Meet the Lengel Brothers Farm Family
Western Pennsylvania History
Our paternal grandparents moved to the farm at 1346 Mercer Grove City Road in the early 1940's from Parkman, Ohio with some of their children. They started farming immediately and helping out other farmers when jobs were too big for anyone to do alone. That's how these farmers survive and that way of cooperation still goes unnoticed today. In the 1960's our dad ,Robert, and his brother Albert built a large milking barn and the first silo. As my brothers and I grew up (David, Stephen, Gary, and George, and Elliott) we helped with the daily chores of milking and other things that kept the farm a viable source of income for our family and uncle Albert.
In the 1970's through to the mid 1990's we were one of the largest dairies in Mercer County operating with a herd of 250+ holstein and farming 1000 acres. Over the decades, our dad and uncle have both passed and since the mid 1990's we started downsizing. Three brothers left to pursue other areas of work. Our youngest brother George received his PhD in physics, and lives in Massachusetts. Stephen followed by beginning a career with Agway and is the owner of the Agway store in Hermitage, Pa. Gary was the last to pursue a new horizon by owning and operating a Foxes Pizza Shop in Grove City. Agriculture and growing up on the farm helped each of us along the path of successful businessmen. David and Elliott, with the help of Rakelle Daniels (full time employee) and several part time employees are still operating the farm; and adapting to the challenges of Agriculture across Western Pennsylvania and the country.
Farming Has its Roots
Niche farming practices became relevant to our farm decades ago when we started growing sunflowers and buckwheat for birdseed and flour. Vegetables were started in the early 2000's when we grew a small amount of sweet corn and tomatoes and a few other standards in the vegetables market selling them on the farm. Soon, we started growing more varieties and acres. With some help from two of our wholesale customers we moved into plastic culture including unheated greenhouse used as high tunnels. Drip irrigation became a major part of the operation with the purchase of a bed layer that with one pass will make a raised bed covered with plastic mulch and lay the drip line a couple of inches beneath the dirt. The depth will vary depending on the crop. Over time with pumpkins, sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, legumes, cole crops, brassica crops, potatoes, and including the high tunnels and microgreens building and greenhouse we are at 60 acres of vegetables grown on the farm. We still raise beef for sale and will have hogs this fall all for freezer meat.
We also grow our own feed for the animals such as pollinators fields for our bees. We also still plant some sunflowers and buckwheat.
Visit the Lengel Brothers Farm
We welcome all to visit the farm to view our fields of growing crops. We encourage our CSA members to visit often and get to know us and our help more. Know your Farmer. Know your food source and enjoy a Farm to Table meal.
