By Lori Ehde
When Alex Miller was a trial attorney with a law firm in downtown Chicago, he spent an hour and half commuting to and from work every day.
Considering the demands of a trial attorney, he was lucky to be home by 7 or 8 p.m. on a good night.
Two years ago, he and his wife, Karen, and their three daughters decided it was time for a change.
"We thought if we were going to enjoy our family, it was better to do it sooner than later," Alex said.
Their life change landed them on a hobby farm north of Hardwick, where they market chemical-free produce as well as fresh chicken eggs. In addition, the former city slickers are planning to expand their livestock to eventually include cattle and goats.
Their favorite hobby is gardening, something they enjoyed on a 12-foot kitchen garden in Chicago.
It didn't take them long to cultivate their own garden here. After establishing a sizable plot on the farm last year, they plan to market their produce this year under the name, "Sorella Farms."
Sorella is the Italian word for sister. "It was a roundabout way of naming it for our daughters," Alex said.
In November, the Millers attended a conference in Indianapolis on small-scale organic farming.
They soon realized people in Rock County are hungry for organically-grown produce.
"Going in, we had no idea what the demand was going to be," Alex said. "We're finding so many people are interested."
It didn't take long for the Millers to connect with the Little Buying Club on the Prairie, a group of local residents who pool their orders to buy organically grown produce and health food in bulk.
Buying Club members were excited to learn about a local grower offering chemical-free produce.
This year, Sorella Farms will offer 50 varieties of vegetables: four varieties of broccoli, three cauliflower, six lettuce/greens, three beans, sweet corn, three varieties of sweet bell peppers, three tomatoes, two different potatoes, beets, radishes, carrots, summer squash, zucchini, peas, pumpkins, melons and cabbages.
The way their system works is that they sign on subscribers for $150 a year. For that, subscribers receive a box of produce every two weeks.
Alex said similar growers who are well-established charge anywhere from $350 to $550 a year.
The Millers can’t market their first year’s produce as organically grown because the land they purchased was industrially farmed. Nonetheless, the produce is grown free of pesticides and herbicides.
They intend to use composted manure from their own farm animals - a scientific process involving the right mixture of sun, air and biodegrading vegetation.
"Really it's just a grand experiment," Alex said. "We fully expect to learn as we go along."
Considering Alex grew up in Chicago and Karen is from St. Louis, the change of pace was dramatic coming to Luverne.
"It was quite an adventure. We didn't know what we would find. But we're really enjoying it. It's working out really well for us," Alex said.
"We had some kids come up from Chicago - some friends of our daughters - and they didn't want to leave. It has to do with room to roam and wide open spaces."
Alex now works as a guardian ad litem for the Nobles and Rock county court systems, representing children in divorce or custody cases or in child endangerment cases.
Karen is a nurse at McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, working three 12-hour days a week.
Their daughters, Kristin, 16, Emily, 11, and Caitlin, 9, attend school in Luverne.