A world of microgreens, micro herbs, heirloom vegetables, specialty lettuce and edible flowers is blossoming at The Chef’s Garden®, a small family farm in Huron, Ohio. At the root of this American family success story, is a secret ingredient that ensures that chefs serve their customers product with optimum shelf life, quality, flavor and nutrition. It’s been lovingly and meticulously nurtured with centuries old sustainable agriculture practices. That secret is The Chef’s Garden’s soil.
From the beginning, the Jones family put the needs of culinary professionals first – often growing crops to order. Since founding the farm, Bob Jones, Sr., and his sons made a decision to cultivate responsibly for quality instead of quantity on their 300-acre farm. Today, where lake winds bring sweet, moist air to this sandy, fertile land that was formerly lake bottom, 600 varieties of artisanal product are handpicked and delivered − usually within 24 hours − to the finest chefs globally, as far away as Hong Kong.
The Chef’s Garden has been better known since its humble beginnings in the early 1980s, thanks in large part to the skill of its growing team. Every member understands there is more to soil than meets the eye. Growing sustainably is an ancient farming approach that allows product to achieve optimum flavor and nutrient levels, while avoiding the use of insecticides and other chemicals. As an added benefit, productivity is also improved by rebuilding the soil. As Jones, Sr., puts it, “The best fertilizer in the world is the footprints of the grower. The farmer needs to walk through the field to really see the product and know the crop.” He adds, “Cover crops require as much planning and forethought as vegetable crops. Everything else is secondary.”
At The Chef’s Garden, two-thirds of the acreage grows cover crops such as clover, barley, oats, basil, mint or sorghum-sudangrass. These cover plants are used as recipe ingredients in fallow land to ensure the proper nutrient balance based on lab analyses of the soil’s biology and mineral needs.
As planted cover crops develop, they draw energy from the sun down through their root system that may extend deeper than 10 feet. This transferred energy is stored in the earth to be available for the vegetable seed to be sown. Mature nitrogen rich cover crops can be mixed with plant composting material, then folded into soil as both a conditioner and nutrient source. Once tilled into the soil, this organic matter provides the nutrients and biology that help grow a plant yielding maximum flavor, nutrition and shelf life – factors contributing to sugar content, known as Brix. The Brix level translates directly to flavor.
Many factors influence a vegetable crop’s Brix level including seed selection, moisture, metabolism and crop maturity when harvested. Researchers at the farm scrutinize growing plants’ photosynthesis, respiration, nitrogen and nutrient absorption levels to gauge sugar content. Timing of hand harvesting is key to the farm’s magic formula of artisanal vegetable production.
According to Jones, Sr., the farm has made tremendous strides in this area. Their finely honed sustainable approach translates into high levels of sweetness that has improved the flavors and sugars of product as much as four and five times. In addition to delivering amazing taste, the higher sugar content contributes to a greater potential for plant antioxidants, nutrients, and longer shelf life.
In this sustainable approach, agriculture survives and thrives long term − naturally. It is a broad spectrum farming approach that replaces bad elements found in the soil with good nutrients to continually replenish it. Healthy plants are then better able to resist weeds and insects, avoiding the need for pesticides and other chemicals. Healthy soil also stores and regulates water flow to mitigate climate change and erosion.
While all these factors are integral to achieving the finest nutrient mix, product quality begins with seed selection. The stronger the seed, the higher the quality, flavor and nutrition. Often, The Chef’s Garden uses heirloom seeds, hundreds of years old, to maximize flavor and quality. These seeds are planted in a soil stage setting where a ballet of microorganisms, nutrients, water, air and more thread through layers of the farm’s life-giving soil.
The Chef’s Garden “farm team” is masterfully leveraging modern technology with decades of experience and processes to deliver a competitive advantage trifecta – seed, soil, and savvy. In the 21st century, The Chef’s Garden plans to continue redefining sustainable agriculture to create a model that will attract and retain young farmers. The farm wants to encourage future generations to not only protect the farmland but also provide safe, flavorful products with the nutrients necessary to build a healthy America.
Guided by the vision of the finest chefs in the world, the farm strives to lead sustainable agriculture in the future by maintaining the best and safest processes to protect the land, the consumer and the environment.
The next time you walk through a muddy field, you might just want to look at that soil on your shoes with a little more respect.
Farmer Lee Jones™ Perpetually clad in his trademark overalls, white shirt and a red bowtie, Farmer Lee Jones is the iconic figure of his family’s 300-acre sustainable farm in Huron, Ohio. Together, with his father Bob Jones, Sr. and his brother, Bob, Jr, they lead The Chef’s Garden team in pioneering the sustainable agricultural movement. The farm grows the best tasting and most nutritious specialty vegetables herbs and micro greens in the world. The family lives by a commitment to produce food that looks good, tastes good and is good for you.
The Chef’s Garden® is a family farm that grows, packages, and ships the highest quality and most flavorful specialty vegetables, herbs, and edible flowers directly to the best chefs in the world, www.chefs-garden.com. They can be reached at 800.289.4644 or [email protected].