Tiny Sikkes & Roelof Boumans: Co-owners of Windy Corners Farm
Originally from the Netherlands, Roel & Tiny have owned and operated Windy Corners Farm for 15 years. After the original farm house burned down in 2003 Tiny & Roel, with the help of hundreds of community members, set to work building a new house by hand out of recycled materials, straw-bales, and clay.
Over the years Tiny & Roel have been mastering the arts of self-sufficiency and working the land in a way that's helpful, not harmful to the ecosystem. With a focus on sharing those skills with the many people who come and go from the farm, Windy Corners has become a hub for those wanting to learn to grow their own food and live a symbiotic lifestyle with nature.
Over the years Tiny & Roel have been mastering the arts of self-sufficiency and working the land in a way that's helpful, not harmful to the ecosystem. With a focus on sharing those skills with the many people who come and go from the farm, Windy Corners has become a hub for those wanting to learn to grow their own food and live a symbiotic lifestyle with nature.
Our History
In the Netherlands Tiny & Roel were always renegades, from advocating for squatters rights in Amsterdam to counseling homeless teens. The couple came to the United States in 1987 where Roel earned his Ph.D. in at the University of Louisiana. While living in Baton Rouge they started to experiment in permaculture and small-scale urban agriculture. They kept their first goats, chickens and gardens on 1.5 acres of land in the city center.
They soon realized gardening and raising animals was no longer a hobby but an integral part of their lifestyle. When they moved to Maryland for Roel's post doctorate position at the Institute for Ecology and Economics at the University of Maryland, they bought their first parcel of land and expanded their homesteading practices. Meanwhile Tiny became a yoga instructor, a professional picture framer in an art gallery, and a potter in addition to her daily farming projects.
They soon realized gardening and raising animals was no longer a hobby but an integral part of their lifestyle. When they moved to Maryland for Roel's post doctorate position at the Institute for Ecology and Economics at the University of Maryland, they bought their first parcel of land and expanded their homesteading practices. Meanwhile Tiny became a yoga instructor, a professional picture framer in an art gallery, and a potter in addition to her daily farming projects.
In 2002 they moved to Vermont upon Roel's acceptance of a teaching position at the University of Vermont. It was in Vermont, a state with a rich farming tradition and culture, that their vision for self-sufficiency and communal living came to form.
The land that would become Windy Corners was owned by the Vermont Conservation Trust, which was impressed with Tiny & Roel's visions for self-sufficiency and sold them the property their first year in Vermont.
Fifteen years later the hand-made house is complete, the farm is thriving and the Windy Corners community continues to grow. Roel works as an ecological economist for organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency and Boston University and Tiny continues to teach Yoga, pottery classes and farmstead workshops.
The land that would become Windy Corners was owned by the Vermont Conservation Trust, which was impressed with Tiny & Roel's visions for self-sufficiency and sold them the property their first year in Vermont.
Fifteen years later the hand-made house is complete, the farm is thriving and the Windy Corners community continues to grow. Roel works as an ecological economist for organizations like the Environmental Protection Agency and Boston University and Tiny continues to teach Yoga, pottery classes and farmstead workshops.
