Farmland Forever: Gauger Family Preserves Their Farm in Richmond

Siblings Ginger and Gary Gauger grew up on the farm first purchased by their grandparents, Henry and Mabel Gauger in 1923. “Grandpa was a dairy farmer. He retired around 1960,” recalls their grandson Gary. “My grandparents never used chemicals on their land.”

The Gaugers’ father and grandfather threshing oats at the farm, circa 1960.

Today, Gary continues farming the land that’s been in the family for more than 100 years. Located along Highway 173 east of the village of Richmond, Gary continues working the land, producing healthy, nutrient-rich, chemical-free vegetables for the community. Gary and sister Ginger each inherited the farm and own side-by-side parcels. Gary grows on both farms and sells produce from a roadside stand. “We used to do a lot more”, relates Gary’s wife, Sue. “I was in charge of the farmers markets, but it got to be too much. Now we sell from right here on the farm. We have a U-Pick too and it’s been doing really well!”

McHenry County folks might remember Ginger Blossom, a store that specialized in imported goods. The business is now closed, but Ginger continues to live in the house where she grew up, along with her pack of Belgian Shepherds. It was Ginger’s idea to look into preserving the farm. Both she and Gary attended The Land Conservancy of McHenry County’s (TLC’s)Preserving the Family Farm seminar in 2023 to learn how conservation easements work. They had been talking about preserving their farmland for a long time, and got the process started with TLC.

Ginger and Gary decided to place a conservation easement on each of their inherited pieces of the farm. “It’s our legacy,” as Ginger tells it. Their love for the land and family runs deep. The conservation easement prevents the land from being developed, and it runs with the title. One hundred years from now, the land may no longer be owned by a Gauger, but it will be farmland forever.

Gary and Sue’s Natural Farm Stand is located at 3206 Illinois Highway 173, Richmond.

Gary remembers, “I was about six years old, and Grandpa had already retired from farming. He let my sister and me put a little wooden box at the end of the driveway, along the busy road, to sell sweet corn. He’d let us keep the money, and we thought that was pretty good. But that’s how I got started in selling produce. That was around 1960.”

Gary at his farmstand

A photo of Ginger’s farmland

Gary and Ginger on the porch of the home they grew up in.

Gary and his wife Sue.

Gary poses by his farm truck.