Lettuce Heads Aquaponics and Farm

As fifth generation farmers, Kurk and Nick Ziegler were no strangers to growing up working on a farm. Having spent their childhood helping out on their family pig farm, they know the ins and outs of farm life and all of the work that goes into being a farmer. After many years working on the pig farm it became clear that much like the four generations before them a pursuit of a new farming enterprise was destined to be born. While the principle values of farming (hard work and faith in something greater than ourselves) have remained the same throughout the years, methods have changed. It was clear that pig farming was not the path that they wanted to take. After several years of having a small garden and selling at the local farmers market, Kurk decided that his hobby had slowly become his passion. He loved growing fresh food for local people and making positive change in the world. With one call to Nicholas he was on board. Thus their goal was to provide fresh and local produce to their community was born. Starting an aquaponic farm provided the opportunity to not only grow fresh produce year round in Northeast Ohio, but also fit the bill for their desire to grow in a sustainable and environmentally conscience fashion. After a few family discussions, and a threat to move out of Ohio, their dad's, Kevin and Kenny were on board and Lettuce Heads was born! Two years later we have a 34x96 aquaponic house that holds a variety of leafy greens, herbs and other crops, as well as 500 tilapia. In addition to growing aquaponically, we have 2 acres of outdoor planting space that we rotate each season to nurture and care for our soils. We add organic compost and fertilizers per recommendations based on soil sampling to ensure we can grow the healthiest and most nutritious vegetables possible. We are committed to growing our produce as sustainably and organically as possible and taking care of the land that we are fortunate enough to tend while on this earth. Our goal is to have our customers fall in love with the way vegetables are suppose to taste when grown fresh and free (of chemicals).