A Growing Family

A row of colorful wildflowers, sunflowers, and zinnias line the roadside of a densely planted plot of land that makes up the Groce Family Farm. It’s nestled in the middle of a neighborhood in New Albany, Indiana and as Katherine Groce, 27, points out, “It doesn’t really meet the definition of your typical farm.”

She is right. There is a peaceful feeling among the tidy rows of sprouting new growth. Even in October, the beginning of the end of the harvest season, a myriad of typical and also unusual vegetables abound. Down the gravel drive, past the rows of fading tomatoes and over a small footbridge that crosses a tree lined creek spreads the larger portion of the farm, revealing rows of radishes, carrots, chard, mustard greens, shallots, beans, beets, and kale. A hand built shed stands in the back corner and an old tiller, for the moment abandoned, sits off in the distance.

In the twilight there is something magical about the place that is hard to put one’s finger on. Part of that feeling may start with the love and care that Katherine and her husband, Luke Groce, 28, have put into the food that is grown here.

The farm was something they both wanted from the inception of their relationship, and they were equally motivated to make it happen. “We dated, we gardened and then we got married,” said Katherine.

Luke spent a season apprenticing on a farm and Katherine volunteered there in her free time. They learned what grows well in the region, what to plant when, and the nuances of running a community supported agriculture (CSA) program, where members pay a flat fee in the beginning of the growing season in exchange for a weekly delivery of whatever the farm produces.

In 2009 when the couple found the two-acre plot of land in the 100-year flood plain, which meant it wasn’t zoned for residential development, the decision was clear. They bought the farm, as it were, and began commuting from their home in Shelby Park to prepare their land for its first growing season.

They began the CSA right away and continue to provide the cream of their crop to a small, but growing, group of lucky members who receive their food the same day it was harvested beginning in the middle of May until November. The first season there were nine subscribers, which, this year, became 14. In December the husband and wife team will sit down for an official state of the farm meeting and decide how many members the 2012 growing season will provide for.

“We don’t want to disappoint anyone,” said Luke. “So we set the bar where we know we can achieve it. We want the customers to be happy, especially the ones who put their trust in us.”

When not delivering food to their CSA members, the Groce family can be found at the Phoenix Hill Farmers market on Tuesday afternoons. Here they sell the quantities over and above what they need to provide for their CSA.

Over the last two years Luke and Katherine’s roles regarding the farm have become more defined. Luke is the primary operator and works on the farm on a day-to-day basis from March to November. He continually educates himself on farming techniques and enjoys the entire process.

“What geeks me out,” he said, “is growing really great food, in a careful manner, that I can munch on while I pick it.”

He plants interesting vegetables to round out the standards, such as a French heirloom variety of leeks and Jerusalem artichokes, which above ground look, as Luke puts it, “like someone’s Halloween decoration.” The tall, dead-looking bush gets pulled up and below lays a brownish, starchy root that can be prepared a number of delicious ways.

These are the kind of products that interest the chefs of a number of Louisville restaurants who strive to feature local food, such as Harvest, Proof, Hillbilly Tea, Garage Bar, Eiderdown and Mayan Café. Groce Family Farm has provided veggies, at some point, to all of them and is happy to have them as another avenue for getting their food out to the masses.

Luke and Katherine let the restaurants know what they have available or the chefs can make special requests, if they’ve enjoyed something from the farm in the past.

“As long as you’re growing something interesting, [the chefs are] going to want it,” said Luke. “They want the best, which is what’s in peak.”
Peak season is what it’s all about in the farming game. Vegetables may have a two-week period (some have less, some have more) where they are at their ripe, lovely best and that’s the time Luke and Katherine get them to their customers.

“Fresh snow peas are never going to taste better than on the day they were picked,” said Luke.

Katherine’s role has changed some this season due to the baby boy they are expecting in early 2012. Typically she would be working at the farm any time she’s not performing her other role, as a server at Proof. While the manual labor has been a little less this year, she is still always thinking about the farm in terms of the business – marketing, time management, its economic state and the opportunity for growth.

While at the moment the couple lives across the river from their farm, the long-term plan is to find a bigger piece of land, preferably not in a flood plain, and live where they grow. Luke envisions adding some livestock, chickens, perhaps some pigs and eventually turning their current farm into an orchard.

“It’s not just a career, but a lifestyle,” said Katherine. “Managing our home and managing our farm are the same entity.” She speaks enthusiastically about her son becoming a “little farm hand,” but is quick to point out no matter boy or girl; their child has a future in being a little helper on the farm.

“We value this kind of work,” she said. “Laboring for your basic necessities is an important lesson for a child to learn.”

Whether this stays a family of three or grows to a whole team of farmers, the Groce Family Farm sees a bright future. “We are only limited by what we can grow,” said Luke. The city is devouring locally grown, chemical free vegetables at a rate higher than it has in decades. Luke doesn’t see this as a passing trend. “I’m not worried about going out of vogue because the food tastes so good.”

For more information visit:
grocesgrow.wordpress.com
–Sara Jones Rust

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