After a career as a professional whitewater kayaker took him around the world, John McConville found himself back home in Jackson to help his family. He was keeping busy growing things on his parents’ 10 acres, and while visiting a hydroponics store he met Jennifer Gordon.
He brought her his home-canned tomatoes, and she held out for honey and an official date. They began working the land together, and when they had an abundance of produce they decided to sell it at farmers markets, starting in Pewaukee. Then they met a chef who wanted microgreens, and that was the beginning of their growing business.
Farm Happy is the name, and the goal, for McConville and Gordon, who live in Jackson and grow microgreens and sell produce to nearly 20 local restaurants.
In addition to microgreens and produce, they sell maple syrup, honey and eggs. Reaching out to new customers, they are making their debut at the Milwaukee County Winter Farmers Market at the Mitchell Park Domes, 524 S. Layton Blvd. You’ll find them there from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through March 28. During summer season, look for them at the West Bend farmers market. Additionally, they offer online orders for a “marketbox,” with orders placed by noon Wednesday for delivery or pickup.
Choosing farming
John: It was kind of a very organic transition from my life prior to this. I grew up your average local kid. I used to race motorcycles, then I found whitewater kayaking. I became a professional whitewater kayaker.
It doesn’t pay very well — not that farming does, either. I was living in my vehicle, traveling, the dream life in these beautiful canyons all over. I’ve done the Grand Canyon three times.
I went to Ecuador and I saw how families are happy with nothing but family and food. All the other stuff is nonsense. I was out on the road, and I started to get these phone calls from my family about an illness that occurred. That was a changing point. I came home.
My dad started a garden with a tomato plant and cucumber. The next year I started making raised beds with the original farm stones that were on the family property. I started getting into how and why we grow.
I started going to Brew & Grow. … Jennifer Gordon was the manager. She asked me for honey. I said, I’ll bring you local honey, but not until our first date. We got to know each other, started dating, kept pushing the idea of growing things.
Jennifer: I used to volunteer with Growing Power. His parents have 10 acres of land in Jackson. I started helping him in the large family garden because I didn’t have the space he had. Over the past three years we’ve kept expanding, and I’ve given up my full-time job to farm with John.
Becoming beekeepers
Jennifer: I have two degrees, one in biology and another in conservation and environmental science. John got a couple of beehives when we started the farm. That was one of the first things we did.
I graduated from UWM in the dead of winter. I needed to have something to do, and farmers need some additional income part time. I checked my campus email, and there was an email, “Do you like beekeeping and science?” I emailed back. It was a real interview, and they hired me. I went to a bunch of bee conferences and met commercial beekeepers. I brought all that knowledge back to the farm.
Cultivating customers
John: That first year, we were just messing around. Can we make money at this? Let’s do a farmers market. We did the Pewaukee Farmers Market, and I met the chef at Artisan 179. He pushed me to become a microgreen grower, which is really what pushed us to become farmers.
Artisan 179 was my starting restaurant. The second year it was Wolf Peach and a few others. Now we provide for 15 to 20 restaurants on average every week of the year.
Microgreens and more
John: An organic microgreen in the middle of winter, that has been a big portion of our business. Microgreens are different from sprouts, they are grown under UV light, which helps sanitize the environment. These are grown for one to two weeks, harvested at peak potential for nutrients. There is a lot of flavor in a very small package.
We also do tomatoes, lettuce, spinach. We have thousands of pounds of carrots, radishes and beets. This has been driven by restaurant demand.
Everybody wants eggs
John: People want farm-fresh eggs. That’s a hot ticket right now. We typically run out. I have a flock of almost 100 birds, organically fed. We’re pretty much breaking even. I look at it as an unproductive part of the farm as far as money, but invaluable as part of the ecosystem of the farm.
Everyday eats
Jennifer: Pretty much everything we eat is from the farm, or we barter with other vendors at the market for our bread, our meat. Right now I’m in the process of fermenting our own vegetables, making water kefir and kombucha. It’s an experimental phase right now.
John: When I sit down at night, I know where all my ingredients came from, and I love that. If you don’t know where your produce is coming from, you don’t know what is on your produce.
Meet the mascot
Jennifer: Our farm mascot is Beau, our 9-year-old rescue dog. I got him right before I met John. He was a scared shelter dog. Now he is a farm dog that runs around the field every day. He’s the root of the farm. When we’re upset, he makes sure we know what’s important.
Become a beet lover
John: I stole this recipe from Artisan 179: roasted beets on goat cheese with a balsamic honey reduction and nuts on top. That’s turned everyone on to beets, and that has been my favorite recipe for introducing beets.
Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the everyday relationship that local notables (within the food community and without) have with food. To suggest future personalities to profile, email .nstohs@journalsentinel.com
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December 06, 2019 at 10:59PM
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'Farm Happy' keeps couple busy tending bees, growing microgreens, selling eggs and more - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Happy" - Google News
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