HOMEFRONT FARMERS, CT

Ridgefield, CT. John Carlson runs a business turning home-owners into farmers by installing raised beds & turning yards into food forests. Homefront Farmers teach their clients organic farming methods and offer garden maintenance, harvest, and seasonal cleanup, in addition to initial installation.

Get in touch with Homefront Farmers: john@homefrontfarmers.com.

Tell us about your organization, what do you do?

At Homefront Farmers we help our clients grow their own organic food. This may mean building a fenced-in, raised-bed garden, or providing garden maintenance. We also plant and maintain berries and fruit trees, provide beekeeping services, and even tap clients' maple trees to make maple syrup. The company is about 5 years old, and there are currently 20 of us working full time.

How did you get interested in working with food?

I spent 25 years in marketing and consulting, "making the world safe for Cheez Whiz!" Eventually, I decided I wanted to do something I felt better about. I realized that people liked the idea of growing their own food, but didn't know how to do it. We created Homefront Farmers to help clients have successful home gardens by offering advice, expertise, and real help getting them started. It's a company with a real mission, helping people learn to grow their own food.

What are you working on right now? What are you most excited about? What's your mission or long-term goals?

The biggest project we have going right now is that we are developing our own "home farm" to support the business. We've recently purchased undeveloped land nearby and are planning to have our own greenhouse, gardens, and nursery space, as well as two post and beam barns. And coming this winter, the property contains over 200 maple trees just waiting to be tapped!

What frustrates you most about your work or the current food culture at large? What do you wish to change the most?

Most of our clients are great--they are enthusiastic about growing their own food and teaching their children about where food comes from. But on the whole, we live in a culture of immediate gratification, and sometimes it's hard to get people to be patient, take a step back, and look at the big, long-term picture. I recently planted some paw paw trees that I don't expect to produce fruit for seven years, but the wait will be so worth it. Sometimes I have a hard time when clients want their tomatoes to produce fruit in two weeks. But it's all about education, and I like to think we're changing minds as well as diets.

Any recent moments of optimism? Things you see changing for the better?

The interest in growing vegetables, berries and fruit seems to be increasing every year. We see more and more interest from schools, churches and other community organizations. I'm sure reasons vary, but personally, I believe that in our over-technological world, people crave activities that are literally "down to earth."

What's your favorite vegetable to eat, grow, or wear?

I know it's cliche, but I love tomatoes. Not just the fruit, but the smell of the leaves (smells like summer!), and the way they grow. We train all our tomatoes to a single vine, and I find that doing so leaves me with a great sense of working with the plant--not conquering it or leaving it completely free, but working together to create a beautiful plant that provides delicious fruit. And don't even get me started about making tomato sauce...

Anything else you want us to know? Anything you want us to help you spread the word about?

We are enthusiastic advocates of organic growing practices and love teaching clients about ways to imitate nature's natural systems in the garden. In today's political environment we all need to be even stronger advocates for this earth we all share, and we believe that spreading the joy of "growing your own" is an ideal way to do that.