Small Farm Life is published from Two Mile Ranch, an 80 acre property nestled in southern Iowa’s hill country. Here we’re building a blended, on-grid off-grid life, actively restoring game bird habitat, grow and release pheasants and ethically raise pastured ducks, turkeys, and chickens that are antibiotic  free.

We meet our friends in town for the latest news, and we scour the Internet for events from other places. Our community is rich with stories of farming throughout Iowa’s 160 plus year history. The Mormons passed through on their way west, some settled nearby. Amish have settled and live a simple life…their horse drawn buggies often wake us in the morning. Young people have left to find the big city and returned to their farms a few years later. And one or two celebrities visit here to deer hunt in the fall.

For whatever the reason you’ve come here, welcome. Pull up a chair near the fire, pour yourself a drink, join the conversation.

I split my time between two worlds. In one, I’m an assistant professor for a graduate medical school. In the other, I’m a small rancher. During my career I’ve been a special assistant to the president of a four-year college, the program director of a paramedic training program, vice president of a multi-million dollar advertising agency, president of my own consulting firm, and co-founder of a non-profit organization that worked with two Nobel Prize-nominated charities along with a select group of NGOs that were making a significant difference in the lives of people who were in need or at risk.Working in 12 countries I’ve produced documentaries, and was an early pioneer in producing Internet-based multimedia storytelling projects in the early 1990s. My first commercial Web site for a client launched in 1994.

Recognized for my creative work four times by USA Today, twice I was picked as one of the Top 100 Producers by AV Video/Multimedia Producer magazine, and recognized by the National Press Photographers Association.

In academic work and research, I’ve focused on the topics of learning styles, evidence-based practice, and the role gender plays in health care leadership. Currently I’m working on a 5-hour documentary and lecture series, We Are What We Eat: The Nutrition, Policy, and Public Health of America’s Diet.

My home, Two Mile Ranch, is halfway between Des Moines and Kansas City. Two Mile Ranch features a game bird habitat where we raise and release pheasants and grow pasture-raised ducks, turkeys, and chickens that are antibiotic and hormone free.

Small Farm Life

Two Mile Ranch

Grand River, Iowa

Fritz Nordengren  (fritz DOT nordengren AT smallfarmlife DOT com)