As agricultural production and distribution improves and delivery systems become more streamlined, fresh produce is available year-round. However, having fresh green beans and other warm-weather produce available in the dead of winter in the Queen City comes at a cost. Vegetables available at that time of year are grown far from here, so the pesticides, preservatives, and petroleum required to get them here are substantial.
Produce markets have long appealed to foodies and others interested in fresh, locally grown food. As people become increasingly interested in their health and the impact of climate change, they’re more mindful about the origins of what they eat. And although the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on many facets of our lives, the lack of availability of fresh food and apprehensiveness around viral exposure amid busy stores led consumers toward local food sources and helped propel growth for area produce growers.
We looked at three local growers to learn about their operations and how they reach customers:
- Greenacres, which sells almost exclusively through an on-premises retail shop, and emphasizes educating others aspiring to become growers.
- Mustard Seed Farm, which operates primarily with a community-supported agriculture (CSA) subscription model that collaborates with other growers.
- Running Creek Farm, which relies heavily on farmers’ markets.
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A Greenacres field worker cultivates the farm’s potatoes.Greenacres
In 1988, Cincinnati benefactors Louis and Louise Nippert founded the
Greenacres Foundation on the land that had been their home and farm in Indian Hill since 1948. A key part of the nonprofit's mission is to "preserve the integrity of all land owned by the Greenacres Foundation and encourage conservation and appreciation of nature by providing the public, particularly children, with opportunities to study plant and animal life in its natural setting." From its roots in Indian Hill, Greenacres has expanded to include properties in Miami Township (Clermont County) and Lewis Township, Ohio, as well as Michaela Farm in Batesville, Indiana.
Today,
Greenacres Farm spans more than 2,000 acres across two states. Ian Zeglin, the Greenacres Foundation’s associate director of garden operations, has worked for the farm since 2011, having left college to pursue a farming vocation. He describes Greenacres’ vegetable-growing operation as market gardening, which he defines as the efficient management of less than 10 acres of land to enable prolific food production.
“It’s a method that’s not really taught in schools or any formal program, it’s passed on farmer-to-farmer, through podcasts and other informal ways,” he said. “You can focus on soil health intensely on a small scale.”
For instance, Zeglin noted that, while a market garden is more labor intensive because tractors or other heavy equipment are not used, it allows for a denser layout of rows of crops and for more ecofriendly practices such as composting and planting cover crops that build soil health by increasing the soil’s nitrogen and organic matter content, prevent soil compaction, and divert nutrients away from weeds and invasive plants.
“To maintain soil health, it’s important to disturb it as little as possible,” he said. “Most conventional farming requires heavy tilling, and reworking the soil depletes nutrients and causes soil structure to deteriorate. This is what caused the Dust Bowl.”
Zeglin said Greenacres isn’t dogmatic on being completely no-till but does so minimally. Another natural tool is allowing Greenacres’ livestock to strategically graze its fields, which provides fertilizer, culls weeds naturally, and the grazing process helps accelerate soil’s nutrient absorption.
Greenacres produces 40-50 varieties of vegetables, with some churn with crops that don’t adjust with the climate or fall out of favor with consumers’ tastes. Carrots, salad greens, tomatoes, and spinach are constant sellers, and although these are ubiquitous at supermarkets, Zeglin said that once customers are introduced to the flavors of fresh, in-season produce, such as spinach and carrots harvested in cooler months or peak-summer tomatoes, it’s hard to go back to bland produce trucked in from thousands of miles away.
While viral videos and other trendsetters might bring some vegetables into vogue, Zeglin said Greenacres has been successful in sticking to the tried and true.
“Consumers have asked for things like miniature eggplants and purple carrots and odd crops like celery root in the past, but they didn’t sell,” he said.
Though they do vend occasionally at offsite farmer’s markets, the Greenacres mission is education, and its onsite Farm Markets are hubs for fulfilling its mission. Helping reduce the carbon footprint required to produce food remains part of its central mission.
“For mass-market produce, the priority is looking good in the store, not flavor,” Zeglin said. “To grow hot-season produce during cold months requires a lot of chemicals to grow, preserve and transport. Vegetables grown in-season don’t have that impact.”
Over the last 14 years, he said that the natural cycles he once depended on to help maintain the farm have become increasingly unpredictable, such as unusually wet conditions this year.
“These anomalies are happening more often,” he said. “It’s hard to say whether it’s climate change, but it’s harmful to production and this has been a tough farming year. I’m looking for more tools that will make the farm more resilient.”
One tool Greenacres has invested in to adapt to conditions is installing high tunnels, which shield the soil and offer the ability to adapt conditions to add warmth, moisture, or dryness as needed to help crops grow. Going forward, Zeglin emphasized that a key goal for Greenacres’ gardens is maintaining and increasing self-sufficiency. This includes continuing to avoid "forever chemicals," such as those in pesticides and herbicides, which have long-term impacts on soil health.
He explained that as farms become dependent on these chemicals, pests and weeds grow resistant, leading to the use of even stronger chemicals that further harm soil quality.
“We’re reliant on almost no outside inputs, like bringing in nitrogen, because their impact is especially felt on smaller farms,” Zeglin said.
He noted that the Farm Market offerings reflect seasonal progression, and Zeglin hopes that customers appreciate the flavor nuances this seasonality provides.
“Spinach is one of our biggest sellers, but it can’t handle the heat and taps out by summer,” he said. “On the other hand, the best carrots you’ll ever eat are those harvested in the fall after a frost or two. A shock of cold transforms starches into sugar, and it makes the flavor really pop.”
This connection to the seasons and the work that goes into producing quality food speaks to a broader trend, one that particularly resonates with younger generations who are increasingly romanticizing farming lifestyles and aspiring to launch their own farming startups. While Zeglin supports this interest, he offers a reality check about the challenges the lifestyle entails.
“If you’re not complaining about something, you’re not really farming,” he quipped.
“Whatever the season, you’re having to deal with some type of weather issue, you have to be prepared for pests and blights, and it’s a very competitive field. It’s good that people care about providing locally raised food, but you must be prepared for the challenges ahead.”
Zeglin’s candid perspective serves as both an encouragement and a reminder that the path to sustainable, local food is no easy feat, but he and his team are happy to help pass on the knowledge and skills needed for aspiring farmers to take on these challenges. For those who embrace the hard work, the rewards of contributing to the land, the community, and the future of food are more than worth the effort.
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Glenn’s Morning View, Ky. farm emphasizes root vegetables and greens.Mustard Seed Farm
Marykate Glenn, who graciously spoke with Soapbox while taking care of her one-week-old daughter, Saoirse, opened
Mustard Seed Farm in 2019 as a CSA after years of farm management experience in California, Colorado, and most recently, Connecticut. She said that subscriptions to the Mustard Seed service grew slowly initially, but COVID-19 provided an inflection point and opportunity amid the crisis.
“As supply chains broke down, people became concerned about gaining access to locally available produce, and business took off solidly,” Glenn said. “I was shocked that we were having to put limits on what people could order just so we could keep up.”
Collaboration was key to Mustard Seed’s growth, as she enlisted fellow growers Becky Richey and Lindsey Melling, who sell at farmers’ markets and wholesale to restaurants and retail but primarily provide produce for Mustard Seed customers. Glenn said that complementary approach allows them to leverage crops that are growing more efficiently on one field versus another. Plans are underway for them to join forces and incorporate as a co-op that fully integrates their businesses.
“It would solidify terrific professional and personal relationships and provide more long-term stability in providing for our CSA members,” she said. “And, it helps to share the burden of non-farming functions, like marketing and social media operations or managing distributions.”
Glenn currently maintains a field in Morning View, Kentucky; Melling grows on backyard acres in White Oak, and Richey farms acreage that was previously unused on Idyllwild Farms in Camp Springs, Ky. Through a loan from the USDA’s Farm Services Agency program, she secured a loan to purchase 25 acres near New Richmond that was formerly a hops-producing farm. Approximately 12 of the acres are cleared, and as Mustard Seed operations gradually migrate to the Clermont County land, more land will be prepared for growing.
On her land, Glenn primarily grows salad greens and root vegetables such as carrots, beets, and potatoes, as well as perennial crops that both provide solid yields while serving as soil-protecting cover crops, such as elderberry and yacon, a potato-like root traditionally grown in South America that has a sweeter, pear-like flavor.
Mustard Seed operates as a sliding-scale CSA, with approximately 30% of its subscribers qualifying as low-income. Glenn had worked for a similarly run CSA while working in Connecticut, so she had a template for establishing one locally. Mustard Seed is signed up with
Produce Perks Midwest, which offers enhanced SNAP benefits that allows greater access for low-income residents to fresh whole foods.
Because Mustard Seed runs a subscription-based model, Glenn said they regularly engage customers with surveys seeking feedback about what they’d prefer to receive. She noted that one common refrain is wanting more fruit. Given the current emphasis on vegetables, Mustard Seed arranged for provisions from Backyard Orchards in Rising Sun, Ind., with plans to grow fruit on its New Richmond farm within the next five or so years.
Green noted that she’s experienced greater climate challenges operating a farm within the Ohio River Valley versus her past farms. She’s discussed this with other farmers, who confirmed the suspicion that conditions have become more unpredictable. Changing conditions have made it even more essential to implement a “low-till” policy that minimal disrupts soil while optimizing aeration and nutrient consumption.
Moving to a single farm site, which Richey and Melling will join once FSA loans are processed, will streamline Mustard Seed’s operation and provide more efficiency, but a farm never reaches stasis.
“Your whole lifetime, a farmer’s work is in process,” Glenn said. “Major infrastructure projects will also be ongoing. I’m struck by the narrative of the American family farm and how much of our cultural identity is tied to it, but we won’t ever be able to compete with Kroger on price. So, we have to lean into processes that deliver fresh, local, seasonal food with distinctive flavors.”
Running Creek Farm
Jim Lowenburg founded
Running Creek Farm in Mt. Healthy in 2003, inspired by years of successful backyard produce growing that exceeded what his family could consume. His farm grew eventually to 1.5 acres with an emphasis on lettuce, kale, peppers, eggplants and beans.
“The varieties change yearly, and I’d say the biggest factor is adapting to shifting weather and precipitation,” he said. “We’re using more shade crops and we’re having to increase our use of irrigation.”
As everything required to maintain a farm grows more expensive, Lowenburg has had to rely more heavily on using compost to fertilize his crops. He estimates that, over the last five years, costs on aggregate have increased 20%, with labor expenses having the greatest upward spikes. Currently, Running Creek maintains a five-person crew with minor fluctuation during peak harvesting season.
The farm derives nearly all of its sales from stands at the Northside and Hyde Park farmers’ markets, while occasionally selling wholesale goods to restaurants. Lowenburg noted that one example of a customer-driven crop the farm had embraced is shishito peppers, a smallish, moderately spicy variety that was unknown a decade ago but is now a staple of bistros, tapas bars, and foodies’ home kitchens.
“It’s amazing how some TV chef can go viral overnight and influence what we’re cooking a short time later,” he said.
Another crop Running Creek is experimenting with based on customer demand is sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes, a tuber vegetable that’s part of the sunflower family that has also become a trendy foodstuff.
“I’m surprised by how much we’re able to grow on just an acre and a half,” Lowenburg said. “I don’t think we’re going enlarge the land that we grow, but we’re always up for experimenting with new crops that are in demand.”