Skaar Family Farm brings The Farmer’s Market & Coffee House to Gleason

It started in a garage. Then it grew into a small storefront on their property. Now, Skaar Family Farm has a licensed kitchen, a coffee bar, a patio with a view of some of their fields and pasture, and more than 20 local and state vendors filling the shelves of their new business in Gleason — The Farmer’s Market & Coffee House.
Leah and Tom Skaar and their daughter Julia opened the doors on Monday, March 2, 2026, at N5375 State Highway 17 in Gleason, a building many area residents will recognize. The space had previously been home to a restaurant that closed some time ago when the family who owned it faced a personal crisis and prior to that had been the Ma’s Place restaurant for many years, and it had been sitting empty long enough that locals had truly felt the absence. When another nearby coffee shop also closed in recent months, the gap became even more noticeable.
Several area residents said they were thrilled to see the location come back to life, and for the Skaar family, it was a perfect fit.
“We knew we were outgrowing the previous space,” Leah said. “It [this building] wasn’t for sale, but we reached out to see what their plans were and ended up buying it.”
The sale closed on Dec. 1, 2025, she said.

From there, the Skaars got to work. Tom reworked the front of the eat-in bar area to turn it into the display and ordering counter it is now, the wainscoting got a fresh coat of paint in a deeper shade, and a waitress station was removed to open up the flow. The bones of the space were already solid — there had been a significant remodel not long before — so most of the work was about making it their own, Leah said.

A mission rooted in clean food and community
Leah can tell you exactly what drives every decision she makes.
“We are trying to focus on clean foods, food with clean ingredients, locally made products, farm to table meat and food,” she said, “along with a cozy, inviting environment for you to have a cup of coffee, sit and chat.”
That philosophy shows up in every corner of the store. The coffee is Fair Trade certified and organically grown, roasted by Redwood Street Roasters out of Edgar. The cheese comes from Nasonville Dairy in Marshfield. The maple syrup is from a sugar shack just west of Merrill. The honey — including a creamed variety — is made right in Gleason by Haymeadow Honey Farm. Root beer floats are made with a bourbon barrel aged maple syrup root beer produced by a local maple syrup operation. Almost everything in their store is made in Wisconsin. But even the few things that aren’t — like the pasta and canned pickled goods — while not always Wisconsin-made, were chosen for their clean ingredient lists.

“I found that people want cleaner food,” Leah said, “and local, so that’s what we try for.”

A marketplace for local makers
When Leah brought her inventory over from the old store, she already had more than 20 local artisan businesses, crafters, and small farmers represented. The bigger footprint means even more makers from across the region have products on the shelves — including handcrafted pottery by an artisan in Merrill, handmade jewelry from a Wisconsin maker, crocheted goods from Rustic Heritage Crochet in Antigo, herbal teas and tinctures grown and handcrafted in Ripon, beeswax wraps and whipped honey ghee from local beekeepers, and macrame plant hangers from a maker out of the Eagle River area.
Most of the handcrafted items are sold on consignment, with the vendor keeping 75 percent of sales.
“I think they appreciate having a space where they can have their items featured,” Leah said. “I’d like to get signs, to tell the story of where things are from. Because I think that’s neat.” That’s something she may add in the future if space allows.

Leah said she found many of her vendors — especially for the food products in the market — by searching online, looking specifically for products that fit what she was building and products made in Wisconsin.
Scented candles, farmhouse towels, Swedish dishcloths, stickers, magnets, watercolor workbooks, rice packs, badge reels for nurses and teachers, freeze-dried candy, locally made cutting boards and bread knives, farm-branded tote bags and sweatshirts — the store is a lot to take in on a first visit.
The spirit of community partnership extends beyond the artisan vendors. Leah has made a point of working with other area businesses wherever she can. The fudge, caramels, and buttercream chocolates in the display case on the counter come from The Humble in Merrill. Some of the bakery items — scones, muffins, cinnamon rolls, and breakfast burritos — come from the Polka-Dotted Pie in Merrill, a relationship Leah describes as a natural fit.
“Some of our bakery comes straight from Polka-Dotted Pie,” she said. “Why reinvent the wheel? And why not help each other?”
Some of the other bakery is made by Leah herself — including the sourdough starter, sourdough bread, and frozen cookie dough.
The space itself feels intentional in a way that goes beyond the merchandise. Tucked among the displays are small farm animal accent pieces — chickens, pigs, and cows — that are not for sale but help set the farm-to-table mood throughout the shop. Leah said she may add decorative pieces like those to the inventory down the road.
Along the very top of one rustic bookcase displaying merchandise for sale, a collection of vintage metal toy tractors sits on display — a touching tribute to the Skaars’ son Ian, who would have been turning 12 this spring.

Farm-to-table meat, straight from the source
At the heart of what Skaar Family Farm has always done is raising animals and selling the meat. That tradition continues in the new space, with a full freezer of lamb, chicken, beef, and pork raised on the farm. Bratwurst, bacon, ham steaks, pork chops, whole chickens, ground beef, ribeye steaks, summer sausage, beef sticks, and more fill the cases, alongside homemade pizzas, lasagna, chicken pot pie, pork and wild rice, and shepherd’s pie — all made with farm-fresh ingredients from the new licensed kitchen.
“We have a cook who makes homemade pizzas and homemade dinners using the farm fresh ingredients,” Leah said.

For customers who specifically seek out grass-fed beef, Leah recently added a small selection sourced from neighboring farmer friends just down the road in Gleason.
Farm-fresh eggs, laid by Skaar Family Farm hens and sold under state license, are also available.
Leah’s commitment to the animals she raises goes well beyond the meat case. She believes in using every part of the animal, and that zero-waste approach is woven into much of what fills the shelves. The dog and cat treats are freeze-dried single-ingredient products made from parts that would otherwise go to waste. The smoked beef bones, the handmade natural paw protector, the soaps, the lip balms — many of Leah’s own product lines trace back to that same philosophy.
“It started with raising all these cows — we have the leftovers that they’re just going to throw away,” she said. “And we turn them into really useful, beautiful products.”
The licensed kitchen makes it possible to take that even further. Rendered tallow and lard — byproducts she already uses in her handcrafted soaps and skin care products — are among the items she plans to offer for sale as she continues rolling out new products in the weeks ahead.
The blank note cards on the rack? Farm photos taken by Leah herself. Vibrant photos of animals on the farm also make up a wall display in the dine-in seating area.

Coffee, lattes, and signature drinks with a little personality
The coffee house component was Leah’s pitch to Tom when they started talking about what a larger space could look like.
“I told Tom, ‘If we’re getting a bigger store and a licensed kitchen, it should have a coffee house,’” she said. “And she [the previous owner] said she’d sell the building, and I said, ‘Okay, I guess we’re doing that.’”
To get ready, Leah trained with the team at Redwood Street Roasters, working in their Edgar coffee shop to learn the craft before opening her own coffee bar.

The drink menu leans into the farm theme with creatively named options that are sure to make regulars smile. Signature lattes include the Dirt Road — cookie butter and brown sugar cinnamon, the Hay Day — with butter pecan and caramel, the Brown Cow Mocha — with chocolate and caramel, and the Maple Grove Latte — made with Northwoods pure maple syrup.
Lotus Energy drinks carry names like Five O’Clock Chores, Red Barn Refresher, and Barnyard Berry.
Teas, hot chocolates, and frozen drinks round out the menu.
The breakfast menu is intentionally limited for now — quiche and breakfast sandwiches assembled to order — all made with farm-fresh eggs, along with oatmeal and bakery items.
Leah said there could be a lunch menu down the road, but the focus right now is on doing a few things well.
“They were very excited for us to open,” Leah said of the early customer response. “I think they were very sad when it [the restaurant location] was closed for so long. They have a spot again to come and have a coffee or a bite to eat.”

Coming soon: Sourdough Saturdays and more
Sourdough bread has been one of Leah’s most requested products for years. Regulars at the old store showed up every Friday night or Saturday morning hoping to get a loaf before they sold out.
Customers regularly tell her, “I’ve tried so many sourdoughs — yours is the best around,” she said.
Leah plans to soon begin offering fresh sourdough on Saturdays, which she has dubbed Sourdough Saturdays. The licensed kitchen also opens the door for a few other things she plans to roll out gradually, including frozen cookie dough and the rendered tallow and lard for home cooks.
“My cookies are a fan favorite, so I plan to sell the frozen cookie dough so people can bring it home and bake them when they want,” she said.

A family operation hitting its stride
Julia Skaar, age 13, has been working alongside her parents since the doors opened, putting in early mornings as the barista before switching to homeschool coursework in the afternoon.
“She’s been here 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then goes home and does her school,” Leah said. “She’s being a rockstar.”
This reporter’s first visit came on a Wednesday when the shop is normally closed, when Leah graciously came in to walk through the store, answer questions, and talk about the new market and coffee house. At that point, just two days after the official opening, she noted that the decision to hire additional help was still very much a wait-and-see proposition.
“I really had a hard time expecting how many people are going to come through the door,” she said. “Jumping to employees is quite a business expense, and I didn’t want to jump into it if I didn’t need it.”
The answer came quickly. Less than a week later, on a return visit during regular business hours, the scene was noticeably different. Tables and seating had been rearranged and added to accommodate eight more dine-in customers — a direct response to the volume of people choosing to stay. Leah was behind the bar on coffee prep, Julia was at the register taking orders, and Tom was in the kitchen plating food. Tom said they had not known what to expect going in, but that they were very pleased with the demand they were seeing.
By that second visit, several part-time employees had already been hired to help in the business and Tom said they would be starting work in the coming days.
The shop was busy. Customers were dining in — with views of Skaar Family Farm fields visible from both the outdoor patio and some of the tables inside — as well as some coming in to grab coffee to go, including a large order placed on behalf of the owners and staff at another Gleason-area business, and others were browsing the market shelves. The mix of customers told its own story: Gleason locals, visitors from Merrill, and at least one Gleason resident who had brought a friend in from Chicago to show off the new spot.
The community seems to have been waiting for exactly this.
In addition to outdoor patio seating, Leah said a new playground is planned for this spring, to be erected in the small park just to the north of their building’s garage and treeline, that will make the area even more appealing for families. They are also expecting more business during the summer when many north-bound tourists and seasonal residents and visitors flock to Wisconsin’s northwoods.
The Farmer’s Market & Coffee House by Skaar Family Farm is located at N5375 State Highway 17 in Gleason and is currently open Monday, Tuesday, and Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The business is closed on Wednesday and Thursday.