Sam Oschwald Tilton

Sam is a Wisconsin native who has been around vegetable farming and gardening for many years.

He started in vegetable farming on an Amish horse-powered farm, and then learned from the Seely’s at Springdale Farm in Plymouth, WI. Peter Seely had spent time working on Dutch farms and greenhouses, and uses many machines to achieve quality organic weed management for his 700-member CSA.

After learning on other farms, Sam started Rhine Center Vegetable Club with Jess Weiland, a CSA farm. They ran it for several years until transitioning to a role as Farmer-educator at Restoration Farms, an urban and rural farm-education non-profit in Sheboygan, WI.

Seeking a formal education in horticulture, Sam moved to Lansing Michigan and studied under professor Dan Brainard at Michigan State University Department of Horticulture for 3 years. At MSU Sam researched mechanical weed control in vegetables. During this time he took research trips to the Netherlands and Switzerland to learn from researchers, machinery dealers, and farmers.

After graduating, Sam worked as a tool developer and Midwest Sales Rep for the German company KULT-Kress, the world leader in precision weeding tools. Sam spent months in Europe and the US, learning the European cultivation system, designing new tools, and learning from the many industry experts and farmers that he worked with.

When the travel became too much, Sam found a position with Lakeshore Technical College, as the Sustainable Landscape and Horticulture Instructor. There he taught the wide world of horticulture to diverse adult learners - including landscape maintenance, greenhouse production, annual and perennial flower culture and design.

When the hoticulture program was cut, Sam joined a new shared position between UW-Madison Extension and FairShare CSA Coalition, as the Milwaukee Area Direct Market Vegetable Specialist. In that role Sam built community between Milwaukee-area farmers, organized and delivered educational events, managed other farmer training projects, and supported farmers with technical advice.

Sam is passionate about plants both personally and professionally, and has traveled all over the US, Caribbean, Europe, and Asia visiting farms and farmers and sharing new tools and techniques with American farmers through his presentations and articles.

Sam enjoys community horticulture, and started the group Sheboygan Community Gardeners, to beautify the city of Sheboygan through plants and people.

Sam lives in Minneapolis with his wife Julia.