Windy Rise Fruit Farm

Thank you! Because of your support, 16 written comments were submitted on our behalf to CARPC in July. The Sun Prairie Common Council will consider rescinding its Urban Service Area amendment application tomorrow evening (so that it can hopefully be revised to carve out our property before resubmission.) If you're local, please submit a brief comment on agenda item 6.C by 5:00 p.m. Tuesday 8/4/26 at https://cityofsunprairie.com/Comments/COW

Suggested comment: I support rescinding Resolution 26/045 so that the Stinson property can be carved out of the proposed Urban Service Area amendment before the application is resubmitted to CARPC.

If you're a City of Sun Prairie resident, please also mention that you're a constituent. It only takes a minute, and every comment helps. Thank you for standing with us!

Photos of our pumpkin patch and garden (taken today) to show you our rural farmette paradise.

Even though it's been several years since we operated our CSA or stocked the roadside stand, we still live here, still care deeply about this land, and the orchard is thriving.

The City of Sun Prairie is currently seeking approval to expand its Urban Service Area to include our property along with more than 400 acres of surrounding farmland. As part of the public comment process, we are asking that our property be carved out of the expansion area and that future planning include stormwater and/or greenway buffers surrounding our land.

We want to be clear: we are not willing sellers to a developer, and we do not foresee that changing in our lifetimes. This is our home, our orchard, and the place we intend to steward for the long term.

If you were ever one of our CSA members, roadside stand customers, or farm supporters, would you consider submitting a short written comment in support of our request?

It doesn't need to be lengthy. Something as simple as: "I am [name], and I have lived in [community] for [X] years. I purchased produce from Windy Rise Fruit Farm and know Ev and Joleen Stinson to be deeply committed to their property and its long-term stewardship. I support their request that the City of Sun Prairie carve their property out of the Urban Service Area amendment and to plan for stormwater and/or greenway buffers surrounding their land."

Comments can be emailed to: [email protected]
We'd appreciate a CC at [email protected]
Comments are due: Wednesday, July 8 by 5:00 PM

We know this is an unusual request. Thank you for your support over the years and for helping us protect the place we've called home.

This update is long overdue. Last year, we focused mostly on the orchard and other perennial fruits. We cut back on annual veggies and didn't even set up the roadside stand until pumpkin season. With our growing boys and their increasingly busy sports + club schedules, plus our full-time off-farm jobs, it was too much to do it all. But we did have farm wins too! We tried making our first hard cider (there is room for improvement on that one...) We adopted/rescued 4 ducks that mesh well with our chickens. We sold a bit to restaurants, ate a lot of fresh fruit and veggies, and preserved even more. This upcoming growing season will look similar: still lots of fruit growing, but less social media presence and less public sales. One thing we're sticking with is serving our regular egg customers. And the hens think it is spring, so they have been laying a lot more these last few weeks. We're getting quite a stockpile, so if you want farm fresh eggs and you live in the Sun Prairie area, we'd be happy to coordinate a drop off or farm pick up. Just $3/dozen. PM please.

Did you procrastinate buying pumpkins for your Halloween festivities tonight and now can't find any left in the stores? Plenty of carving sized pumpkins at our roadside stand area for $4-$6/each. 6710 County Road N, Sun Prairie. Locked cash box on site.

Our earliest apple variety is ready. Pristine apples are a medium-to-large fruit with a sweet-tart taste and a crisp, breaking flesh. They are excellent for cooking, sauce and eating fresh. We're so excited to kick off harvest season!

White currants now available for $4 per pint. Their sweeter flavor (over red or black currants) and low acidity make them best for desserts and other sweets. Because they have a lot of pectin, they are a good choice for jams, jellies, and tart fillings.

Comment here or send a PM, text us if you have our , or send an email to [email protected] to arrange pick-up or drop-off (in the area) if you're interested in buying some. We don't have the roadside stand set-up yet and these beauties would get stolen by the squirrels.

Sorry we've been terrible at posting updates. Farm and orchard are still growing strong. We're focusing on perennial fruit this year and have cut back on the annual veggies because our orchard is maturing. We're looking forward to a wonderful apple harvest this fall (fingers crossed.)

Hey ya'll. I have these beautiful atomic grape and cherry tomatoes if anyone is interested. The weather this year led to very late harvests, and my regular restaurant buyers aren't interested in them at this point, so I thought I'd see if anyone here is interested. Before the freezing temps hit, I harvested everything left in the garden that was at breaker stage (ripening, no longer taking nutrients from plants) or beyond and am allowing them to finish ripening inside. I'd like to sell them at $2 a pound, but don't really have time to process them, so make me an offer! The fastest way to reach me is through [email protected]. I have around 30 pounds ripe right now (picture is current at 8am 10/21) but plenty more letting the ethylene work its magic. Consider canning, roasting and freezing, fermenting or other preservation methods to have garden tomato flavor all year long! I also have ripening heirloom tomatoes available for the near future. Thanks!

Just wanted to let anyone interested that we have A LOT of nice heirloom tomatoes! We'd like to get them into the hands of anyone looking to can them, make sauces, soups, bloody mary mix, or just eat them fresh! These are NOT seconds, but due to late season ripening, these beauties missed the window for restaurants featuring heirlooms. I'd like to sell them at 20 pounds for just $10! If you would like to arrange differing amounts, we can do the math at 50 cents a pound; 20 pounds just seems to be the amount most frequently requested and is easy to pack. I'll be able to respond more quickly if you contact me at [email protected] rather than on FB, but will try to field all responses. If you don't have big weekend plans, looks like it's going to great weather for fun in the kitchen!

Hey y'all, we've been harvesting more cukes than we know what to do with! I have 15-20 pounds of cucumbers harvested a few days ago which have begun to wrinkle on the ends. In the interest of keeping the roadside stand stocked with fresh picks, I have been ferment-pickling these, but I am out of room to store them! I will put them in a bag in a cooler on the stand for $5. A steal for anyone looking to make pickles on the cheap, gazpacho, cucumber cocktails or any other creative thing you can come up with! I will also be harvesting more grapes, and adding a bunch more Asian and European pears!

Hot date tonight? Stop by the farm stand to get your sweetie some flowers ❤️ or beets, grapes, summer squash, & cucumbers