TO THE EDGE. The Olson family's life took a sharp turn during 2020, a chapter in the Madison area closing as a life on a Bloomer farmstead began. (Submitted photos, Scottish Highland cattle pictured)

Both of my parents grew up on farms in the Chippewa Valley. My old man spent enough childhood summers in Elk Mound tending to and picking a variety of produce that he can hardly stand the sight of strawberries even now; my mom grew up on a dairy farm over in Stanley-Boyd; and my grandpa is still at it to this day. So I’ve heard enough stories – and spent several of my own summers battling weeds and the farm’s shadeless heat – to know farming is the kind of grueling manual labor that is needlessly demanding. One does not just stumble into large-scale farming. Unless you’re the Olson family.

Joe Olson grew up in Bloomer, graduating high school before heading off to UW-Madison where he met his future wife Heather, a nurse, and studied engineering. After Joe’s service in the U.S. Marine Corps (which included many moves across the country), the couple landed back in the Madison area where they would grow into a family of six. They intended to stay there. In 2020, their plans went out the window.

The Olson family.

Prior to the spring of 2020, the Olsons had secured a cabin in Bloomer to spend some summertime weekends as a family in Joe’s hometown. With the world at a standstill that summer, the Olsons ended up spending almost the entirety of the season there, a slice of peace that made them think twice about where they lived.

“Through a lot of serendipity, we found a little hobby farm,” Joe said, recalling the decision to say goodbye to Madison and move back to Bloomer. “It turns out, it’s more than ‘little.’ We just made a leap of faith.”

I asked Joe if he had farming roots in the Valley. (He couldn’t have jumped into this blind, right?) “No background in farming,” he replied. (He did, in fact, jump in blind.) “I spend an inordinate amount of time on YouTube learning how to do things, and I can’t tell you how many books I’ve read, how many different resources exist out there that I’ve consumed – podcasts, books, movies, whatever form – on farming.”

“It started with chickens. Chickens are a gateway drug.” –Joe Olson of Glacier's Edge Farm, on how the family got into farming

The true culprit, though, behind the Olson family’s venture into farming was not a global pandemic nor the allure of the century-old red barn, which has lived many lives on the Bloomer farmstead. As it turns out, it’s the damn chickens.

“It started with chickens. Chickens are a gateway drug,” he insisted as I laughed. “Once you get a chicken and you see how fun it is, and taste a farm-fresh egg and realize ‘Wait a second, why do I have go to a grocery for this? This is better and I can do it myself,’ it really is (like a drug).”

A flock of egg-laying chickens grew to pastured poultry (meat chickens and turkeys), pigs, and cattle. The latter was the true nail-in-the-pen. “We had intended – and I could probably say that about a lot of things in my life – to take it slow,” Joe explained. But then he saw his would-be herd.

By the time the Olsons laid eyes on the herd of Scottish Highland cattle up for sale just a few miles from their new Bloomer home, there was no use in denying the inevitable. “Once you get cattle, there’s really no ‘dip your toe in’ anymore,” Joe said. It was final: The Olsons were a farming family.

Thankfully, they weren’t truly starting from scratch. Glacier’s Edge Farm has been home to several generations of farmers spanning 100 years. The Olsons bought the farm from Anne and Steve Hansen, who spent the better part of their 30-year ownership investing into its infrastructure and transitioning it into organic practices. Before them, two other families called the farm home. (The Olsons brought members of all previous owners’ families together in 2023, the the 100-year anniversary of the barn’s raising in 1923.)

Members of all the families who have owned the Bloomer farm since its inception at a 2023 get-together.

In the last handful of years, the Olsons have not only expanded their livestock but also into the community. After a local market never came back after COVID, the Olsons and several other community members and farmers reinvigorated and reestablished it. Glacier’s Edge also became home to its own farm store, selling its farm-fresh goods as well as photographs of their animals and farm, on-site. And while Joe’s “day job” in engineering continues, the newfound farm life has been a blessing in a variety of ways.

“Over the course of my career I’ve been fortunate to have some realizations about balance: ensuring you have enough family time and do something you love,” Joe said. “My ‘day job,’ the farm, and my family exist together, not separately, and I’m better because of it all.”

Heather heads most of the day-to-day farm duties while Joe runs much of its infrastructure projects, their four children embracing a childhood that is much different than it was before 2020. With 12 barn cats, two 100-pound dogs, a herd of Scottish Highland cattle, plus pigs and chickens and turkeys galore, they are immersed in nature and the outdoors in a novel way.

Farming will ensure the Olsons are always students, learning more about and continuing to care for the land in a way they are proud of. Thanks to neighbors, new friends, and the community, what sounded like a crazy decision – taking on farming for the first time, ever – isn’t so crazy after all.

"There's something about the culture here and the community, it allows you to just feel welcome. I love that, " Joe concluded. 

Glacier’s Edge Farm’s on-site store (19351 165th St., Bloomer) is open Sundays, 10am-2pm, and they often accept inquiries for families to visit the farm at other times • Visit Glacier’s Edge Farm’s website to learn more and order their products online • Keep up with the farm on Facebook