A John Deere Publication
The beauty of growing garlic is that it is something the Winters' children love to help with.
Agriculture, Livestock/Poultry June 01, 2026
Rooted in Food, Grounded in Family
It's family first at Cottage Pastures.
Story and Photos by Bill Spiegel
Cottage Pastures Farms near Vevay, Indiana, has been carefully curated by Mathew and Carissa Winters so that each of its 26 rolling acres has a purpose.
Broilers rotate across pasture, fertilizing ground for the next crop. In woods, pigs help clear out weeds and detritus, giving them more usable acreage. Thousands of bulbs of more than 20 varieties of garlic are planted in beds each fall; the next summer the crop is harvested and shipped throughout the nation.
The Winters' plan is simple. First, grow all the food needed to feed their family, which includes their four young kids: daughters Mary, Gemma, and Valerie, and son Ambrose. The second goal: generate enough revenue to make a living.
The Winters believe growing food as a family together makes their tribe stronger by working, playing and learning together.
It's a logical step, given a little more than a decade ago, Mathew and Carissa were newlyweds with a house in west Cincinnati. They were focused on human health, fitness, and growing their own food in raised beds in their backyard—even though neither had much gardening experience.
"We spent weekends just bringing in dirt from a local box store and basically filled them up. And we grew a very small number of things, maybe some herbs, sweet potatoes, strawberries, things like that in there," Mathew recalls. "But that interest in growing food kind of caught fire."
Over time, they met families who were "homesteading," or raising food from their own acreage. One visit is seared in his mind: a family hosted the Winters for dinner, teaching them the ins and outs of raising free-range chickens, from feeding to butchering and preparing it for meals.
"We noticed there was something different about the food, but beyond that, the family was together through the whole process," he says.
Above. The Winters family includes: Carissa, holding Valerie, Ambrose, Mary, Mathew, and Jemma. Broilers at Cottage Pastures receive a unique food blend that produces rich, flavorful chicken, which is sold across the country. Mary Winters feeds broilers a blend of fermented grains; chickens find their meal on the ground. Berkshire pigs help clean up wooded areas; the pork is top-quality. Cottage Pastures offers 20 types of garlic for sale.
Family food. With a job in social services right out of college, Mathew worked in urban communities. Societal problems often stemmed from a lack of family structure, togetherness, and unity. He and Carissa vowed they would not let that happen with their family.
When they found their country home and established Cottage Pastures Farms in 2022, the Winters contemplated farmers' markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships. With Mathew working a full-time job, young children at home, and the time required to deliver their products, it just didn't work.
"I think that although they are hard work, they are great businesses for a lot of people," says Mathew, who holds a master's degree in business administration. "But it wasn't for us."
The business, the couple agreed, needed to fit their life, not the other way around.
Fast forward a few years. They began growing garlic, because they love the stuff. And most garlic bulbs sold in grocery stores are imported from other countries. They found a wholesale supplier who wanted to buy all the Winters' excess garlic.
"They kind of helped us understand the garlic market. After we planted it and realized how hands-off a crop it is, we thought it made sense. We have lots of land, so let's scale it up a bit," Mathew says.
The pasture-raised broiler business does well; they sell whole-chickens, individual cuts, and broth locally and through their website, cottagepastures.com. They also raise Icelandic sheep for meat. This breed sheds its wool rather than requiring shearing. They have a small herd of Berkshire-based pigs and a few head of small-framed cattle, selling shares of the meat animals.
They are expanding other enterprises, including corn- and soy-free pork and chicken (they have a proprietary blend of fermented organic grains they feed to these animals), plus growing and selling rose veal cuts from pasture-raised calves that roam freely and eat a natural diet of milk, grass, and forage.
It's a lot to take in, but the Winters' objective is to provide business opportunities for their family on a small number of acres. The kids are active in all phases. They feed the animals, plant and harvest garlic, and pick up black walnuts to feed pigs.
A farm is an easy place to engage young people and teach them life lessons, Mathew explains.
"It's very easy to explain what you're actually producing and show what you're actually doing in a productive way. I can tell someone in a matter of 20 seconds, ‘here's how you plant garlic,'" he says. "It's fun for the first 50 bulbs or so. After that, your back starts to hurt a bit and your knees begin to tweak."
But when the parents look around, they see their kids, who don't really realize they are working. The kids are modeling their parents' behavior. They laugh together, work together and yes, occasionally bicker as kids do. But the point is, they are together.
"We're here as a family," Mathew says. "This is where we've chosen to raise our kids, and we think this is a good environment for them to be raised in." ‡
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