our story

The farm

After earning a degree in sustainable agriculture and working on farms all over the world, Farmer Malaika, with the help of friends and family, started Roots to River Farm in 2013.

The farm is now it's own living entity with people of amazing talents whose big hearts and strong backs grace the land every season. See The Team.

One of those incredible people was Breezy Mehringer who joined the crew in 2017 and after 3 years of working at Roots to River and one year abroad, has returned to become a partner in the farm. Together Malaika and Breezy run Roots to River focusing on growing for custom CSA shares, local restaurants and our own Amara kitchen and aperitivo.

We believe that good farming is a public service. We want to provide a product that is of the highest quality, the most nutritious, beautiful and affordable while also offering a connection between consumers and the farm.

In addition to being certified organic we utilize resilient agricultural techniques such as reduced-tillage, intensive cover cropping, integrated pest management, occultation, contour tillage and organic compost applications to nurture the soil and ecology of our farm and the people who work here. 

the love stories

One afternoon in 2013, while Malaika was on the tractor she was approached by a neighbor wanting to introduce a new chef to the farm. Ian Knauer lived down the street and was opening a cooking school. He dropped off a copy of his cookbook, The Farm, and asked if he could glean hot peppers left in the field before the frost. This is the kind of chef a farmer loves to meet.

Ian joined the winter CSA and started buying vegetables for the up-and-running Farm Cooking School. It wasn't long before Ian and Malaika fell in love and a perfect partnership was created. 

In 2018, Karl Wagner began an internship in Ian’s kitchen at the Farm Cooking School. While Breezy worked on the farm, she began to spend more and more time in the kitchen. She and Karl fell in love over a shared passion for food.

the present

In between tractor work and packing CSA shares, you will find Malaika and Breezy dropping off fresh produce to the kitchen for Karl and Ian to make into delicious and sought after products, from pantry staples like our line of heirloom tomato sauces and hot sauces, to specialty products like our own aperitif wine made from vegetables and herbs to incredible dishes for their farm to table dinners.

We love what we do and we are so excited to share our joy of food with you. Our goal is to bring people together over delicious, simple food and drink that taste like nothing else you’ve had before.