You-pick farm opens for first season
Rachel Meuchel's brain cancer diagnosis in 2023 led her family toward creating Meadowlark Farms, a you-pick garden grown and managed by her husband, Corey, with enthusiastic help from their four sons, Kasen, Finn, Grady and Remy.
When you visit Meadowlark Acres just outside of Arnegard, you’ll find more than rows of produce. It doesn’t take long to feel the heart behind it.
When McKenzie Electric Cooperative members Corey and Rachel (Dwyer) Meuchel decided to start a pick-your-own garden on their land, it was never just about produce. Meadowlark Acres was built with something much bigger in mind: It came from a desire to stay close, to be present and to give back to the community that stood by them.
In 2023, life changed for the Meuchels. Corey was tending cattle when he got a call saying his wife, Rachel, had been taken to the emergency room. He was miles from home and couldn’t get there quickly. That feeling of helplessness stayed with him. Not long after, they received Rachel’s diagnosis: brain cancer.
What followed was surgery to remove the pear-sized Grade 4 tumor from her brain, months of treatment, long trips every three weeks to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and days filled with uncertainty. Along those roads, they began noticing something small, but meaningful. Families were selling produce along the roadside. There were folding tables, handwritten signs, and baskets of tomatoes and corn. A sense of simplicity and connection stood out to the Meuchels.
“We saw people selling produce on the sides of the roads and thought you never really see anything like that around home,” Corey says. “We wanted to bring that back with us and give it to our community.”
PLANTING THE SEEDS
The Meuchels returned home with a goal. They sold their shares in the family cow-calf operation, gave up small grain farming and shifted focus toward building something new. It was a major change, but Corey had experienced life changes before.
The Mandan native worked on Broadway in Nashville, Tenn., for three years, utilizing his Berklee College of Music degree in audio engineering and music performance, before moving back home to North Dakota.
“I missed North Dakota,” he says.
Four months later, he met Rachel. They married and relocated to Watford City, where Rachel was offered a teaching job and Corey worked in real estate management.
Around 2015, Corey entered the world of production agriculture, first farming with Rachel’s family, then building a cattle herd.
“We had great opportunity out here in the western part of the state,” Corey says.
The next opportunity called, and seeds were planted.
Today, Meadowlark Acres covers 15 acres of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Rows of cantaloupe, tomatoes, peppers, onions, sweet corn, strawberries and basil stretch across the land. It operates as a pick-your-own garden, where families are invited to walk through, harvest fresh produce and enjoy the peace of the prairie.
“Western North Dakota doesn’t have the best soil for produce like this, so we had to think outside the box,” Corey says. “I called all over and had to get things from places that already had these kinds of systems set up and bring them in.”
The garden will open to the public this month for its first full season, but it is only part of what makes Meadowlark Acres meaningful.
A FUTURE IN FOCUS
Corey moves through the rows, quietly inspecting the plants he’s worked so hard to grow, while his four young sons – Kasen, 9, Finn, 7, Grady, 5, and Remy, 3 – proudly pick strawberries and flowers, explaining the differences between basil leaves. Their energy, curiosity and pride bring more life to the garden.
“The kids are a big part of it,” Corey says.
Although she doesn’t spend most of her time in the garden, Rachel’s presence is palpable. Her strength, and the journey they walked through as a family, gives this place its purpose.
The garden has brought the Meuchels closer.
“I’ll tell you what, I was interested in so many other things prior to her diagnosis, and then once that hit, boy, the priorities just narrowed into focus,” Corey says. “Our vision has gotten clearer. … It’s so much simpler now. We’re family-oriented, faith-oriented, community-oriented.”
Corey hopes Meadowlark Acres will grow into a space where families can come together, spend time outdoors and feel a sense of community.
“We care a lot about our community. They helped us a lot through everything. We want to be able to give something back,” Corey says.
Meadowlark Acres will open to the public in mid-September. Families are welcome to walk through the rows, pick produce and enjoy the setting. Updates can be found on the Meadowlark Acres Facebook page.
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Makenah Bundy is member services coordinator for McKenzie Electric Cooperative in Watford City. She can be reached at mbundy@mckenzieelectric.com.
