Propelling side hustle

In late 2019, after completing my Master Gardener certification and while working in the food and beverage industry, I was approached by a colleague to take over their part-time position at a local farm. I had never worked on a farm before and was excited to learn about food production. A few months after accepting the position, the Covid shutdown began. I was lucky to recluse from the city to the farm and assist with day-to-day agricultural tasks, which gave me an incredible amount of optimism and purpose. It was extremely rewarding to plant, tend, and harvest crops while providing food security to the greater Cincinnati area.

During my time at Foxtail Farm, Louise Gartner - my first mentor and business owner - taught me an immense amount of agricultural trade knowledge, including how to operate seeders, flamers, tillers, trellising, trailers, tractors, and skid-steer loaders. She also taught me about solarization, in addition to drip irrigation installation and automation. In the late summer of 2020, we worked with contractors to construct a gothic-style hoophouse covering 9,216 square feet (30’h x 48’w x 192’l - see photo below). That was a positive experience that I will never forget!

Inspired, I decided to take a few horticulture classes at Cincinnati State to better understand plant physiology. One semester of extracurricular learning turned into two associate degrees in sustainable horticulture and landscape design. If it weren’t for my gratifying experiences at Foxtail Farm, I may have not so readily jumped back into higher education. This is when I decided to rebuild my career from “the soil up”.

Foxtail Farm is a woman-owned, five-acre farm with 5 greenhouses and 4 field plots and organic BMP-certification by G.A.P. and the Ohio Ecological Food & Farm Association (OEFFA).