

The farm grew so much that they turned a machine shed into a store: Jelli's Market.

"Tin roof, tin sides, dirt floor, no concrete," Knoebel said.

Jelli's Market

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

"I think I kinda take it for granted sometimes, that I'm just like I can walk outside my parents' house and go pick a strawberry and eat it right away," said Knoebel.

They are showing customers how food makes it to their table, and it's all thanks to generations of farmers like the Knoebels who do so sustainably.

"That's really the essential part of what we do," Knoebel added.