Black Sheep Flower Farm, located in Lewistown about 40 miles from Peoria, is much more than your average flower farm in a rural small town.
Established in 2018, owners Ben Moren and Dennis Monn have transformed the space into a beautiful, naturalistic escape for flower lovers, glamping enthusiasts, and anyone who loves the great outdoors.
The farm sits on a bluff overlooking theEmiquon Nature Preserve, one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Midwest. Dickson Mounds State Museum also borders the property, with the farm nestled right where the Illinois and Spoon rivers converge. Lewistown native Monn is very familiar with the rich history that surrounds the area.
“The reason there's such a rich history of farming here is because of these rivers converging and creating these wetlands. Native Americans, indigenous people, were dependent upon these wetlands for mussels. Emiquon is actually a word for spoon, and they would use the mussel shells as spoons…the farming here is some of the best farmland maybe in the world,” explained Monn.
When Moren and Monn bought the property in 2018, it was a soybean field used for traditional large-scale agricultural farming. Moren oversees the flower side of the operation, and knew he wanted to create a more sustainable approach to how the land was used.
“Establishing some land for production, it was really overwhelming," he said. "We had to get a well dug. We had to start enriching the soil because we're just farming a different way. So I've been working on building up organic matter…luckily flower farming is a lot more dense. It's human scale. It's not machine scale, so it's a much smaller footprint.”
While building the farm and business from the ground up was no easy task, they slowly but surely created a name for themselves within the local community. In addition to their flower share program and deliveries, they have started selling at the Peoria Riverfront Market where they frequently sell out before 10 a.m.
However, Black Sheep isn’t just known for its flowers. Monn runs the glamping side of the operation that offers elevated camping accommodations on the property. A shower, flush toilet, and full-sized bed nestled under a teepee tent is all provided to guests along with kayak rentals, a fire pit, small swimming pool, and more.
“I like to refer to it as a farm stay, you know, it's really immersive in everything we do…it's super private and that was one thing that I wanted to make sure to create for people was like a private experience where, you know, they're not crowded up against other people,” explained Monn.
The private experience is perfect for those who love being immersed in nature and enjoy the little things in life, like spectacular bird watching or reading a book in a hammock. Monn also notes that he is very specific about the people he advertises this experience to.
“I'm very adamant about advertising towards people that maybe don't always know that they feel welcome in the middle of the country at a campground…and providing that as kind of an extension of what I did in New Orleans with my club the AllWays Lounge,” said Monn.
Monn has been the owner of a cabaret club called the AllWays Lounge for the last 10 years in New Orleans, traveling back to Illinois in the summer months. He said creating a space similar to the one he created in New Orleans in Illinois has always been the goal when it comes to creating a sense of belonging. As a freelance wedding florist in New Orleans in the winter months, Moren added the background of building an artist community in New Orleans has helped them prioritize making Black Sheep Farm as inclusive as possible for all members of the community.
“So, we've always thought about using it as kind of like a more community space and not just like a high-production farming operation,” said Moren.
Monn agree this sense of community is pivotal, especially in a place like Fulton County. Monn noted that the name Black Sheep originated from how it can feel sometimes being a member of the LGBTQ+ community while living in a small, rural town in the Midwest.
“Growing up in Fulton County the age I am and being a gay man wasn't always easy…but… people do progress with time and we've felt nothing but welcome. But I do think it's important for me to extend that welcome to other people, especially people of color, and other queer people,” Monn said.
The pair’s willingness to offer up their space to anyone who needs it is refreshing in a time where divisiveness has become part of the day-to-day reality.
“However long they’re here, this is their space. They can do what they want. They’re free to be, just be, and sometimes that's a lot to know,” said Monn.
Between the open fields of flowers, warm energy, spectacular views, and the pair's sweet little dog named Ruby following them wherever they go, Black Sheep flower farm begins to feel more and more like a sanctuary, attracting visitors from the local area, Chicago suburbs, and even St. Louis. Moren said the limited access to land in Illinois makes a place like Black Sheep Flower Farm even more needed.
“Another thing I think that's worth mentioning is just how much land in Illinois is privately owned, and how hard it is to actually even enjoy nature because so much land is privately owned and not open to the public…it feels like there's a lot of potential in this area to become even more of a kind of an outdoorsman naturalist kind of environment,” said Moren.
What makes Black Sheep Flower Farm unique is its ability to be incredibly inclusive to all those who come visit without overly accommodating people's expectations of what glamping is or what the outdoors should be. The place is rustic, and Moren and Monn are incredibly authentic to their values, their vision for the land, and how all of that fits into their business.
“There's little boutique towns that are very, very cute and feels like you're still in the city. You go and you can still go and get like, you know, a nice meal at a bistro and a cute cup of coffee and… a couple boutiques. This ain’t it, you know, if you want that there's all those places. But what this is, is like a country road drive with your windows down on some hills by the Spoon River and you go to the Bernadotte Café and you watch all the thousands of hummingbirds, you know, and the fish jump across the dam. And it's like, that's the lifestyle here. And that's what people do and they enjoy doing,” said Monn.
For both Monn and Moren, Black Sheep Flower Farm has allowed them to build a business that is meaningful to them and who they are — in addition to all the people they have impacted along the way through the sense of community that is found in small towns.
“It's a connection between me and the land," said Moren. "And this, it's just been amazing to see…a soybean field, you know, an industrial ag field in the Midwest and see how that can be transformed into something else…but there's also so much adjacent things that don't have to do with production.. which is really just coming here in the evening, looking at the moon when it's bright… or lay on the edge of the field, coming and seeing the groundhogs and the little bunnies fleeing.”
While small rural towns can get a bad reputation, Monn and Moren are deeply connected and tuned into the aspects that make them so special, with a fierce mission to spread that awareness to everyone who pays a visit.
Monn noted a couple more things that make this farm and the area one you don’t want to overlook on your next drive out into the country.
“Our neighbors, my great aunt and my great uncle down the road, they have like a pie garden that, you know, you can call an order a pie and they grow the ingredients in their garden and they'll leave in a little pie box... and there's a lot of little hidden things around us. I feel there's a movement in the area. So what makes this place special, I think it's an addition to things that are happening with the apple orchard down the street and you know, it's really a unique little enclave of things to do…and I think we're adding to that.
And for those looking for their next weekend escape from the bustling city life, or for Peorians looking to discover a new part of central Illinois, and all those in between, Monn has a very simple message.
“We’re here and it’s beautiful. Come see us.”
For more information on Black Sheep Flower Farm, including glamping and flower orders, visit their website.
