When considering how they wanted to raise their children, Nathan Howell looked back on his own upbringing on a farm and he and his wife, Michelle, agreed that they wanted their children brought up in the same way. They began their farming journey in 2002, farming between their jobs in agriculture. "We were kind of hobby farming a little bit on the side," Nathan said. They practiced seasonal extension farming, growing produce outside of its regular growing season to have products year-round.  After several years of farming on the side, they became full-time farmers in 2014, buying a home built in 1829 with 20 acres of land and naming their farm the "Need More Acres farm."

Elizabeth is in charge of packing boxes to be donated to different organizations around Bowling Green and Allen County. She packs 110 small boxes a month for senior citizens, a few boxes to First Christian Church, 15 boxes a week for tornado victims until the end of April, and will start packing 25 boxes a week for the Fresh Rx for Moms program starting in May. “It depends on who needs what,” Elizabeth said. “We’ve been trying to figure out how to get real food to people.” The family has put together boxes for 6 years with Elizabeth being in charge of them for more than a year. She is also in charge of outreach programs for the farm. Her interests aren't directly in farming or harvesting, so she has these tasks.

At the age of 18, Carter is co-operating the farm along with his parents. In addition to helping with planting and harvesting, he even has a few crops, like strawberries, that he takes care of completely on his own. Through community supported agriculture, a few people have bought shares with Carter, giving him money up front to receive a weekly box of vegetables at a fixed price. "It's a way that the consumer can say, 'Hey, I’m gonna give you this money up front and trust that you’ll give me a finished product,'” Nathan Howell said. He's also been in charge of setting up and running the stall at the Community Farmers Market on Tuesdays since he was 15 and occasionally covers the market on Saturdays if his dad can't be there. Eventually he will take over the Saturday market from his dad.

In order to give their children the lifestyle they want, Nathan and Michelle homeschool their children. “With what we do I don’t think we could have a traditional 9-5,” Nathan Howell said. They have a few tutors come in once a week to teach their children as well as have some lessons that cater to their interests, and the kids do some work by themselves throughout the week.

From the beginning, Michelle and Nathan focused on the important lessons their children could gain by living and helping on a farm. However, it was also a necessity to have their oldest three children when they first started full-time farming because they couldn't afford to hire outside help yet. That necessity has changed so the youngest two children, Adaline, 11, and Sterling, 5, don't need to help on the farm to keep it going but they are starting to get involved anyway. “The necessity is not necessarily there as great, but we still want to develop those skills within them, so we are intentionally giving them jobs," Nathan said. They want to them to have pride in the things they earn, they need to work hard.

The original idea for Nathan and Michelle was to raise independent and well-rounded individuals to contribute to their communities. What has come from that is their oldest children following the things they're passionate about in real-life situations and becoming entrepreneurial in different ways.