There are indie movies, indie musicians, indie artists, and now I have met some indie art farmers. Independent, free, working outside the mainstream, for the love of the art, this is what indie means. Some of the new faces at Knoxville’s farmers market are young and happy, Jessica Hammonds and Ryan Carden. Happy to have the simple things in life. Jessica says, “I don’t need fancy things, they’d only get muddy!” The day I went to visit her and boyfriend Ryan, at their farm in Seymour, both were barefoot and muddy. They were busy harvesting spinach, swiss chard, lettuce, and onions for Tuesday’s market, and for wholesale account Sunspot.
Jessica graduated from The University of Tennessee with a degree in Retail and Consumer Sciences, I can see this put to use in their creative displays. She was taking a break last year, snowboarding in Salt Lake City, when the idea of starting her own farm started brewing. While at UT her main project was setting up an all organic grocery. “Instead of buying organic produce from others, why not grow it and sell it myself?” She was talking with her mom about her wishes and plans and her mom said,“too bad you not back here, you could use my land.” Her mom lives in Seymour, Tennessee. Before she knew it, Jessica and Ryan were moving back to Knoxville, and began working the land in Seymour, and starting a business plan. She had been living and working in Nashville, TN on an all organic farm. She had moved to Nashville to be with Ryan. Needing a job she replied to an ad on craigslist for a farm position. She fell in love with growing things she says “there is nothing quite as rewarding as growing it, cooking it and eating it, and saying wow! I did that”
While they get their feet wet in the farming business they are growing heirloom and traditional vegetables in a 75x75 ft plot, berries in a long raised bed, constructed from salvaged fencing, and a small herb bed. She was very excited to show me her Rhode Island Reds and Black Sex Link chickens. “Hopefully they will be producing eggs before long”. There is plenty of room for expansion on the 27 acres. In the future she hopes to have beehives, flowers and hoop houses, to expand the season. Keeping good records this year, will help them plan for expansions and the possibilities for next year, like CSA, more wholesale accounts and certification.
Jessica was inspired by the lessons of self sustainability in The Good Earth, a book by Pearl S. Buck. She believes eating local is more important than organic. She does practice the organic techniques, she learned while working at Madison Creek Farms, a Nashville, TN based organic farm that is run by Peggy Lynn, the daughter of Loretta Lynn. No pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or chemical fertilizers are used on produce from Organicisms. They compost all scraps, nothing goes to waste. Fish emulsion is fertilizer of choice especially for tomatoes, because it has just the right amount of nitrogen.
Fellow farmers have been welcoming this new couple with open arms, sharing tips and promoting one another at the markets. Learning from experience is the name of the game at Organicisms. They learned when not to plant strawberries the hard way, and how to sow carrot seeds, most efficiently. Experimenting with various growing techniques such as potato cages filled with straw rather than mounding the dirt around the potatoes, may be one of their ‘aha’ tests.
Jessica was telling me about some of the varieties they have planted like purple kohlrabi, american spinach, red ace beets and beautiful ruby red onions. For Jessica it is all about the aesthetics, visual appeal is as import as taste. Eating is an act of all the senses. That is why she chose Moon and Stars watermelon, “it looks like a painting by Monet.”
Most people they meet assume they are vegetarians, on the contrary. Jessica’s favorite food?, bacon! They love vegetables but they also love meats. Jessica is a fantastic and creative cook according to Ryan, “you really should get her recipe for Bechemel Spinach and Macaroni.” I did get a copy of that recipe and can’t wait to make it. You can too, she gave me permission to share.
I had so much fun visiting with Jessica and Ryan, their relationship with one another is a joy to behold. Ryan says they balance each other out, “she sees the big picture, and I make the big picture work.” Not only is Ryan a hands on part of the farming and retailing end of the business but also the computer genius, with his own website. He also built their awesome booth for the farmers market.
Look for their smiling faces at FARM market Tuesday and Friday afternoon, Downtown Knoxville Market Square Wednesday and Saturday, and New Harvest on Thursday afternoons .
