OUR FARM STORY
Welcome to Heritage Farms New Boston! Our farm was founded in 2022 by Joshua and Hollie, a newlywed couple with a dream to farm. Together we bring to our farm a diverse agriculture background from our years of experience farming. We believe we are to be stewards of the land which God has blessed us with, and hope to be a blessing to others through our farm! We are both passionate about using natural and regenerative agricultural practices to improve the soil health, plant health, and ultimately the consumers’ health. We started Heritage Farms New Boston to make a difference in the community by providing a local nutritious food source.
Our mission is rooted in Matthew 24:45-46
"Who then is a trustworthy and wise servant, whom his master set over his household, to give them food in season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, having come, shall find so doing."
Growing for Generations: Our Family's Farming Heritage
ABOUT THE FARMERS
Joshua grew up in Kendallville, Indiana on a family farm. As a child he rode on the tractor with his Grandpa Nathan and helped with feeding and milking the cows. He was an industrious teenager, acquired his own herd of beef cattle that he grew on pasture. He helped bale hay for the local community and worked at the feed store. He later went on to welding school, and worked welding pipe. He later started a custom metal fabrication company and also worked as a senior site manager overseeing automated warehouse installations. It had been a lifelong goal to start a farm of his own, but he never quite found the right piece of land so that dream was put on hold…
Hollie grew up here in New Boston, Michigan working with her Father Robert, and Uncle Charlie, plowing the fields and maintaining the farm equipment for Helwig Bros. Farm. She also worked for a local produce farm, planting, weeding, harvesting, and helping with customers at their roadside stand. Hollie later went on to college to major in business with the intent of becoming an entrepreneur, it took the next 4 years working for an accounting firm before realizing that farming was her calling. In 2017, she bought the remaining interest in 34 acres of farm land that had been inherited by her and her siblings. However, her farming plans were on hold until the right fella came along…
In December 2021 Joshua and Hollie met, and the couple were smitten for one another. They were married the following spring and started Heritage Farms New Boston. A farm that not only raises old fashioned heritage and heirloom crops, but also is rooted in a longstanding family heritage of farming.
Hollie’s great grandfather August Helwig migrated to New Boston, MI in 1917, acquiring a 40 acre farm on Bell Road. Her Uncle Emil Helwig later took over that farm and started Helwig Dairy. Her Grandfather Edward Helwig purchased land on West Road and established a farm that raised several thousand egg layers. He delivered eggs locally to New Boston residents and as far as the Eastern Market in Detroit. Her Father, Robert Helwig and Uncle Charles Helwig established Helwig Bros. Farm in 1975. They purchased their father’s farm on West Road where they set up operations. They farmed over 2,100 acres of land throughout New Boston, and the surrounding communities, raising corn and soybeans. In 1985 Robert and Charles purchased 80 acres of land from Gladys Otter. Over the years a few lots were split off of those 80 acres, leaving 71 acres for Joshua and Hollie to establish Heritage Farms New Boston.