Box Turtle started on the outskirts of St. Louis back in 2009, growing veggies for farmers’ markets and a small CSA. In 2011, Box turtle expanded their operation to its current home in Mount Vernon, MO. Certified USDA organic since 2013, Box Turtle strives to produce the best possible vegetables. All lettuces are usually harvested within 2 days of delivery, giving you the freshest farm-to-table taste possible. They supply us with cucumbers, zucchinis, and greens. In fact, they make a salad mix just for us!
Here’s what Jason has to say about farming and life on the farm:
What brought you into farming?
Through high school and college, I was always interested in environmental issues. After college, I worked a block away from the Schlafly Brewing in St. Louis. Twice a week they hosted one of the area’s best farmers markets, and I spent a lot of time there. First as a consumer, and eventually, I became friends with the famers and began interning on a farm. During the economic collapse of 2008, I took advantage of my sudden unemployment began farming.
What crops do you grow?
Our main crops are salad mixes and bunched greens.
What time does your day start and end?
My typical day begins around 7am, and I try to wrap it up by 5pm. It is not uncommon for me to attend to a few chores after our kids go to bed, and I don’t take many days off. Greens must be harvested in the morning or they wilt immediately. To minimize transplant shock, lettuce starts need to go in the ground early in the day, too. I usually harvest 4-5 times per week and plant three times per week. In summer, salad grows so quickly the schedule required to maintain the proper leaf size for a high quality mix is fairly rigid. Afternoons are used for packing, bed preparation, starting seeds, irrigation projects, etc.
Is farming your only source of income?
Farming has been our family’s sole source of income for three years now.
How many acres is your farm?
Our farm is 16 acres. I currently farm 17,000 square feet of high tunnels. High Tunnels are unheated greenhouses. Before making the switch to tunnel farming, I farmed two acres of field crops.
How do you deal with weeds and pests?
Indoors, soil fungus and diseases are more problematic than insects. To control those, I’ve been working on a process called biosolarization. Basically, I till in grass clippings, water the soil, and cover the soil with a sheet of clear plastic for a week. Decomposers in the soil love the wet, hot meal of grass and go into overdrive, and what those organisms usually do in a month, they do in a week. The burst of beneficial biology kills pathogens and weed seeds while enriches the soil.
Our main defense against insects is exclusion. Tunnel openings are screened, but some pests still get in. In addition to more traditional organic controls, we are participating in a research project investigating essential oils as a pest deterrent or control.
What was the biggest change you encountered during your years of farming?
Over the last twelve years I’ve seen small scale farming flourish. When I was starting, any farm under a couple of acres was considered a hobby farm. I’ve seen these farms become recognized as legitimate businesses that produce incredible amounts of food. The technology and information available to small scale farms has become more advanced and accessible.
What’s the hardest part about farming?
Weather is my biggest stressor. Missouri is an extreme place to grow vegetables. We moved our operation inside to reduce weather-related losses and to be more consistent overall. Baby greens can mature in as little as 15 days in the summer and as long as 60 days in the winter; shifting weather patterns can really throw the schedule off. It would be impossible to plant on the schedule I keep if I had to contend with muddy soil outside. Most substantial at our farm is the risk of high winds. Last year, we lost a tunnel in a windstorm. Luckily, we only lost one. Had we been farming outdoor fields, they all would have been lost, too. Once a severe weather warning is issued, it’s unlikely that I’ll get much rest until the threat has passed.
