Innovation grows from acorn adage
MASON, Wis. – From a tiny acorn a great oak will grow, goes the saying that helps us draw inspiration to begin a labor of love. Sometimes that acorn is the germ of a great idea.
Great Oak Farm near Mason is owned by Chris Duke and his wife, Autumn Kelly.
“Back in the woods we have a couple of oak trees that would take a couple of people to reach around,” Duke said. “I really appreciate how the oak tree is slow-growing but is really durable. It’s useful for people for lumber and firewood. It’s also useful ecologically. Big acorn crops feed a lot of critters. I like how that oak tree is slow and steady and useful.
“It seems to me it’s good to strive for this farm to be like a great oak – put down roots, grow slowly and be useful to our community. Hopefully we can be useful to a lot of people.
“When I was a kid in West Virginia my grandparents on my mom’s side had a farm. We would go there for a weekend every month or so; it felt like the best place to be. So I always thought that when I grew up I wanted to be a farmer. But all the farmers I knew were old gray-haired guys and I figured that must be what you do when you retire; you start farming. Later I learned that did not need to be the case! If we are going to feed ourselves locally, regionally and sustainably, we need folks of all ages starting farms.
“We grow about 14 acres of certified-organic produce. We have another 10 acres in cover crops we are using to build the soil as part of our crop rotation. On top of that we have unheated high-tunnel structures we grow in and a heated greenhouse in year-round microgreens production.
“We started farming here in 2003. This was just a hay field; we’ve been working on it ever since. My wife works off the farm. I have three folks working here on the farm with me. We’re trying to build systems that take some of the seasonal work ebb and flow out of farming, to make it more of a year-round job with at least part-time work during the winter. We want systems that keep all of us employed year-round as long as possible. That’s an important nut to crack (in northern Wisconsin). It’s hard to keep good people if a job only lasts a couple of months. We eat every day, multiple times. It’s our job to figure out how to make fresh food every day.”
High tunnels provide productive work on rainy days.
“On a rainy day we can get into the high tunnels and catch up on weeding,” he said. “We work hard to get the best return on the investment on these structures. We have rows of beets down the middle of each bed of tomatoes.
“Those (beets) got transplanted three weeks before the tomatoes. We will harvest the beets, and then the tomatoes will take over and grow up to the roof. We squeeze in as much production as we can. Everything in the tunnels has to be done by hand. The tunnels have been a good addition to our farm; we have six and are talking about putting up another one. The tunnels create early-season work and early-season cash flow.”
Among the vegetables grown at Great Oak Farm are cabbage, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, broccoli, collard greens, Swiss chard, garlic, tomatoes, sweet corn, winter squash, beets, green beans and carrots.
“Our growing season here is short; we have (only) 90 to 120 frost-free days here a year. We pack a lot into the outside summer season and use our high tunnels to extend our growing season. We’re growing winter spinach; we pick all fall and winter into March. We store winter squash, carrots, beets and cabbage in our root cellar, (which) measures 16 feet by 16 feet. It’s a simple concrete-block structure built into the side of a hill; it’s passively heated. It isn’t fancy but it does a good job. We pack it full of crops (including) 10,000 to 20,000 pounds of winter squash every fall.
“We market mostly through the Bayfield Foods Co-op. About 20 percent of our sales are wholesale. We sell to Spirit Creek Farms; they make sauerkraut and kimchi. We sell them thousands of pounds of cabbage and carrots. We also sell them green beans.”
“My wife and I have three kids. We tried raising livestock, but livestock needs attention every day. Raising vegetables is nice because we can get away on a weekend.”
Chris Duke, Autumn Kelly, their three children and their workers are providing fresh produce year-round for local and regional consumers in northern Wisconsin. They’re innovating through production of fresh produce to provide year-round employment on intensively cultivated land. One cannot deny that from a tiny acorn in a hayfield a great oak has grown. Great Oak Farm is located on Maple Ridge Road near Mason.
Visit www.facebook.com/pg/GreatOakFarm and www.bayfieldfoods.org for more information.
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