How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

How on Earth should we live?

Here at Gathering Ground, we’re deeply engaged in the work of answering this question.

It is clear now more than ever that the world is facing an ecological crisis, and that the only way to turn back the tide is to radically reimagine our relationship with the land that sustains us.

Our 40 acre farm on remote Washington Island, in Wisconsin’s Door County, serves as our living laboratory. The island is a self contained ecosystem, which makes it the perfect home for our experiments in community-based sustainable farming, education and conservation.

Join us in planting for the future.

About Us

Gathering Ground blends agriculture and conservation on its 40 acre working and teaching farm on Wisconsin’s Washington Island. With a vision for thriving communities connected to the environment and their food through work and play, we focus on sustainable farming practices with our diverse fruit and nut orchards, vineyards, and grazing sheep. We promote biodiversity, offer community composting, and support local farms through our Farmers’ Market.

Gathering Ground offers an educational internship, Ground School, for young adults interested in agriculture, conservation, and environmentalism. We partner with our local K-12 district to educate kids about sustainability. We also offer workshops and events for all ages, including our annual Dinner in the Vineyard, a celebration of local food and drink among our vines. The Grounds are open for walking tours and picnics. Join us in Planting for the Future!

Donate

Volunteer

Drip Irrigation Workshop

Learn how to install and use a drip irrigation system for your home garden. Hands-on learning through putting in a system in GG’s new community garden.

Apply For Ground School

Ground School is a 10-week internship for students 16+ interested in hands-on learning on the farm. Build community, learn how to plant and grow gardens and orchards, understand the role of agriculture in conservation efforts on Washington Island. 

Farmers' Market Starts Memorial Day Weekend

Our weekly Farmers’ Market meets every Saturday from 9AM to noon on Main Road.

It’s an honor to share the homegrown bounty of Washington Island with the community! Get ready for a summer of earthly abundance.

Upcoming Events

Our Mission

We envision thriving communities connected to the environment and their food through work and play.

 

We cultivate community and learning in partnership with the generous earth through agriculture.

Learn what drives us

Take a virtual trip to our Washington Island farm, and hear more from the founders about what motivates them to learn from its soil.

Watch this video overview of our property, featuring footage from our annual Dinner in the Vineyard fundraiser. Hear from Russell and Alessandra Rolffs about what inspired them to start the foundation, and what they envision for its future.

Video production by Dusan Harminc of Stumptown Media.

Support Our Work

Help us plant seeds of knowledge to grow a sustainable future

News From the Farm

Earth Day Poetry Workshop

Earth Day Poetry Workshop

April 22 - 10 am at Jeannie's Heron Home Earth Day Poetry Workshop with Alessandra Simmons. Celebrate the beauty of the world around us. A fundraiser for Gathering Ground, in this workshop we will read some odes for the natural world and write some of our own with...

read more
Thursday Workshops at The Grounds

Thursday Workshops at The Grounds

Gathering Ground is beginning to offer regularly scheduled gardening workshops this year each Thursday at 9:30 am May 25 - July 27, with occasional Thursdays in August and September. Workshops will be primarily led by Russell Rolffs, but also occasional guests. We’ll...

read more
Chestnuts: Planning for 2023

Chestnuts: Planning for 2023

GG is several years into answering the question: can you grow chestnuts in northern Wisconsin? When we started the project, I thought our biggest strike against us was our minimum winter temperatures. But the only time we have had significant tree die-off is the when...

read more

They say that the best time to plant a fruit tree is thirty years ago. Well, the second best time is now.

- Russell Rolffs

President and Farm Manager

Featured Campaign:

Plant a Chestnut

Help us plant chestnut trees!

Chestnuts are called the Bread Tree, as the nuts have a similar nutritional profile to grain. They can be eaten fresh or milled into a flour. They can produce 4,000 pounds per acre, and start producing in as little as 3 years.

Chestnuts are a sustainable food harvest because they produce every year without needing to be replanted, thereby reducing tillage, helping build soils, and locking carbon in the soil.

Tree Sponsorship:

Your gift of $100 allows us to plant a seedling and care for it to maturity

Memorial Tree:

Your gift of $200 allows us to plant a tree in your or a loved one’s name, memorialized with a plaque, and to care for it to maturity.

Featured Campaign:

Build a Forest Path

With the help of Washington Island School students and their teachers, we are creating a path between the Island School campus and Gathering Ground. The path will not only provide a safe way for students to travel from the school to the Grounds, but it will be a classroom itself – for students and community members alike. The forest path will provide us with the opportunity to enjoy the forest habitat through the seasons, provide a place for phenology studies and forest education, benches for sketching and reflection, and so much more. We are excited for this opportunity to collaborate with our neighbors. Thank you for joining us!

Want to get involved in the creation of the path? Let us know.

Donations of $25 to $50 will help provide mulch for the pathway.

Donations of $100 to $500 will help us lay boardwalk to protect the delicate wetland areas of the forest.

Our Partners & Sponsors

Door County Community Foundation logo
Plantra logo
Stumptown Media logo

We are so grateful for the support we receive from our partners and sponsors. Do you have a company or organization that’s dedicated to promoting and investing in sustainable agriculture? Contact us for more info.