by Claudia Taller
One of my daughters sent me a bundle of freshly grown tulips for Mother’s Day. The tag said they were grown at Fifth Acre Farms, a brand-new business in Elyria. The tulips were of many colors and shapes, the mix artfully chosen, and the vase was covered in rustic craft paper. It was charming.
Fifth Acre Farm’s beautifully composed website tells the story of how Rachel and Tyler Shoemaker started to grow vegetables and flowers on a quarter acre of leased land. They were both laid off at the start of the pandemic. Rachel, a graphic designer, founded Yardly Edible Gardens, a company that designs and installs vegetable gardens. Then she took on the role of horticulture manager at the Orchard on Catawba, where she developed an onsite composting program, a no-till chef’s garden, and a u-pick flower garden. She writes, “Working at the Orchard ignited my passion for having guests in the garden and grew my dream of welcoming visitors to our own regenerative farm.”
What is most remarkable is how Rachel got started. She says she used to call herself a hobby collector, searching for the thing she wanted to wake up and do until she fell asleep every night. She was craving authenticity. One day she wrote a simple sentence in her notebook: I want to grow food. Her journey began. She learned how to grow from reading Eliott Coleman textbooks and experimenting in her home garden. Now, the couple’s vision for their business is clearly stated on their homepage: “We believe that sustainable farming practices are crucial to creating a brighter future for our environment and the people who live in it.”
There are lessons here for all of us: having a vision and the tenacity to stick with it can make dreams come true, and we each can make a difference in the world.
But one has to be smart. Rachel said they need to take it slow because they don’t want to sell products they can’t produce. Right now, the fields are full of bok choy, Asian greens, head lettuce, green onions, carrots, beets, cilantro, peppers, zucchini and tomatoes. Many of their vegetables are heirloom, meaning the seeds used haven’t been modified in over 50 years. Fifth Acre Farms purchases their heirloom seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and Johnny’s Selected Seeds. There are a lot of sales opportunities, including Community Supported Agriculture, local restaurants, and farmer’s markets. It would be easy to take on too much.
The couple hopes to buy their own land next year. Rachel admits “Our larger goal is to create an agrotourism venue with farm tables set up in the field.” That sounds fun!
During our conversation, Rachel said she used to feel powerless as she watched how climate change has made weather unpredictable and caused food and water shortages, even while family farms dwindled. But there’s a big network of family farms, especially among women, and a national push to grow food. No longer powerless, but doing something about it, the growth in small farms in the last two years has led to a shortage in farm equipment.
It’s easy to locate small farms by doing a Google search. You-pick-them fields, farm stands, and CSA’s are all over the place. They provide hope for our future.
You can meet Rachel and Tyler at the Summer Market at Black River Landing in Lorain on July l2, but in the meantime, try out a weekly delivery. Customers can place an order on Tuesday through Thursday, and the plastic-free products are delivered on Saturday to customers within 20 miles of Elyria.