Good Ground in Hard Times
Farming is hard work and high risk, even in the best of times. Kevin and Mary Ford are the owners and operators of Good Ground Gardens, on the south edge of Topeka. The farm makes sales of fresh, organic, locally grown produce and flowers to both individuals and businesses. Buyer favorites include their tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, Italian “torpedo” onions, okra, lettuce, and super sweet cantaloupe. The family-owned farm is much like other small businesses, with investments, rewards, and losses, but the weather influences the bottom line a great deal more than it does for others. Kevin Ford points out that weather is a wild card, out of their control, and it can still wipe out a season’s worth of work in a night. Farming calls for a love of nurturing life from the land.
“The reward of watching the fertility of the soil increase as you feed others is a joy that is hard to describe,” Kevin said. “Once you get your hands in the soil it’s hard to leave it behind. There is something integral to our humanity in being connected to the earth, and it’s difficult to find in other lines of work.”
In a decade of farming, the Fords have experienced grasshopper plagues, all-night hailstorms, and sand storms that blasted away their crops. The Covid-19 shutdown is the latest obstacle, and it has directly impacted business at Good Ground Gardens, just as it has in retail locations. The Fords are determined to ride out the pandemic, just as they’ve endured through other setbacks, but they’ve had to get creative in providing alternatives to shoppers. Until the stay at home order is lifted, they will not be
participating in market sales.
The farm provides an example of how business is an ecosystem. In the current situation, local flower shops are losing business due to cancelled events, which means that the farm’s flower sales may be much lower this spring.
“Flowers were a significant chunk of our income last year, especially through florist sales,” Mary said, “but it remains to be seen how well we can do with flowers this year. I know from local Topeka pages on Facebook, people are craving flowers and their beauty, trying to bring a little joy to these tough times. Flowers are important for mental health at all times and seasons, but especially now when the world seems a little dark and uncertain.”
Good Ground Gardens has also lost most of their restaurant accounts, though fortunately Josey Baking Co. is still picking up a produce order once a week for their special Thursday and Friday menu. The farm hopes to make up for the losses with individual sales and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) memberships. The Fords are also planning for a roadside stand on their busy road, 77th St. South, to open when the stay at home order has lifted. Like many other businesses, they are also finding ways to stay connected and provide service online.
“We are currently creating an ‘online farmers market’ on our website,” Kevin Ford said. “This will allow customers to custom order from our gardens without attending a market.
We hope to be able to do markets at some point this year, but plan to utilize our e-market until then.”
“I’m going to try to sell more retail alongside our produce,” Mary said, “so we’ll see how that goes. I plan on selling arrangements for Mother’s Day, as well.”
No matter what is happening in the markets or in the news, the Fords love farming, and find a joy in the work that sustains them through tough times.
“Hardship doesn’t change the amazing feeling of digging a hill of sweet potatoes or seeing the first ripe tomato on the vine,” Kevin said.
