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Thank You for a wonderful season - see you next spring

Our

Story

Mission

We are a family farm, owned and operated, four generations strong. Our mission is to grow and sell the highest quality of farm products and provide the services that follow these farm products to our customers, just as we would to our own family.

WILTSE'S FAMILY TRADITION

We are proud to continue our families legacy. Our parents Marie and Jerome "Red" moved to Wiltse Farm located in Maple Park, IL in 1965. We are proud to serve the community providing produce, greenhouse offerings, mulch, landscaping services and more. Our roots are in farming and providing the very best to our customers. We put a lot of love in what we do and hope it shows. We love growing for you. Make sure to continue to check back for farm updates and fun events throughout the year!
MEET THE FAMILY

Our Mom & Dad - The Wiltse's Legacy

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Jerome "Red" Wiltse and Marie Theis were married on June 3rd 1961.  They made their home on Harter Road for a short time until 1965 when they moved to the present family farm on Rt. 38 near County Line Rd. Wiltse's Farm was born and became a labor of love that the two of them shared along with his cousin John Hickey - and planted the roots for their children to later continue to grow.

Jerome "Red" Marie's beloved husband passed in 1986, leaving behind Marie and five children. 

Marie assumed his position in the partnership with John Hickey. This meant that she had to take on his duties, overseeing the livestock and farming side of the family business. Many people thought, and several actually said, that Marie wouldn't be able to do it. How wrong they were. Marie's steely determination answered any questions as to her abilities. She held steady and calmly helmed all areas of the farm in defiance of any doubt and continued to raise her children to boot!

She passed on her hard won knowledge to her children and showed them through her actions what it was to be a hard worker. The vegetable garden grew in size as her kids did the same, she'd take them to local markets and teach them the workings of the farm.

Marie passed away at the Age of 78. She passed peacefully at home on the farm surrounded by love and prayers of family in the early hours of Sunday, August 26, 2018. 

Her legacy lives on four generations strong. Each year that goes by without her and our father, we think about all that she has taught us through loss and determination. We remember her in every moment and we feel proud to share her knowledge with our families - growing the next generations of Wiltse Farmers.

Our Specialty

We grow an array of farm produce, literally from A to Z! We start in the spring with greenhouses blooming with color, with hardy annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetable plants that were attentively started and cared for by Kate. We then start cutting asparagus and looking over everything growing in our greenhouse and fields. At the same time, Joe is also keeping an eye on the condition of the fields that yield our crops. By this time Joe already has the potatoes, onions and some early sweet corn planted.

Craftmanship

As a family team, Kate, Joe and Patty start the process of preparing for the rest of the busy planting, nurturing and harvest season ahead. We use crop rotation practices. This helps us to keep the crop pests ‘confused’, lessening the need to use pest control. We keep detailed record on ground nutrients applied. This allows us to control and only apply what we actually need to specific crops. By using integrated pest management, if the need should arise, we only use products that are safe to people and the environment.
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