This interview was conducted and written by Christine Kennedy, editor of Hills and Heights Newspaper in May 2009.  Whether you're a brand-new customer, or one of our regulars, we thought you might enjoy learning a little of our history and some "behind the scenes" info.
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Heavenly Acre Farm- by Christine Kennedy

Charlie and Nancy Lystrup own a wonderfully unique organic farm nestled up in the hills of La Habra Heights.  What makes this business so unique is that it is run almost entirely by the six oldest children, ages 7 – 17 years.  I had the pleasure of touring Heavenly Acres farm, meeting the whole Lystrup family and watching the Saturday pick-up a few weeks ago.  Karissa Lystrup, 17, is mainly the woman in charge and the person I interviewed but all her siblings, even 8 month old Annaliesa, were in tow and participated in the interview.

 

1.      Have you always been a farming family?  How did you get started?

We moved from a tract home in Cypress to La Habra Heights in the fall of 2000.  Our prior farm experiences consisted of growing citrus trees in pots and planting a vegetable garden in our small backyard.  We moved to the Heights primarily to have a large yard and never expected to get into farming.  I guess you could say that the farming business started with a lemonade stand where we would sell home grown fruit and vegies, baked cookies, and lemonade on Saturdays.  It was so much fun we decided to make it a daily fruit stand.

 

2.      What happened to the fruit stand at the bottom of your driveway?

The fruit stand ran for about 2 years as an honor system.  We heard lots of positive feedback from the community- who loved the old-fashioned, country feel our stand added to the neighborhood.  We had a few theft problems over the years, but one day someone stole our brand-new stand and dumped the produce in the street.  At that point, we were discouraged and decided to stop selling our produce.

 

3.      Describe the process you went through to transition from an “honor system” business model to a “profit earning” business model.

After our stand closed, some of our regular customers still wanted to purchase products.   We started calling them each week with a list of what we had available.  As our customer list grew, this became too time consuming, so we started emailing a weekly list of available products.  Now, just 2 years later, we have almost 500 customers on our email list.

 

4.      How do customers purchase your products?

We send a weekly email every Tuesday.  The email contains a list of what products are available that week and an update about what’s happening at the farm. Customers send orders via email or phone.  We email back a confirmation and let the customer know if we are sold out of anything they ordered.  Pickup is on Saturday mornings between 9-11 am.  We also can make a weekday appointment with a minimum $15 order. 

 

5.      What types of animals do you keep on the farm?

We currently have Dexter cows, Alpine-Kinder dairy goats, and laying chickens.  We also raise pastured meat chickens every year.  We raise our animals using NO antibiotics, hormones, or chemicals.  Instead, we use herbal medicines that are more effective than drugs and healthier for both animals and humans.

 

6.      Do all the animal’s products get sold or do you keep some for personal use?

Everything we do here is primarily to feed our family.  All of our products have been developed first to fulfill our family’s needs.  However, sometimes we get so many orders that we have to be sure to save some for our family.  Dad sometimes teases that he is going to start emailing orders so we save some bread and cookies for him!

 

7.      Your cows must be extremely agile to handle the slope and terrain of your land.  Are all cows as swift as yours?

The Dexter breed has genetics from Ireland with very strong, short legs that allow them to safely navigate a steep hillside.  Certain cows like Jerseys wouldn’t work well on steep terrain.

 

8.      The eggs your chickens lay are delicious!  Is there a trick to developing tasty eggs? 

 

The main ingredient in commercial chicken feed is soy- which has been linked to a variety of health issues, including cancer and hormonal problems.  We’ve spent many hours precisely calculating our own formula without soy.  Our formula contains green peas, fish meal, kelp, alfalfa, flaxseed, black oil sunflower seeds, corn, wheat, and milo.  Our chickens also receive raw goat’s milk (which is a natural probiotic) and lots of fresh greens and produce scraps from our property.  We share our eggs with the local community for free.  What I mean is… the local snakes and squirrels get about 25% of our egg production.  Those critters are agile and hard to stop!

 

9.      How did you get started raising goats and what are the goats used for?

Friends from the Central Coast who raised a large variety of animals encouraged us to get started.  They provided both the animals and the wisdom to properly care for all our animals.  The goats provide our family with raw milk, which we drink and use to make butter, cheese, and ice cream.  We also make soap from the goat milk and saponified oils (palm, coconut, olive, and canola).  We have over 10 different scents in our soaps and it is naturally moisturizing and great for people with allergies.

 

 

10. OK, what’s on a typical list of available products for sale to the public?

This is hard to answer since the list changes every week!  We generally have 10-20 varieties of seasonal produce, 5-10 whole-grain baked goods (including muffins, bread, cookies, and granola bars), goat milk soap (in 13 natural scents), jams, fresh herbs, pet food, and a lot more. 

 

11. How is your list of goods decided and how do people access the list?

We decide what we are going to sell based on what we have in season at the time.  Generally, this is how it goes.  SJ Ranch (a farm in the Heights we partner with) sends us their list of available organic produce.  I determine what produce we have ready to harvest and the boys taste test the Heavenly Acre Orchard to determine what passes inspection.  Then, Jenessa and I get together and talk about what baked goods we want to sell, what produce is in the garden, if we want to do any promotions, and the prices for both farms’ products.  After we decide, I type it all up and send the finished product list to about 500 different households who are on our weekly email list.  For first timers, the list of specials is available on our website, www.heavenlyacre.com.  From our website, people can contact us and we will put you on our weekly email list.

 

12.  How are your products different from buying at health food stores?

For starters, we always harvest the produce within two hours of when the customer picks it up.  Sometimes, our customer even has to wait for a minute or two while we finish harvesting the order.  Our customers trust us kids when we assure them that whatever we sell is pesticide and chemical free.  One of the ways that we do that is by fertilizing our trees and garden with our pesticide/chemical free manure from the cows, goats, and chickens.  On our animals, we only use an herbal wormer (instead of the chemical wormer that most farmers use).  If we used the chemical wormer, the toxic chemicals in the wormer would come through the manure and that would automatically make anything we harvested have chemicals in it.  That wouldn’t fly here at Heavenly Acre.  We strive to put out pesticide/chemical free, locally grown, “top notch” products.

 

13. Who does what on a daily basis to keep the farm working?              

Many people think that mom and dad are “slave drivers” and that we poor kids are helping supplement dad’s welfare check.  In fact, we kids are 100% “in charge” and we keep all of the profits.  Mom and dad counsel us and say no when we bite off more than we can chew.

 

      We all have different jurisdictions at Heavenly Acres.  I am in charge of milking the cows, making chicken feed, nurturing/harvesting fruit trees, taking care of all the communications/sales side of the business, and maintaining the website.  Jenessa (15) does all the handling of the milk, the bulk of the gardening, makes most of the baked goods that we sell and is going to be raising meat chickens soon.  Annika (13) is responsible for all the milking/care of the goats, caring for the laying hens, making delicious bread and helping out with the gardening.  Aaron (12) helps to take care of the cows and does a lot of work on nurturing the fruit trees.  Charles (10) assists with the weeding of the gardens and the harvesting of the fruit trees.  Matthias (7) is everyone’s right hand man.  If you need something done, he is always ready to help out.  He helps with the gardening, chickens and goats.  He feeds the guard dogs and the cats and occasionally helps with the baking.   At this point, Annaliesa (8 months) offers the cutest smiles in Southern California (in our totally impartial opinion) that keep us all encouraged!

 

14. I understand this is not your only business venture.  What else are you involved in?

 

I am an organist playing for both weddings and funerals.  Each of my brothers and sisters plays a number of musical instruments and we have taken voice lessons for a number of years.  We enjoy performing for local gatherings.  (We play the flute, violin, viola, cello, and piano).  We love to harmonize together as we sing primarily Christian spiritual songs and hymns.

                  

15. What are your future plans for Heavenly Acre?

 

We are enjoying deepening our roots within the local community.  It is rewarding to share healthy products and to interact with so many wonderful people.  Over the years, we have developed several good friendships that first started as a customer buying our products.  Dad says when the kids grow up the animals must go!  We’re not too worried about it since my littlest sister is only 8 months old.

 

 

Like I said before, Heavenly Acres is a truly unique farm, run by a unique and warm family, that we are lucky enough to have right here.  If you are interested in learning more about Heavenly Acres or purchasing some of their home-grown produce, please visit www.heavenlyacre.com.  You’re in for a treat!