About Us...

Christa

Born to a German-immigrant father, Christa was exposed to farmsteading skills early in life, where her family always had a large garden, kept bees, and valued the result of hard work. Even though she grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland, the old world was only as far away as her Oma's kitchen.

Christa's mother, a 1970's version of Martha Stewart, wrote poetry to her daughters, sewed them dresses, and baked peach pies from their backyard tree. From her, Christa gained a value for visual beauty and a love of language that is evident in Christa's work today. 

Christa started her adventures in environmental education during her summers in college when she was hired as the Nature Director for a 1,000+ acre camp on a gorgeous lake. In those moments of teaching children how to play in and love the natural world, Christa found her calling.

She met her husband, Chris, at that very same camp. Six years later, they married at the edge of the forest on a friend's farm.

Chris

Chris grew up in a humble rural town in middle Ohio to a teacher mom and a meat cutter father. He was raised in an extended family of farmers, teachers, and entrepreneurs. As a child, Chris learned about hard work by raising rabbits in their backyard shed, watching his mom always busy with school work or helping at their church, and by watching his grandparents run a grocery store and other small businesses. His family may not have had a lot, but they always had enough to share.

In a family of avid hunters and fisherman, Chris connected early to being on the water and in the woods. So in college, he studied wildlife, forests, and fish.

Together

Partners in both life and work, Christa and Chris found themselves working together again and again, at camps, a health food restaurant, science center, and finally at the Stratford Ecological Center, an organic farm and environmental education center. 

Christa spent 15 years as the Education Director of the teaching farm, founding their summer farm camp, adult education programs, and annual events. She refined and expanded their school field trips, while tending the children's garden and the beehives. Chris managed the state nature preserve and facilities, made maple syrup, and used his years of carpentry experience to beautify every surface he touched.

At home, they gardened, kept bees, raised chickens, and started a family.

Sequoia

Sequoia was born at home, strong from the outset. Blessed to be able to come to work with Christa and Chris, her first few years of life were spent in the garden, forest, and office. Her outgoing spirit became the greeter at the center, and she took up teaching as soon as she could talk, often answering the questions meant for Christa's students and telling visitors the next fact as she rode around the farm and trails on her mama's back.

Bring the Farm to You®

Approaching 40 years old and her 15th anniversary at Stratford, Christa stepped back to look ahead. She had recently gone back to college full time, on top of her full-time job and young child, to pursue a degree she self-titled Holistic Ecology. (The college later adopted and began offering the degree program Christa had created.) In those studies of human-nature relations, she found new learnings, but most of all, she found her belief in what she was capable of creating.

That experience gave her the confidence to leave her safe career and step out into the unknown to build a business with nothing more than a name and a concept.

Chris left the teaching farm around the same time to manage a camp facility that wanted his help building a farm and greenhouse on site.

Christa launched Bring the Farm to You® in early 2012. After inventorying her skills, she realized she could take what she knew and create programs that she could then share with schools and libraries. Because she had worked with schools for a decade and a half, she knew the need was there. So she began studying entrepreneurship and began building a business. 

It was a family's labor of love. Christa built the foundation, programs, and the relationships with clients. Chris built the animal pens and travel cages. Sequoia's love and talent for teaching never wavered so when Christa began sharing programs, Sequoia was right there by her side, stunning audiences with her 8-year old confidence and knowledge.

It didn't take long for the business to grow. After a few years, Christa was able to replace the salary she had left and began hiring help for the expanding programs. By 2017, Chris, always behind the scenes building, teaching, and helping, left his job to join Christa full time.

Melody

Their second daughter, Melody, arrived later in life for Christa and Chris. She was such an easy and happy baby that she often annoyed onlooking parents with the way she would lay down and nap anywhere. At 3, she's already joining her family with taking care of the farm animals and proudly wears her Bring the Farm to You® t-shirt when she joins in the family's work. Almost always happy, she's often found playing in the garden while her mama weeds, or helping her dad with chores. This recent quote said before bed sums up Melody: "Tomorrow is a working day. It's going to be so much fun!"

Today, Sequoia is in high school, president of her class, a straight-A student, a musician, and a big sister. She still teaches for Bring the Farm to You® and is looking forward to a career in education.

The vision that Christa had years ago to have her life be her work and her work her life has come together as 

As Bring the Farm to You® continues to grow and expand in new directions, Christa and Chris continue to build, create, and vision how to expand their work and impact.  

After years of people asking, Christa now shares resources and advice with others who want to create their own on-the-road farm programs, helping others build a successful business, and spreading the impact of farm education nation-wide.