Joe Natural’s, a breakfast and lunch cafe set to open next month in Cummins Station, has a mission. It’s not just a restaurant, it’s an extension of a local farm. The cafe owners estimate half the ingredients will come from their farm in bucolic Leiper’s Fork, with other local farmers producing most of the rest of the veggies, dairy and meat.

It’s actually the second Joe Natural’s location. The first has been operating in Leiper’s Fork for a while, not far from the farm that supplies it. It’s the brainchild of Paul Schertz, a native New Yorker who worked for years in shopping center development in Tampa, Fla., before discovering he loved agriculture.

“I gave up golf and started digging in the dirt,” Schertz said with a laugh. Somewhere along the way (maybe it had to do with his newly adopted pickup truck and love for country music), Schertz and his wife Deborah fell in love with the Nashville area and ditched Florida for Leiper’s Fork.

At first, Schertz says, he had a “Martha Stewart farm” — pretty to look at but not fully functional. After seeing the documentary Food Inc. and its sobering critique of industrial food, Schertz decided to go whole hog with a working farm. (No hogs, though. Mostly goats and chickens.) He honed his skills with apprenticeships on farms run by Amish and Mennonite folks, learning their traditional, more sustainable agricultural methods.

The Leiper’s Fork restaurant was a natural extension of the farm. Fortunately, though she was a food-biz novice, Deborah turned out to be a natural cook.

“I’ve always enjoyed cooking,” she said. “When I was a kid I used to run home after school to watch Julia Child. I just love it.” She’s especially proud of her new variation on the Reuben, made with local grass-fed beef topped with house-made Russian dressing and organic sauerkraut sweetened with carrots and dill.

The Leiper’s Fork cafe is also a shop, selling the Schertzes’ eggs along with preserves and nut butters they make themselves, and their very popular honey. The beekeeper on the farm is Jay Williams, a Brentwood firefighter.

Realizing there’d be a bigger market for their eco-friendly venture in Nashville, Paul Schertz found the Cummins Station spot, formerly a kitchen design store. And he’s close to landing a third location, as well. To help provide the restaurant management savvy, a new business partner has joined the venture, J. Alexander’s veteran Jenni Schwartz.

The menu at the new joint is similar to that of the original cafe, but breakfast is new, along with a coffee bar. Hours, at least at the start, will be 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Joe Natural’s aims to open in Cummins Station, 209 10th Ave. S., on Monday, Feb. 20. Some preview events may precede the opening. Watch for updates at Joe Natural’s Farm Store and Cafe on Facebook.

ALSO: The Nashville area is still relatively underserved when it comes to vegetarian options, so there was keen interest when a new gluten-free vegetarian cafe and bakery opened last week. Interestingly, Butterbean Bakery & Bistro isn’t actually in Nashville. It’s in Gallatin, serving vegetarians and foodies in Sumner County.

Judging from pictures on its Facebook page, Butterbean is cute as a button. It’s at 12 College St. in Gallatin, and the phone number is 878-6095.