'Driftless' area of Wisconsin...

Hey is there anyone around the Hillsboro area of Wisconsin? Considering relocating to that area and I am looking for information on organic (not certified) farming and construction related opportunities there. I'm not interested in looking at chamber of commerce stuff or reading website info, I want to talk with people who actually live and farm/garden there.  I'd like to hear your opinions/experiences with the growing seasons and what kind of Winters that area has. What the watering situation is like(can I rely on rain at all in the Summer or will I have to water everyday). Also, what kinds pests/ beneficial critters are there, how well fruit trees and other types fruits grow especially strawberries and raspberries.. Is the season good enough to grow mature sweet corn and determinate tomatoes outside of a greenhouse etc. And if anyone is looking for help this season on their farm, I am interested in finding somewhere to do that while looking for a farm to move onto...

I grew up across the river in the “driftless” area of Minnesota. There’s sweet corn everywhere all summer, no worries about that. For fruit, strawberries, raspberries, apples all grow great. Apples are a big cash crop in SE Minnesota and Western WI. It’s not the best area for tomatoes or peppers. People do grow them, but early ripening varieties do best, and the soil is naturally alkali (high ph), while tomatoes prefer a bit more acidic.

i grew up in the driftless area of wisconsin, though a bit southeast of hillsboro. i can echo what mk says, and add that my folks grew a fair amount of tomatoes and bell peppers every year. definitely a good corn area.  the winters used to be ‘classic’ wisconsin ones, with a decent amount of snow, but as with many places, it’s a bit more irregular these days. sw wisconsin is definitely in tornado country, for what it’s worth.

While this post was in the "intentional community" forum, your questions were mostly about climate and growing conditions so I'm responding to that aspect of your queries.  Looks like the driftless area of SW Wisconsin is much like Iowa for winter hardiness of plants and you should have little problem with most temperate-adapted trees and perennials.  Rainfall will provide a good dose of your garden needs in most years, but some watering likely will be needed.  The nice thing if you have water storage is that you can often keep those stores full after a winter thaw and topped-up with rains throughout the summer.  We are in a quite colder region in northern Minnesota and still have no problem growing corn, squash, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, chard, kale, etc...... just not things like artichoke, avocado, citrus, and some others.  The Minnesota side of the Mississippi down there has abundant apple orchards....can't speak to the Wisconsin side but I suspect they do quite well.  U-pick caneberry and strawberry outlets are pretty common as well, so no problem there.  I would just look into some extension publications from the Univeristy of Wisconsin (start here:  https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/new/  and here   https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/article-topic/vegetable-diseases-disorders/page/2/   for crops and disease notes).   Also worth checking out if/when you decide to take the plunge would be Jerry Minnich's  "The Wisconsin Garden Guide"... a "bible" of gardening for that region although possibly a bit out of date.   [ https://www.amazon.com/Wisconsin-Garden-Guide-Jerry-Minnich/dp/1879483246/ref=sr_1_1?crid=G42FQNK7L8WR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.5fRoAymjBqJvCis7PmCEdmZ6Sz7CeCXyMMxNuymuvQ3IJgReJhLMY1xsASHOQbuiCU2loKb2ZOwDDBL-boIT41fIlWeS2e7BoAHcZItymaK9P-29kKIBTsT6aCNl7_ny0Yl41eo7JMY61mzM9WTAZMDJkTawXS-mXY9dzrfCZFiYBwXM0qlNE275vmYtIiOKSHM4nmD5YRg3lW9aH8fgbvC2q4CxME4cgayaSvi68us.7OeYWliuajENqF0Y6B0Zyz4PqTHjrU197CgG8Jv64Tw&dib_tag=se&keywords=Minnich+A+Wisconsin+Garden+Guide&qid=1716856394&sprefix=minnich+a+wisconsin+garden+guid%2Caps%2C256&sr=8-1 ]

Hi Steve,
I live quite close to that area. You can easily grow the things you wish to grow. In fact, we excel with corn and berries here. Currently I am growing apple trees, honeyberries, gooseberries, blackberries, black raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, a cherry tree, potatoes, onions, and the regular garden vegetables.  I have an herbal/medicinal garden and I just planted somerset grape vines too. Hillsboro is far enough south that you get a jump on the growing season as compared to Northern WI.  I grew up in Northern WI and we grew everything just fine there too. While it rains often enough , plan on watering too, as Wisconsin is unpredictable, especially in late summer. It may rain two or three days straight but then be dry for two weeks... you just never know. We water our plants. Wisconsin has a large Christian community, my family included.  In Hillsboro there is a Christian camp called Trail Ridge Camp that may need some help. My family has been there and they are about the best camp out there... real good people. There are so many contractors in the area, hungry for workers. You could always help one out. off and on.  People with your skills do fine just starting a little handyman business. Additionally, there's lots of farms in the area. You would not have trouble making a go of it here. Reach out if you have more questions.  Wisconsinites are generally a friendly bunch of people. Prepare to have strangers wave at you and your family as you drive down the road, and they will also chat with you in the line at the grocery store.  
Wisconsin is targeted by many political organizations (in a bad way) as Wisconsin is one of the swing states, so we get our fair share of propaganda thrown at us on a regular basis, and they spend a lot of time and money in the schools trying to indoctrinate our children to their particular ways of thinking. Other than that, Wisconsin is one of the best states, in my humble opinion.

Tamara Carroll wrote:Hi Steve,
I live quite close to that area. You can easily grow the things you wish to grow. In fact, we excel with corn and berries here. Currently I am growing apple trees, honeyberries, gooseberries, blackberries, black raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, a cherry tree, potatoes, onions, and the regular garden vegetables.  I have an herbal/medicinal garden and I just planted somerset grape vines too. Hillsboro is far enough south that you get a jump on the growing season as compared to Northern WI.  I grew up in Northern WI and we grew everything just fine there too. While it rains often enough , plan on watering too, as Wisconsin is unpredictable, especially in late summer. It may rain two or three days straight but then be dry for two weeks... you just never know. We water our plants. Wisconsin has a large Christian community, my family included.  In Hillsboro there is a Christian camp called Trail Ridge Camp that may need some help. My family has been there and they are about the best camp out there... real good people. There are so many contractors in the area, hungry for workers. You could always help one out. off and on.  People with your skills do fine just starting a little handyman business. Additionally, there's lots of farms in the area. You would not have trouble making a go of it here. Reach out if you have more questions.  Wisconsinites are generally a friendly bunch of people. Prepare to have strangers wave at you and your family as you drive down the road, and they will also chat with you in the line at the grocery store.  
Wisconsin is targeted by many political organizations (in a bad way) as Wisconsin is one of the swing states, so we get our fair share of propaganda thrown at us on a regular basis, and they spend a lot of time and money in the schools trying to indoctrinate our children to their particular ways of thinking. Other than that, Wisconsin is one of the best states, in my humble opinion.

Thanks for all the info Tamara! If you have the time-a few more questions you could probably answer since you live close to there...?  What does the average Winter look like? How cold in the coldest month, how much snow accumulates etc. When does the snow begin to melt off? How windy is it there, a constant 30 miles an hour or just certain times of the year or what? How hot does it get in the hottest part of Summer? Is there a lot of good water available/is it heavily regulated...? Would that area be considered a little bit of a banana belt?  Just trying to get a general sense of what I need to plan on dealing with from an agrarian standpoint so any info you can pass on is greatly appreciated!!