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Profiles
of some of our farms... [watch for more soon]
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CARMEL HILL
FARM
Visit
Carmel Hill's Web page at www.carmelhillfarm.com
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RED WAGON
FARM
Visit
Red Wagon Farm on the Web at
www.redwagonfarm.com
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MUDDY FORK
FARM
Monica
Bongue was born in Cali, Colombia, raised in the countryside,
in touch with the
outdoors. Monica came to the U.S. to study. In 1992 she received
her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from U.C., Davis. She moved with her
husband to Wooster, Ohio, he to fill a job opportunity and she
to fulfill a lifelong dream of farming and having her own business.
Monica was motivated by the need for the highest quality fresh
food. Farming has allowed her to raise their 3 daughters Isabel,
Silvia and Lia in a beautiful rural setting. Muddy Fork Farm
has asparagus, organic vegetables, and berries as primary produce
at North Union Farmers Markets. As a side interest they have
sheep, goats, hens and occasionally she sells lamb by the whole
animal to her customers.
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DON ANNA FARM
When the
big yellow truck pulls in on Saturday mornings on the south side
of Shaker Boulevard, in it rides our anchor famer, Don Anna, and
his family. Don started out in Pennsylvania winning awards for his
4H projects on raising hogs, broilers, trawberries, sweet corn and
a complete line of vegetab les. His gifts in growing won him a GE
Scholarship to agricultural school, but he turned it down to work
in Cleveland for the telephone company. He met his wife, Maryann,
who was also a transplanted Pennsylvanian, and he always continued
to grow something while working fulltime. In the 60s, they bought
their place in Geauga county where he became known as one of the
outstanding potato growers in the region. He still is; we eat his
potatoes all winter. Whatever he grows, he grows in abundance and
never sells all he grows, Maryann says. "He's always trying
to feed the world." Don is a great observer of what is successful
in growing and what isn't. He has definite ideas about irrigation
and too much fertilization. His dirt recently surprised an organic
soil tester who said it's the richest, most organic soil in the
county. Don is not certified organic, but in my mind he is an authentic
organic grower. He simply states, "What you don't use you put
back in, namely weeds, and they feed the soil." You might not
even recognize Don. He's always working in the back of the truck
while his daughter Susan, her two suns, and their grandmother serve
the customers. This summer try one of his twelve varieties of sweet
corn and try to get Don out of the truck to tell you about them.
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EUGENE SCHULTZ
Eugene Schultz
from Chesterland is a recent OSU Agricultural School grad and has
been coming to our market for several years. He usually comes with
late summer crop and stays until the end of the market. He's known
on the street as the "brussel sprout guy." Gene brings
tomatoes, eggplant, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel
sprouts and apples. His focus is growing his orchard with a diverse
crop—he's adding 100 trees this year. Gene's big plan is to
have 1,000 trees, press cider and sell from the farm, and, in ten
years, farm full time. Sage Farm of Chardon and Eddy's Fruit Farm
have been his mentors; he graduated with Ben Sage from Ag School.
Gene's grandparents, Ruth and Harold Schultz, bought the farm in
the 1950s, but his family has been farming in Chesterland since
the mid-1800s. His great-great-grandfather and great-great-uncle
were founding members of the Coit Road Farmers Market. Gene says,
"If you're going to farm you need to access good information
to guide you. Good apple research is being done at Cornell U., Purdue
U., Michigan State U., and OSU. They have a collaboration that is
helpful to orchard farmers." He loves farming and watching
the changes of the seasons. He also likes hearing that people like
his products. To quote Gene: "North Union Farmers Market has
been great to me and I'll keep coming as long as they want me." |
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