Beech Tree News Network

In the quiet and quaint community of Jetson here in Butler County, there is a cool, crisp breeze blowing and leaves are just beginning to fall.  While all around the county, people are preparing to head to the woods for deer season, sipping on their pumpkin spiced coffees, and cozying up to a warm fire, you can find Angela and Ryan Emmick out in their fields tending their crops.  In the well tilled rows you will find an abundance of green and red lettuces, bountiful bunches of broccoli, and well-formed heads of cabbage.  Step into the warmth of the high tunnel and you will see rows of tomato plants loaded with fruit just waiting for the time to reach peak ripeness. 

As owners of the Struttin Rooster Farm, Angela and Ryan are embarking upon a journey to create a sustainable and healthy source of fruits and vegetables for the people of Butler County. 

“This farm is really the culmination of lots of dreaming, talking, and planning that Angela and I have done over the last many years” explains Ryan Emmick.  “We’ve always grown vegetables and have always put out a big garden.  We both grew up in tobacco fields and spent our time helping our parents raise gardens.  It’s something we enjoy and something we have learned a lot about since we were kids.  This farm is the next natural progression in growing a business doing something we love.”

Struttin Rooster Farm is a produce farm located on several acres that produces a wide ranging assortment of vegetables throughout the year.  According to the Emmick’s, they will be able to produce vegetables and fruits 46 out of 52 weeks a year utilizing a High Tunnel and other modern farming technologies, making this a year round farm capable of delivering fresh produce to Butler County nearly year round.  Vegetable and Fruit production is an important commodity for our area as Butler County and several surrounding areas have been labeled as Food Insecure areas, meaning that there is a limited access for people in the community to get fresh fruits and vegetables.  That is something that Struttin Rooster Farm hopes to change.

“We began offering CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture Shares) this year as a way to market directly to our customers in Butler County,” explained Angela Emmick.  “We are trying to find unique ways to bring our fruits and veggies to people that go beyond just the typical store visit or trip to a farmers market in Bowling Green.  People’s lifestyles are getting busier every day, and time is limited because of ballgames, appointments, and all sorts of priorities that sometimes keep people from being able to go out and get fresh produce.  Through our CSA program, we have tried to take out the middle man by delivering directly to our customers.  Our CSA’s offer our customers a share of what we produce here on the farm.  We deliver weekly baskets of whatever produce we have in season and our customers get the benefit of receiving produce that is fresh and that hasn’t been sitting on a truck for a week.  Plus, we like to think that there is just something that tastes better about fruits and veggies that are grown in our own Butler County soil.”

Talking with Ryan and Angela, plans are being made now to expand in the spring.  “Technology and advancements in how things are grown are so important in today’s farm model.  Here on the farm, we are incorporating season extenders such as high and low tunnels to expand the growing window for many crops that you would typically see failing at this time.  We are going to be able to grow tomatoes through December and will replant in March.  We will be able to have broccolis and cabbages through the winter when people are shoveling snow off of their sidewalks.  In the spring, we will begin using plasti-culture, drip irrigation, and fertilizer injection which all serve to control the weed population, fertilize our crops, and decrease wasted water.  In addition, we will not have to spray any herbicides to control weeds and it will help decrease any bug control measures needed as insects will not be able to lay dormant in the ground over winter and re-hatch in the spring.  All of this not only helps us control costs on the farm, it’s a direct benefit to the consumer because they will receive a product that has not been heavily sprayed with insecticides and pesticides and is therefore healthier and safer for them to eat and feed their children with.”

Taking care of the children of Butler County is also something that is at the forefront of Angela and Ryan’s vision for Struttin Rooster Farm.  Starting in November, Angela and Ryan will begin holding monthly sessions with the Gardening Club at both Morgantown Elementary and North Butler Elementary.  In these sessions, Ryan and Angela hope to give the children the positive experiences with gardening that they too had experienced as children themselves.  “There is something special about starting with a small seed and watching it grow, tending it daily and then finally picking the final product from the plant” said Angela.  “There is a reward to the hard work, to the labor involved, and it just happens to be a healthy and delicious fruit or vegetable.”

“Gardening and growing fruits and vegetables will not only help the students understand the process of how their food is grown that they eat daily, it will connect directly with the core content that they are learning in their science classes each day” stated Ryan, who is also the Principal of the Butler County Learning Center.  “The school gardens are such a wonderful thing, they are an extension of the classroom.  Instead of seeing models, looking at drawings, or watching a video, our students can experience the lessons they are learning in a real life application.  This will not only help extend their learning, it will help them retain the information by connecting the information with a real life application.  Beyond the classroom, the students will get to learn a real life skill that will benefit them in the future.”

And it is the future that Angela and Ryan look to when discussing the future of the Struttin Rooster Farm.  “We hope to have around 2-3 acres of vegetable crops planted starting in the spring with constant rotation throughout the summer.  We will be picking and planting during most of our free time starting in early March and running through late October,” explained Angela.  “We are going to have a wide range of produce, ranging from the typical tomatoes and summer staples to strawberries, blueberries, melons, and some uncommon varieties that people haven’t really tried before.”

“Exposing our customers to new varieties of fruits and vegetables is fun.  We have grown new items such as patty pan squash that our customers have loved.  Every time we give them a new product, we provide a recipe with it that we have tried and enjoyed.  Opening up new culinary avenues for our customers is fun, and it’s really enjoyable to get the text messages and pictures showing what they have made with our produce,” explained Ryan.  “We also plan to expand beyond the CSA structure in the near future, offering on farm sales and produce stand sales throughout the summer and U-pick for strawberries and blueberries very soon.” 

If you are interested in joining their CSA, Struttin Rooster Farm is still accepting applications for their Fall/Winter CSA and will also accept applications for their Spring/Summer of 2019 CSA.  You can reach Angela and Ryan by phone at (270) 999-1915 or (270) 999-0282 if you are interested.  The cost is $20/week with a $20 membership deposit and is payable upon delivery.  Angela and Ryan can also be reached through their Facebook page @struttinroosterfarm.

“Growing our Farm has been hard work, but hard work pays dividends.  Angela and I are doing something we love together and that is the best job someone can ask for.  We hope to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to Butler County for many years to come and look forward to working with all of our old customers and new customers in the upcoming weeks, months and years.”