In this interview, Ronald Edwards describes the different entities that comprise Springs Farms and its history dating back to the 1930’s. He shares his personal memories and background in the farming industry, along with his present role as general manager of Springs Farms. Topics that were discussed include the origins and legacy of the farm; the size of the operation and what businesses were part of Springs Farms, including its farmers market, retail store and growing fields, food that they produce- including peaches, strawberries, produce and other products; challenges that the farm has faced including the current rainy weather conditions, and the daily operation of the farm. Some of the most important topics discussed were the history and the legacy of the farm, its interaction with the local community, and challenges that the farm faces in its day to day operations, whether or not to organic in the light of the importance of keeping costs down while competing with larger corporate farms. Highlights of the interview included discussions of growing the Carolina Reaper pepper, and a description of beavers clogging up waterways and flooding crops. Mr. Edwards’ descriptions and accounts clearly illustrate the challenges faced by farmers in the region during an era of change encompassing organic strategies and competition from corporate farming.
Tape Log
| Time | Subject |
| 0:00:07 | Beginning of interview |
| 0:00:17 | restart of interview after accidental recorder cut off |
| 0:01:21 | began working for Springs farms at 11 years of age |
| 0:01:41 | became general manger in 2008 |
| 0:03:10 | Springs Farms, Peach Stand, Farmers Market and Anne Springs Greenway –same owners |
| 0:03:50 | All produce is grown in and around Fort Mill SC |
| 0:04:26 | Contract grower for Carolina Reaper |
| 0:06:46 | Born on a Dairy farm |
| 0:08:32 | Wife diagnosed with MS, needed better insurance, so took a job at Springs Farms |
| 0:09:12 | four full time employees at farm plus employs seasonal H2A workers |
| 0:10:09 | sell to a few wholesale customers and restaurants |
| 0:10:47 | Niche is fresh produce |
| 0:11:47 | issues with weather, deer |
| 0:12:39 | Beavers building dams, causing problems! |
| 0:13:57 | organic soil |
| 0:14:13 | organic is in the contract with the peppers |
| 0:15:07 | consumer change in purchasing habits |
| 0:17:41 | regional growth has positive impact on business |
| 0:19:22 | no governmental support or association |
| 0:19:44 | Member of Farmer’s Market Association, North Carolina Strawberry Growers Association |
| 0:20:21 | Community Support Agricultural Program |
| 0:24:49 | Participation in Strawberry Festival |
| 0:26:07 | Future changes may include greenhouses |
| 0:27:39 | Weather |
| 0:28:07 | Competing with Earthfare, Fresh Market etc. |
| 0:30:07 | New farmers need a plan |
| 0:31:47 | Works for good understanding people |
| 0:32:42 | Farm originally started out with peaches and cattle |
| 0:33:07 | Agritourism |
| 0:34:52 | Pumpkins and deer |
| 0:35:57 | Carolina reaper |
| 0:37:07 | previous interviews with reporters |
| 0:37:52 | additional contact |
Transcript
[00:00:11]
>> Speaker 1: Okay, we try this one more time.
>> Speaker 2: All right.
>> Speaker 1: Cut it, the camera cut itself off, okay, today we’re here with Ron Edwards from Springs Farms. I’m Adam Hussein, the interviewer, I’m from UNCC Graduate School. And we’re doing a project gathering oral histories from the Piedmont Food Shed.
[00:00:32]
And Mr. Edwards has been gracious enough to grant us an interview. And today’s date is March 11th, 2019, and we’re doing this interview at-
>> Speaker 2: The Peach Stand.
>> Speaker 1: The Peach Stand down here in Fort Mill. [LAUGH] And first of all, I’ll just start with a couple of questions.
[00:00:54]
If you would state your name, and what your position is, and what your job is here? And your age too if you’d like to tell us.
>> Speaker 2: Okay, my name’s Ron Edwards, I’m 55 years old. I’ve been with Springs Farms since 2004, worked here as a kid. I actually started over at the old Peach Stand selling peaches when I was actually 11.
[00:01:21]
You can’t do that anymore, but anyway, I worked from 11, all the way through high school. Went on and done some other things and had the opportunity to come back to the farm in 2004, so I came back. And now, I was promoted to General Manager in 2008.
[00:01:43]
>> Speaker 1: Okay, one of the questions that actually I wanted to start with is, we didn’t realize. Cuz like I say, we’ve come down here and we also belong to the Greenway, my wife and I. We go hiking and things, are all these connected? And if so, how are they connected?
[00:02:05]
>> Speaker 2: Well, the Greenway is under Leroy Springs, which is a nonprofit. And the Greenway is a 2,300 acre tract of land that’s been set aside for hiking, biking, horseback riding, and so forth. Springs Farm is its own entity, we’re a for-profit, sometimes that’s hard to do. And the store here where we’re doing the interview is The Peach Stand and it stands alone as its own company.
[00:02:38]
Our name kinda goes Springs Farm/The Peach Stand, we do a lot of,
>> Advertising and marketing together, and a lot of people think that the Peach Stand is part of the farm, but we’re actually two [INAUDIBLE]. So that’s how that works, as far as with the Greenway and the farm.
[00:03:01]
>> Speaker 1: Are they owned by the same family or totally separate entities?
>> Speaker 2: No, everything here is owned by the closed family, they broke the Greenway off, because it is a nonprofit. But no, the farm, Peach Stand, and several other businesses they own in Clear Springs, Springland, and they’ve got several other business they own.
[00:03:27]
But it’s all under the umbrella of the family.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, the farm where you guys grow, and I saw on your website you grow besides the peaches, like strawberries, and blueberries, and protist. Where was that grown at?
>> Speaker 2: Well, were kinda scattered all over town, but we are right here in Fort Mill.
[00:03:51]
We do have about 25, now, we have about 25 acres of peaches. We have about 17 acres of strawberries, we have about four acres of blackberries and probably,
>> Speaker 2: I don’t know, probably about 12-15 acres of vegetables. That’s cucumbers, squash, cantaloupe, okra, tomatoes, that sort of thing. And then also we are a contract grower for the Carolina Reaper, which is the Guinness Book of World Record the hottest pepper in the world.
[00:04:30]
We contract grow those peppers for Ed, the owner of the Carolina Reaper. And this year we’ll be growing 32 acres of peppers.
>> Speaker 1: Now the Carolina Reaper that you grow,
>> Speaker 1: What’s unique about it and what makes it so hot? And is there a certain way you have to grow it different than the other peppers?
[00:04:56]
>> Speaker 2: We grow it organically, we have some ground, certified organic. We grow it organically and it’s really not any different, it’s just a pepper plant, but we start it from seed in a greenhouse. We have four greenhouses and we start it from seed, and then we put it the field.
[00:05:18]
The only thing about the pepper is is that the seed, you have to wash them in peroxide before you plant them, because they’ll burn your fingers.
>> Speaker 1: Wow.
>> Speaker 3: And then, when we pick them you have to wear gloves, because they’ll burn your fingers.
>> Speaker 2: And once we pick them, they take them and make a mash out of them.
[00:05:40]
And then they sell the mash to people like Campbell’s and different people that wanna put spice up their food or whatever. But no, it’s a pretty easy plant to grow.
>> Speaker 1: You just have to be careful.
>> Speaker 2: You just got to be careful harvesting and handling it, because there’s a reason it’s the world’s hottest pepper.
[00:06:03]
It’s hot, it’s hot, I’ve never tasted one and don’t ever intend to, but I’ve seen and watched people on YouTube and stuff. And it’s ridiculous how hot the thing is.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, I’m with you. And actually, we were in Kansas just over the weekend, and actually, that came up.
[00:06:20]
Cuz I have a brother that likes everything hot and that actually came up in the conversation.
>> Speaker 2: [LAUGH]
>> Speaker 1: And I’m sure he’d be just fine eating it.
>> Speaker 2: We can fix your brother up.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, let’s move on on your background, did you have any formal education with farming?
[00:06:38]
Or how’d you learn to do what you’re doing and get to the position that you’re in now?
>> Speaker 2: I was born on a dairy farm, which is where Carowinds is at, my dad, that was our family land, and my Dad sold out in 68. But we had a dairy farm there and raised dairy cattle.
[00:06:58]
And then we picked cotton and so forth. So when we sold out, we moved down to Fort Mill in 1969 or 70. My dad continued to farm, we row cropped about 300 acres around in the community. And we had about 60 acres of alfalfa hay also, and then in the early 90s, when things started booming and popping, as far as housing, and everything started to,
[00:07:29]
>> Speaker 2: Grow, so to speak, we lost a lot of land and so forth, but at that time, I was working public work. When I graduated from high school, I went to Nashville Auto Diesel College. Because I’d been around equipment all my life, tractors, and trucks, and stuff. So I learned the trade and worked for Duke Power for 14 years.
[00:07:53]
And then farmed on the side with my dad and my older brother, and then once we lost all our,
>> Speaker 2: Land that we leased farming. My middle brother started a landscaping business, so we transitioned from farm to landscaping. So my older brother and I were able to leave our jobs and come home, and the three of us were in the landscaping business together.
[00:08:23]
And then we rocked along there for a little bit, and then my wife was diagnosed with MS. And so, I had to have a lot better insurance than you have when you’re in business for yourself, so to speak. So they had a job open here at Springs and I’d liked to say, I’ve worked for them for years in the past.
[00:08:43]
So I knew the family, knew the whole operation and so, I hired on in 2004 and then the manager left and they moved me up. So I’ve been around here all my life.
>> Speaker 1: So was that a natural fit for you?
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, cuz I’ve been in agriculture all my life, so.
[00:09:00]
>> Speaker 1: Now, of course, so it’s for profit this partner thing, so you do it have a full-time employees?
>> Speaker 2: Yes, we have I think there’s probably four of us to the full time, and then we bring in H-2A workers to harvest the produce and the peaches and the strawberries and so forth, and the peppers.
[00:09:24]
They’re on work visas, they’re all legal, nothing cash under the table, nothing silly like that. Everything’s up and above board and so, that’s our workforce.
>> Speaker 1: The protist and everything you make, do you guys just sell them at your farmer’s market and the store here, or do you guys produce for other people?
[00:09:53]
>> Speaker 2: Well, we grow our produce for our store here at the Peach Stand, we have another store across town, seasonal store at a farm market. We grow it for there, the old Peach Stand across the street here, we sell it there. We have a few wholesale customers, we’ve got a couple of restaurants that buy from us.
[00:10:13]
And we are GAP certified, good agricultural practices, so we have that. But mainly we try to sell everything, as much as we can, in house, because we can get a retail dollar for it, instead of trying to go out and wholesale it.
>> Speaker 1: Yes, sir, obviously more profit if you can retail it.
[00:10:32]
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, and plus, our story is we grow it here, we sell it here. You can ride by our fields and see us picking, then you come down here and purchase it. That’s how fresh it is, we’re big on fresh, we pick it that morning, and try to sell it all that day, and so forth.
[00:10:51]
So we try to put a good product out there for our customer.
>> Speaker 1: Got it, and then I can testify that there and it’s good.
>> Speaker 2: Yes.
>> Speaker 1: What is your typical day like? I mean, like your duties and-
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we come in, in the morning we usually start around seven.
[00:11:11]
And we’ll discuss what needs to be done that day, and our men in Dudley Fields would go wherever. Right now, we’re building some fences, right now, we’re pruning peach trees and also pulling weeds out of strawberry plants. And so, we got different groups doing different things. But a lot of people don’t understand our day is we’re driven by the weather.
[00:11:39]
And here lately the weather’s not been on our side with all of the rain. We’re getting behind, I’m getting very concerned about how far we are behind now. Cuz we need to have the ground fixed with some plastic to lay for vegetables and stuff. And it’s just not getting done, because it’s just too wet.
[00:11:58]
So people don’t understand that now. You can come in here and get out of the rain would sell meat, we can do everything. But when we’re out there trying to grow it and produce it, we’re so whether driven these, people don’t you see the too wet, too hot, too cold.
[00:12:16]
I mean, it’s last week it got real cold, we lost a few peach blooms. So I mean, you gotta deal with that, and then we have deer getting in our strawberries. You put fencing up, but still they’ll find a place to get in. So now, you’ve got to deal with deer and the last little critter we’ve been dealing with is beavers.
[00:12:39]
They’ve dammed up our creek and now, the creek is backed up, so that it’s starting to flood some of our fields. So now, we’re working with the game wardens in the wildlife resource department on what are we gonna do with these beavers. So it’s something all the time, it just never a dull moment, believe me.
[00:12:59]
>> Speaker 1: That’s a new one for me, I hadn’t heard about the beavers causing problems.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, they are a tremendous little animal that causes a lot of trouble.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, actually, you touched on actually one of the things I was gonna ask you about how the weather’s impact you this is like the wettest I’ve seen.
[00:13:18]
I grew up in this area and I can’t remember, I can’t remember a year this wet.
>> Speaker 2: My dad’s 92 and he said, you better hope it don’t stay dry as long as it stayed wet, that’s all I can tell you. [LAUGH]
>> Speaker 1: I was gonna say that it’s probably tough the other way around I mean, at least with the moisture the plants are getting some moisture.
[00:13:38]
>> Speaker 2: I can get water to them, that’s not a problem, I can get to water to them, it’s just right now, we got too much water.
>> Speaker 1: Are your farms organic or did you sell any organic?
>> Speaker 2: Well, we have some ground that red still organic and I could, I guess, we could sell a lot more organic stuff than we do.
[00:14:05]
But most of that ground is in the peppers, because that’s kind of in the contract, that we gotta do them organic.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah they are.
>> Speaker 2: But I will say this, we spray a lot of stuff when we have to spray. A lot of our sprays are registered organic, because I mean, let’s face it, I’m a consumer too, you know?
[00:14:27]
And I don’t want anything on my stuff that’s gonna harm me or anybody else, so we try to be very careful with that. We try not to spray just to be sprayed, because for one thing it’s expensive, and the next thing, if the plant doesn’t need it, then there’s no need putting it on.
[00:14:50]
We’re very cautious about how we do things.
>> Speaker 1: Have you noticed anything change in the way people farm or agriculture in general in this area, say, in the last 20 years or so?
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, now, we notice that people don’t buy as much as they used to. 10 years ago people would come in and buy a half bushel of peaches, or an old box of apples, or something like that.
[00:15:20]
Now, people just want just enough for the night, and I’ll be back tomorrow maybe, and get some more, just not buying bigger quantities. At one time, they did, I don’t know. People do, I think, it’s more of a push to have kind of farm-to-table type situations, where they know it’s fresh, and this kinda stuff.
[00:15:45]
Cuz if it comes from California it’s got to be picked, and it’s got to be cooled, and it’s got to be trucked. I mean you’re talking five, six days out before the consumer ever gets it. So I mean, some cases I guess you have to go that route, but in the summer time, it’s always good to be able to eat fresh.
[00:16:06]
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely.
>> Speaker 2: And I think there’s a movement toward that, so we’ve definitely seen that.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s of course fresh and organic, of course, we see some of that in some of the interviews and the questions. What happens is you push for that, and of course, as you said, you were saying it’s more expensive and they have to sell it for more.
[00:16:32]
And there’s a certain market for that.
>> Speaker 2: And not to hammer on organic, but if you’ve got a disease, it doesn’t know if the plant’s organic or conventional. And if it jumps on you, you better have something to attack it and get the disease stopped. It’s not you’ll lose your crop, it’ll take the whole crop.
[00:16:52]
>> Speaker 1: Now, are there specific insecticides and things that people who say the growing organic that they use rather than well.
>> Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I’m not saying that they did not use an organic products. I’m just saying there comes a time when you get a disease and track nose.
[00:17:10]
Of how to do something, I mean, if you don’t get something on it, get proactive, you can lose your whole crop quick.
>> Speaker 1: [LAUGH]
>> Speaker 2: Yeah.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, flow development traffic, this area’s growing significantly, is that helping or hurting your business. How’s that impact, I guess, the farm?
[00:17:39]
>> Speaker 2: I think it’s helped us, but I think our problem is a lot of my employees, we’re from Fort Mills, we grew up here. And so, we think everybody ought to know where Spring’s Farm is, and we think everybody ought to know where the Peach Stand is. So I think sometimes we lag behind sometimes on our marketing, because we have to think out of the box a lot as far as always new people moving in and traffic.
[00:18:05]
I did put a little satellite stand at a corner that I thought would be ideal, it had plenty of traffic. But what I found out was,it had too much traffic, people couldn’t get in and out. Once they got in, you could ride in, but you couldn’t ride out so to speak.
[00:18:21]
And so, we found that after a few people came in and had a tough time getting out, that what we thought was a good location, because of traffic was really not that good a location. Those people just couldn’t get to you with all the traffic was so heavy.
[00:18:39]
So we’ve enjoyed the folks coming in and trying to let them know we’re here. Let them know we, pick fresh stuff everyday, so it’s like anything. It has its good sides and it’s bad sides, but when you’re in the retail business it’s positive.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, overall positive you would say-
[00:19:02]
>> Speaker 2: Yes, yes.
>> Speaker 1: The growth.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, now, you’re a private industry, is there any support from local organizations or government organizations for farmers that-
>> Speaker 2: No, we don’t accept anything from anybody. We stand alone, do our own thing, as far money, and finance, and all of it.
[00:19:27]
We don’t accept any grants or money.
>> Speaker 1: Totally independent?
>> Speaker 2: Totally, totally do it on our own.
>> Speaker 1: You guys members of any farmers associations-
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, we’re members of the The South Carolina Farmers Market Association, members of the North Carolina Strawberry Growers Association, things like that. I serve on the board of the North Carolina Strawberry Growers Association.
[00:19:52]
Even though it’s North Carolina, they like to have a board member from South Carolina and Virginia and Georgia, if we can get it. Cuz we all in the same region, so we all share the same concerns. So we try to be as active in stuff like that as we can be.
[00:20:14]
>> Speaker 1: Now, I was on your website, and that interesting to me, you have a community supported agricultural program that you have.
>> Speaker 2: CSA.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, tell me how that works?
>> Speaker 2: CSA is basically, it’s what we’re growing right that week, you get a box. You buy different sized boxes and you get a box every week of what we’re growing.
[00:20:39]
And you pick it up once a week, and it’s been a real, a real good thing for us, because sometimes we have more produce than we can move in the stores. So now, we’ve got another outlet for it is putting it in CSA boxes, community-supported agriculture. And so, it works real well, we’ve had a lot of repeat customers, but the concept is what we’re growing this week.
[00:21:07]
This week, you may get peaches, blackberries, strawberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash. Well next, as the season goes on, guess what, we’re not picking strawberries and blackberries anymore. So you won’t get that, so now, you’re gonna get some okra or you’re gonna get some string beans. It’s just whatever we’re picking along the summer, as the summer goes on.
[00:21:36]
That’s what’s gonna be in a box, and the box determined the size of the box determines the family size, and how you’d like to do it. We have a small box of maybe just one person or two people would like, or have a bigger box that a family of four would like.
[00:21:53]
But yes, it’s a great program.
>> Speaker 1: So if somebody were to sign up for it, they would pick which quantity they would want?
>> Speaker 2: That’s right.
>> Speaker 1: And how long is the duration of that?
>> Speaker 2: We do at ten weeks.
>> Speaker 1: Ten weeks?
>> Speaker 2: We do ten weeks and last year we did a fall fall program.
[00:22:10]
Where we have it laid out in the store, and you come in the store and you get your box, and you can get, if it’s six items there, you pick maybe four items or five items out of the six, whichever you like the best. And I think that went over pretty well last year, it was our first year.
[00:22:31]
That’s the reason we kinda did it that way, but, no, it’s a good program and people really enjoy. And well, so we’ll put the recipes in there to tell, okay, I’ve got the squash. So what I do, I fried it other ways to do squash, or zucchini, or things to do recipes and stuff.
[00:22:56]
So I think that’s helpful, also.
>> Speaker 1: So you run that out of your Farmers Market locations.
>> Speaker 2: Run it out of a farm market over off Springfield Parkway, just above Nation Fort High School.
>> Speaker 1: Somebody warned you that day, was the sign up online, or-
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, it’s, and times, I’m not sure of the date of the last day, but it’s winding down.
[00:23:18]
So if anybody wanted to sign up, they better get going, cuz it’s coming to an end.
>> Speaker 1: So has that been pretty successful and you maybe plan on expanding that program?
>> Speaker 2: Well,
>> Speaker 2: I think it’s about right now where what we can handle. I mean, we don’t want commit to too much, because when you commit to too many boxes, that means you can’t pick enough that day.
[00:23:50]
We try to pick it all that day, and then put it in the boxes. And that’s the reason we only do so many, because we don’t want to have to pick it the day before. We want it to be fresh, we want when you get that box that day, we want you to know that it’s picked that morning.
[00:24:04]
And that’s about as fresh as you’re gonna get. So that’s the concept behind it, so we don’t wanna get too big, because if not, we wouldn’t have time to pick, time to put in the box. So that’s the concept behind it.
>> Speaker 1: You’d have to store it and then-
[00:24:19]
>> Speaker 2: Right, and that’s against what we’re-
>> Speaker 1: Trying to do.
>> Speaker 2: Trying to accomplish here.
>> Speaker 1: Hey, I guess, some general questions.
>> Speaker 3: [INAUDIBLE]
>> Speaker 1: Community, how are the relations with the farm and everything with the community interactions, involvement?
>> Speaker 2: I hope we’re okay with the community, I know people enjoy seeing our peach trees bloom.
[00:24:43]
A lot of people like to come out and take pictures in our peach trees and we help with the Strawberry Festival, it’s the first weekend in May of every year. That’s a big hit here in town, we have some between 40 and 60,000 people depending on the weather show up for Strawberry Festival.
[00:25:03]
>> Speaker 1: Actually, I think we went last year, yes, we went.
>> Speaker 2: And so, that’s always a big hit, but, yeah, I think overall, people enjoy seeing us passing by and seeing stuff growing instead of parking lots and buildings. I think they enjoy seeing us out working in the fields while they’re sitting and chatting.
[00:25:30]
#VALUE!#VALUE!#VALUE!
>> Speaker 1: That? Definitely, I think that brings out that if they know your stuff is grown here locally.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah.
>> Speaker 1: It is fresh [CROSSTALK]-
>> Speaker 2: Right.
>> Speaker 1: And I think [INAUDIBLE] people really-
>> Speaker 2: Right, I agree.
>> Speaker 1: Appreciate that, where do you see Springs Farm in say, five to ten years?
[00:25:54]
>> Speaker 2: Wow, well,
>> Speaker 2: I don’t know, I think we’re gonna do some unique things. We may have to do some stuff in greenhouse stuff, just because this prop across the road here from us, they’re gonna be putting a hospital there. We’ve been growing peach trees over there for the last 30 years.
[00:26:16]
So that’s gonna be gone, so now, my peach numbers are gonna go down. But a lot of times, what we’ve started doing is planting the peach trees closer together and pruning them in a different method, so we can get more trees per acre. So stuff like that is what we probably do in the future.
[00:26:42]
>> Speaker 1: Are those kind of like new methods, different way of planting that developed?
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that’s where we’re headed, because we only have so much land that we can use, but the family’s been gracious. We have, we do have some peaches and strawberries on the Greenway.
[00:27:03]
So we do work with the Greenway on that, of course, that land will be here forever, that’s not going anywhere. So but it’s gonna change and not sure how too much, but I think it’s definitely gonna have to change.
>> Speaker 1: What is an aspect of farming that most people don’t think about or you think is misunderstood by people especially myself who aren’t farmers?
[00:27:34]
>> Speaker 2: I talked to a farmer this morning and we just again talking about the weather and fuel prices go up, labor goes up, insurance goes up, everything goes up. But our commodity, we just can’t get enough for it sometimes. I mean, you can only get so much for a cucumber, you can only get so much for a tomato.
[00:27:56]
The consumer’s only gonna pay so much. So in a situation, we’re in a situation where we have to do things smarter and better, if we’re gonna make it. And I think,
>> Speaker 2: Everything goes up, it seems like we just can’t get the prices we need for our commodities that we grow.
[00:28:22]
Just, I mean, for some reason we just capped it, there’s a cap on it people are not gonna pay. So-
>> Speaker 4: [INAUDIBLE]
>> Speaker 2: See, I’m competing with Earth Fair. Fresh markets, and Harris Teeter, and those folks buy train-loads of tomatoes. Not truck loads, they buy train loads, you know, so their pricing’s better, so they can sell, and then you come down here where your prices are too high.
[00:28:51]
I know I picked mine this morning, and then I went into Harris Teeter, and those guys picked theirs. So it’s hard to educate the consumer about what we’re trying to do with our prices. And like I said, everything’s going up, it seems like I get so much for a cucumber and squash.
[00:29:12]
So that’s the struggle we have, is trying to break even or make money on this stuff. And then, again, back to the weather, you’ve got to deal with the weather, if we’re picking strawberries, it sits in the rain. And those things sitting there in the rain, you got to pick them, get them out of the field, but you can’t sell them ’cause they’re mush.
[00:29:36]
But still cost me the same to get them out of the field, but I didn’t get them to the market. So people have a, I don’t think they understand how, what we deal with every day the weather and everything that goes on.
>> Speaker 1: Given all this adversity, what advice would you give to somebody that wanted to start farming say somebody’s dream?
[00:30:01]
They quit their day job and go buy a farm and start.
>> Speaker 2: I wouldn’t discourage them, I would just say you need a plan, and before we plan anything, we know where we’re going with it. It’s got a place, I don’t grow stuff, and then try to, hey, you want a watermelon?
[00:30:20]
When I grow it, I know where it’s going. I’ve already got it sold or I’ve got it, I know it’s going to this store or that store. So no, I wouldn’t discourage anybody, because we have to keep this industry going. But if I was starting out, I would definitely have a good plan and it better be a good plan.
[00:30:43]
#VALUE!#VALUE!#VALUE!
>> Speaker 1: You just got to compete.
>> Speaker 2: You just got to compete, and again, just back to the price and how much can you put out there versus what you’re gonna get.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, I was talking to another actually recently get into it, he has a day job, but he’s trying, he’s talking about it.
[00:31:07]
He’s got chicken’s, and he’s got laying chickens, and he’s got eating chickens, and then he’s thinking about starting planting, he had a small garden, he’s expanding it, when his dream is to eventually live off on what he makes on the farm.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, it’s just have a good plan.
[00:31:31]
>> Speaker 1: Is there anything, I mean, we haven’t touched on you’d like to add or one final thing you’d like to talk about or?
>> Speaker 2: No, just the close family has, it’s a genuine pleasure to work for them, they’re good people. They understand about the weather and they understand ups and downs, because they’ve been in it since the 30s.
[00:31:58]
And so, they’re very understanding, and they’re a super family to work for, and they’re very gracious.
>> Speaker 1: And this is the Springs family?
>> Speaker 2: This is the Springs family, yeah.
>> Speaker 1: So it’s been since the 1930s they’ve-
>> Speaker 2: They’ve been growing peaches, and vegetables, and everything on this land around Fort Mill since the 30s, so.
[00:32:21]
>> Speaker 1: Did they start with just peaches or?
>> Speaker 2: They started with a dairy.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, that’s right, you said that-
>> Speaker 2: Matter of fact, my dad bought some cows from Miss Klauses’ dad back in,
>> Speaker 2: Early 60s, but, yeah, they started out peaches, and cattle, and dairy, and then they went to beef cattle.
[00:32:46]
And then they went from there to strawberries to just different commodities trying to keep things going.
>> Speaker 1: And actually think about something else too, seeing a lot of the farms are opening their farms to the public for tours.
>> Speaker 2: Agri tourist.
>> Speaker 1: Yeah.
>> Speaker 2: Agri tourism is a big industry, we would love to do more that, but just because of the way we’re set up, we’re all scattered all over town, so to speak.
[00:33:16]
We don’t have quote, the old farm house and old farm building that grandad had and all that, like a lot of these people have that do agri tourism. So we do some, we take field trips and stuff on strawberries and all, but we’re just not set up to.
[00:33:32]
But it is a big industry and a lot of people like that, cuz a lot of people our age can remember going back to their grandparents parent’s farm or something somewhere, and they want to take their kids and so, that’s a big industry. I wish we were set up more to do more agri tourism, because it’s a great teaching tool and it’s good way to have good clean fun.
[00:33:56]
>> Speaker 1: Sounds like it’s also a good way also for another revenue stream.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah, most deaf to-
>> Speaker 1: To help maybe makeup where they can’t get the prices has been seeing a lot of that.
>> Speaker 2: And a lot of of farms and I are going pumpkins and stuff, trying to take it on into the fall.
[00:34:20]
And that’s where a lot of agri tour, a lot of agri tour comes in pumpkin patches and stuff. So it’s just another way of trying to get a stream of revenue, correct?
>> Speaker 1: I’ve got a question for you about pumpkins and getting pollinated. I tried to grow some pumpkins, and they flowered, and everything.
[00:34:41]
And then they withered, and I never got a pumpkin, what’s-
>> Speaker 2: Do you have a deer problem or anything? Because one problem I have with pumpkins is the deer would eat your blooms. They loved the blooms and the deer eat the blooms. Or you could have downy mildew is real tough on pumpkins, that’s just a disease that gets in them.
[00:35:06]
>> Speaker 1: That might’ve been it, yeah, cuz it was in a fenced area, so it couldn’t have been deer, yeah.
>> Speaker 2: Okay, well, it’s probably a disease that got in them and they’re a tough one to grow in this area.
>> Speaker 1: Because I was told about well they didn’t get pollinated was the problem.
[00:35:22]
And I wasn’t sure if that was whether or maybe it was something else.
>> Speaker 2: I don’t know, I think there’s enough bees still around that we’ve never had a problem with that. So we might’ve had some disease come in, but you could have a disease in the soil.
[00:35:35]
It wouldn’t be prevalent in the plant, but you could have a disease in the soil to kill the root system, and so.
>> Speaker 1: What would be the lowest maintenance crop that you grow, in other words needs the least attention?
>> Speaker 2: But produces the most income?
>> Speaker 1: Yeah, from the seed to the harvesting.
[00:35:54]
>> Speaker 2: I would probably say those peppers.
>> Speaker 2: Cuz they’re a pretty hardy plant, I would say those peppers probably strawberries, or you have to plant those guys in October, so you get a baby seedling about winter. You can’t spray anything to kill weeds, because what’ll kill weeds will kill your strawberry plants, so strawberry plants are a very, very expensive crop to grow.
[00:36:26]
But I would probably say on the farm right now probably peppers.
>> Speaker 1: Peppers.
>> Speaker 2: Probably peppers, yeah.
>> Speaker 1: Do you have anything else you’d like to add?
>> Speaker 2: No, I just appreciate y’all coming down, it’s been nice meeting y’all.
>> Speaker 1: No, we appreciate it.
>> Speaker 2: It’s been good.
[00:36:41]
>> Speaker 1: We appreciate your time and like I said, we knew you were here, but we didn’t realize all the other things. And you’ve educated us on some of the stuff that you do here.
>> Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate it, I try not to,
>> Speaker 2: Turn people away or anything if they wanna talk about the farm.
[00:37:00]
I always like to talk about the farm, what we got going on. I know that a lot of times, those news reporters will come down out of Charlotte, cuz we’re just here right off the interstate. And a lot of times they’ll come down, doom and gloom, you lost your crop.
[00:37:19]
But I always talk to them without careful what they say.
>> Speaker 1: Our project’s an optimistic one, we’re trying to find out what the needs are. We’re gonna, first the world histories that we collect, and see what we come up with. And see what people say their needs are and everything, and we’re gonna post a website.
[00:37:37]
And a lot of these will be available in the school library too, if people are researching.
>> Speaker 2: Good.
>> Speaker 1: Farming and things. But do you have anybody else you know that would be good for an interview.
>> Speaker 2: Sam Hall at Bush-N-Vine over in York, South Carolina. I can give you Sam’s information.
[00:37:56]
>> Speaker 1: Okay.
>> Speaker 1: What’d you say the name,
>> Speaker 2: Sam, S-A-M Hall.
>> Speaker 1: Okay.
>> Speaker 5: Bush-N-Vine.
>> Speaker 2: Bush-N-Vine. Bush and vine, okay.
>> Speaker 2: Let’s try 803.
>> Speaker 1: Okay.
>> Speaker 2: Six, two, seven, five, five, four, five.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, well, I really appreciate that.
>> Speaker 2: And tell Sam you talked to me.
[00:38:41]
>> Speaker 1: Okay.
>> Speaker 2: Or you, just tell him you talked to me and that I said, I encouraged him to sit down with you. It’s a good experience, tell him that.
>> Speaker 1: I appreciate your time.
>> Speaker 2: Yeah.
>> Speaker 1: All I need, if you could, ask you to sign a release, one for the class and one for the library.
[00:39:02]
>> Speaker 2: Okay, yeah.
>> Speaker 1: That’s okay for us to use an audio tape in our research?
>> Speaker 2: Okay, that’s fine.
>> Speaker 1: Okay, I appreciate it.
>> Speaker 2: All right.