For 20 years, Dan and Connie Burkhardt have led double lives: During the week, they live as ordinary suburbanites in Frontenac, and every weekend, they drive an hour and a half to Marthasville, Mo., where they raise cows, cut hay and grow grapes at Bethlehem Valley, their 220-acre farm. Thanks to a conservation easement through the Katy Land Trust, the farmland isn’t just theirs to enjoy—it will be preserved in the future for the benefit of many.
T&S | What attracted you to the property?
db | I’d had farms for a long time out there. I saw this one, and it had everything we were looking for: a place to raise cattle, cut hay and plant a vineyard. We wanted to restore the farmhouse and conserve the farm, to make sure it didn’t become a subdivision or golf course in the future. We try to use it today to illustrate to other landowners how you can restore a farm, conserve the land and keep it in agricultural use.
T&S | Tell me about the home.
db | We found a little diary written by somebody who grew up there and recollected what happened in 1905, when they built the house. The wood was cut on the farm, and the stone foundation quarried on the farm. The only things bought were the windows. It was owned by one family from 1890 to 1965. It was a rental house when we bought it in 1994, with an owner who wasn’t interested in farming. It needed some TLC.
T&S | What did you renovate?
db | We restored the house, guesthouse and barns but didn’t add on to them a lot. We wanted to make them livable and comfortable, but retain their original flavor. We put the porch on—it’s terrific for watching a thunderstorm.
T&S | What else is on the property?
db | There’s a guesthouse that was a farmhouse on a neighboring farm; it was rolled here on logs 100 years ago. It has a kitchen, living room and bedroom; it’s a very basic, Shaker-style place. Near the red barn is the spring house, where a natural spring comes up. That’s what was used as a refrigerator; they didn’t get electricity until 1958. They would set food in a little channel of water a few inches deep, and it was always 58 degrees. That spring flows continually: It never freezes, it never dries up. That’s why the house was put there in the first place.
T&S | What do you grow?
db | We have 6 acres of grapes, pasture cattle on 80 acres and cut hay on 80 acres. There are 50 head of beef cattle: Hereford, Limousin, and Black and Red Angus. Every once in a while we sell one of them to Gerard Craft of Niche. We bale 200 tons of hay every year. Our cows eat most of that over the winter. We grow soybeans just to sell.
I looked at the hills and thought, These hills look like they ought to have vineyards on them. That’s how we ended up planting grapes. Missouri really does have a very historic, long-established wine-making history. We have three vineyards: Norton, chardonnay and Chardonel. We sell all our grapes to Mt. Pleasant Winery in Augusta, and they make a few hundred cases a year under our label, Bethlehem Valley. It’s sold in St. Louis-area restaurants and wine shops.
In the garden, we plant lettuce and cabbage and a variety of things: Swiss chard, beets, hot peppers, green peppers. Tomatoes are just starting to come in now. We do sometimes have a meal where everything’s from the farm; it’s a rewarding thing to do.
T&S | Tell me about those miniature horses.
db | Those came from a stable on Litzsinger Road. We bought them 15 years ago, and we have two pairs. Everybody who comes out there, those are their favorite things.
T&S | It takes a lot of work to run a farm; do you have help?
db | I’ve got a farmer who works with me to care for the cattle and bale the hay. We also have a vineyard manager. But Connie and I do a lot of the manual labor; we’re out there every weekend. Thank goodness Connie loves to work in the garden and take care of her chickens. She didn’t grow up on a farm, but she loves farm things now. We think the fun is in taking care of the place: mowing the vineyards, feeding the chickens, fixing the fence. People have vacation homes in a lot of beautiful places, but we think this is about as beautiful a place to have a second home that you can have. If you enjoy being outside, it’s hard to beat.
T&S | Short of buying a farm themselves, what can people do to support land conservation in Missouri?
db | They can support conservation organizations. People think conservation is just for hunters or fishers, but it’s for anyone who enjoys a drive in the country or a winery or local food. The land can’t take care of itself. It needs people to care for it.