Great Heritage Farm . . .
was started to produce amazing tasting, nutrient-dense food for our family and community, to steward our land sustainably, and to provide high quality life for the animals and people connected to them. We take pride in our foods, and enjoy sharing our little farm with each other – and with you!
We are family farm in Winthrop, MN owned and operated by Benjamin & Leah Matzke, along with our five children. We practice rotational grazing, meaning our livestock are moved regularly, which supports animal health and helps build soils.
Here is a little about each of us as way of an introduction:
Benjamin grew up in southern Minnesota and finds peace in being outdoors, and leads multiple excursions into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area each year as a way to slow down and enjoy nature – even in the winter! He is the innovator in our family, and is often found drawing up new pasture plans, calculating feeds costs, coming up with ways to improve life on our farm, etc . . . Benj loves being a dad, and usually has a little helper alongside while working on projects around the farm.
Leah also grew up in southern Minnesota and spent as much time as she could in the countryside. She enjoyed milking cows during high school, and was very active with 4-H animal projects and the county fair, something she enjoys doing again with the kids. After years of caring for other people’s livestock Leah is proud to be raising her own. She loves being a mom and helping raise her children to explore creation and rejoice in God’s many gifts, the greatest of which is salvation found in Christ’s death and resurrection
Our “Greatest” Heritage
When you hear our name Great Heritage Farm you may think of the heritage breeds of animals we raise here, or the old-world foods and crafts we practice and produce. But our farm name was actually inspired by the beloved hymn that is continuously singing in our lives, “God’s Word Is Our Great Heritage.”
God’s word is our great heritage
and shall be ours forever;
to spread its light from age to age
shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way;
in death it is our stay.
Lord, grant while time shall last
your church may hold it fast
throughout all generations.
Everything we do comes back to the many blessings we have freely received from our loving God. In the words of the psalmist
“Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.” Psalm 119:111-112
This psalmist cherishes God’s Word as his “heritage” and the “joy of his heart,” which form the foundation of his life.
As part of God’s family through Jesus, our spiritual heritage lies in Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. Despite inheriting a sinful nature from birth, Jesus’s promise of defeating death gives us hope into eternity.
Not because of what we have done, but what Christ has done for us, we now share in his triumph over sin and death. The Holy Spirit seals our adoption, and we eagerly await the resurrection of our bodies. As we remember God’s deliverance in our lives, we let joy fill our hearts and gratitude for His grace abounds.
