Welcome to Sideoats Farm. We’re a first-generation, diversified market garden and budding native plant nursery located in Pinckney, Michigan (~15 miles north of Ann Arbor). Our production area occupies roughly ½ acre, surrounded by 4 acres of deciduous forest in a quiet neighborhood on the Pinckney chain of lakes. Using intensive, ecological methods, we are able to grow a wide variety of common and not so common crops.
We prioritize soil health and quality habitat, and for that reason, do not use synthetic fertilizers or chemical pesticides/herbicides of any kind (even those approved for certified organic systems). This translates to strategic companion planting, hand-picking insect pests, and labor-intensive cultivation. We contribute to our soil organic matter through the addition of compost, cover crops, mulches, and other natural amendments - and love learning the science behind how these compounds aid in fertility! To further safeguard the biology and structure of our soil, we utilize no-till principles, opting for tarps, sheet-mulching, or our resident pigs and chickens to prepare ground in lieu of mechanized soil disturbance.
We continue to learn and trial farming practices that further our mission as responsible stewards of the land we are so privileged to tend. While we have discontinued our CSA program as of 2023, please find us at the Plymouth farmers market (Saturdays, May through October) and at Carosello Pasta, our specialty pasta shop in Dexter. For additional information on our native plant nursery, please continue reading below. Thanks for stopping by!
~Chelsea Lisiecki, Farmer/Owner
Native Plants
Our native plant nursery was born out of a deep, evidence-based conviction that a sustainable food production system and wildlife habitat are not at odds, rather encourage one another’s resilience and productivity. Each year, we establish additional native perennials at the perimeter of our production area and surrounding acreage. In turn, we’re rewarded with countless pollinators, natural enemies that protect the crops, habitat for birds and amphibians, and the list goes on (also food! medicine!).
In addition to vegetables, our market table offers dozens of native perennial wildflowers and grasses for your home landscape. We grow a wide selection of plants that will be happy in a number of conditions - full sun to shade, upland or wetland; we have plants for YOU.
Native perennials are generally low maintenance once established, requiring no irrigation or fertilizer. They offer habitat, beauty, and function to your space, and we are so enthused to help transform your property (or balcony) into a resilient ecosystem at any scale. Every square foot is an opportunity to support biodiversity by feeding and sheltering insects and wildlife increasingly threatened by habitat loss.
The seeds remember the land from which they came.
- Winona LaDuke
Chelsea holds a Master’s in Conservation Ecology, an undergraduate degree in Fine Art, and experience in the native landscaping sector. She is always happy to chat plants at the farmers market in order to help select species appropriate for your site conditions and ultimate goals. Please visit our ‘Nursery List’ page for this year’s available species.
Our plants are native or nearly native to Michigan and the surrounding eco-region, grown from seed of Michigan genotype whenever possible. If this isn’t available to us, we purvey seed from other states in the Great Lakes region.
