Life On The Farm In Year 2 For Willis Family

MOKENA, IL — The Willis family is enjoying life on the farm nearly a year-and-a-half into a venture known as LOCAL 180°, their own family farm on a four-acre section of land right off Interstate 80 in Mokena.

Last we checked with them, a Kickstarter campaign was set up to help get things started back in February of 2017. A "completely successful" campaign was vital in helping the family start the farm and thus adopt a 100 percent healthy lifestyle. READ MORE: Mokena Family Seeks To Start Community Farm With Kickstarter Campaign

Now, LOCAL 180° has partnered with an Indiana farm to offer more naturally-grown goods to residents of the south suburbs. Vintage Meadows provides their products from Goshen to the Willis family once-a-week. Aimee Willis, who owns LOCAL 180° with her husband "Farmer John," drives the Vintage Meadows products to buyers in several Chicagoland locations, including many in the south and southwest suburbs. Orders can be made online here.

"It's a buying club we got going on and it has become quite popular," said Willis, who helps out with Vintage Meadows' online marketing in return. "We've got about 10,000 people in our Facebook group."

Willis said the partnership with Vintage Meadows allows LOCAL 180° to offer products they weren't able to when they first started. Scroll through the photos atop the article for more scenes from the Willis Family farm.

"We were looking for a way to get raw milk, and saw an opportunity to get it from out of state," she said. "We fell in love with their milk and found that they had other products in which we would not have to buy in bulk."

The Willis' own farm is coming along, too. Willis says there's currently one turkey, 25 laying hens, four American guinea pigs and one donkey with another on the way along with two sheep. Those who call them up for a tour will also find 20,000 bees that will "hopefully harvest some honey" by July.

"We wouldn't have been able to do this without the income generated from Young Living," Willis said.

Living life on a farm, especially one not far from bustling business districts and residential subdivisions, is quite unique in the 21st century.

"There have been some set backs, but this has been great," Willis said.

The Willis family opens their farm, located at 12425 Frontage Road in Mokena, to tours on an individual or family basis. Text Aimee Willis at 708-828-3846 or contact them via Facebook Messenger to set up a time to come by.

"We love to get people thinking about ditching the bad stuff and adopting a healthier lifestyle," Willis said. "We'd rather be proactive than reactive in that. Start cooking your own meals again and know where your food comes from."

Photos provided to Patch by the Willis family