Livelys expand farm, launch Backyard Burdickville campground
Jane Lively is raising funds for community supported agriculture shares to help feed 10 or more local migrant families. Photo by Robert Chacon
Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
The scent of cinnamon suffuses the air. Is this a spice shop? A tea emporium? Nope, it’s Jane Lively’s hoop house shed for sprouting seedlings at the Lively Farm off Bow Road above Burdickville. Dozens of plastic pots line the shelves, all sprinkled with the red spice that kills any bacteria in the soil, thus enhancing germination. It’s just one more sign of the phenomenal growth occurring within the Lively family’s many new business ventures that include the Lively Farm, the Backyard Burdickville Campground, and the next LivelyLands weekend music festival coming in August.
Jane started the Lively Farm by creating a CSA and selling shares four years ago. There were eight takers. The next year there were 15, the next, 25, and now there are 50 shares spoken for! CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a common model on small farms that connects the farmer and customer in a unique way. Customers buy “shares” of a farm’s harvest in advance and then receive a portion of the crops as they’re harvested. This model provides farmers important early-season capital and a guaranteed market for their produce.
But Jane’s ambition doesn’t stop there. Her flowers and produce are also sold at the Empire Farmer’s Market on Saturdays in summer, and at the Grow Benzie Market on Mondays. Plus, Jane has an initiative to help feed “10 or more” local migrant families. “We are still raising funds for these community supported shares,” Jane explains. “These shares are going to migrant folks involved in local farm work and families in need of assistance in the Glen Lake school system. These shares will be free to families designated by the Migrant Resource Council (MRC) and professionals at Glen Lake Community Schools—and recipients will be welcomed into the farm community wholeheartedly as full-fledged members. We have plans to get together monthly with the MRC folks to cook and eat a meal together, and we’ll provide recipes and ideas for meals to create with the produce shared each week.” Through her mission of trying to make food accessible to all, Jane reached out to social worker Amy Johnson-Velis at Glen Lake School where she helped form a committee to offer community-supported shares to those facing food insecurity. Contributors may contact Jane through the website at TheLivelyFarm.com.
Jane’s mom Kelly Lively adds that there will also be flowers and some potatoes and squash available at Jane’s older sister Emily’s Backyard Burdickville Campground along M-72 (3805 W Empire Hwy) just east of Gilbert Road. (That’s where members will pick up their shares this year on Thursdays starting the second Thursday in June). Formerly the Eagle’s Meadow, the Livelys purchased the campground and event space last year and have already started planting trees and growing flowers and vegetables on the site. After living in Austin, Tex., and after working for seven years in the office at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival, Emily moved back to Burdickville a couple of years ago with her husband Robert and daughter Shirley. Then along came baby Arthur Felo to join the family recently.
“Backyard Burdickville is our name for the seasonal camping and event venue at the old Eagles Meadow. We have 15 rustic campsites for $25/night for up to four people, and right now there is plenty of availability,” Emily explains. “And we have a cool round glamping tent for rent for $75/night with two double beds and plenty of space inside. It’s like a little tented hotel room. (See www.HipCamp.com) We are allowed to have three large events per year right now, and we are awaiting Kasson Township’s approval to allow rental of the facility for smaller events like family reunions, weddings, and birthday parties.”
The family is busy re-thinking the facilities to accommodate more events and music. “There is a kitchen space already that provides caterers a place to provide food for weddings and reunions. And we hope to enclose a 40’ by 30’ area of the garage for small indoor events that will include a small stage so that we can have year-round events. (She even has the old original bar from Art’s Tavern!) That and a shower/bathroom facility for campers will require a septic system, so we’re working on plans and permits for all of that.”
The first summer Emily was back in Burdickville she organized a small local music festival called LivelyLands. The first one was held in the field next to Dave’s Garage near the Empire Airport along Co Rd 677, and the next year it was held behind the buildings at the Eagles Meadow before the Livelys purchased the property. This year’s LivelyLands will be staged at the back of the property on Aug. 20-22. Featured acts will include Austin artist Dana Falconbury (who has an album entitled Leelanau), and a trio consisting of Gregory Stovetop, Seth Bernard, and Mark Lavengood, all on Friday. Joshua Davis, Emma Cook, and the Detroit funk/soul band Laura Rain & the Caesars all play on Saturday; and the Mark Lavengood Blue Grass Jam finishes off the festival on Sunday. Former local Pete Wiejaczka will be home from his career providing sound for arena concerts all over the country to set up sound gear and turn the knobs, Maria Ulrich from Leelanau Sound will help out again as the stage manager, and Emily’s close friend from Austin, Jason Weems, will again bring his resonant radio voice to the emcee duties. A talented singer-songwriter in her own right, Emily has created a production company (Lively Productions, duh!) that is “dedicated to assuring that at least 50% of our acts are female-fronted bands.” Tickets and info and opportunities to volunteer and to contribute can be found at TheLivelyLands.com.
With the help and guidance of parents Jim and Kelly, the entire Lively family is busy on many fronts creating and sustaining community.
