Mortensen.Farm

Eric Mortensen here, resident farmer at Mortensen.Farm. Honestly, I feel weird calling myself a farmer since I’m very new at this. I am descended from generations of farmers, and I grew up on this farm. Starting in 2026, I hope to make it successful as a producer of fresh vegetables and fruits.

In 2024, I moved back to the farmstead in Audubon County, Iowa, after 27 years living in New York City. While in NYC, I worked many years as a web developer for CNN. In 2014 I earned a master’s degree in library science and was blessed to have the opportunity to work as a music librarian at the Juilliard School for 10 years.

As a child I loved gardening. As I grew older as an adult, I sought to find an outlet for my gardening interests while living in an apartment in the big city. I experimented with growing various plants in my windowsill, with mixed success. In 2024 I made the leap back to Iowa, where my family’s acreage offered lots of space to grow and nurture food crops.

In 2025, I fenced off 3/4 of an acre to protect it from deer and rabbits. I planted multiple fruit trees and berry plants. While working a full-time job, I spent as much time as possible in the garden growing a variety of food crops. Some were successful, some not so successful, but everything is a learning experience.

In 2026, I plan to scale up to market gardening — growing crops to sell at local farmers markets. I plan to put a larger area into production this year and focus on a selection of crops aimed to appeal to patrons of farmers markets.

I look forward to exploring my inner farmer and providing fresh healthy produce to communities in western Iowa.