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The (Syracuse, NY) May 1, 2003 FIVE FEMALE FARMERS WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THEIR ENTERPRISES FLOURISH Dorothy Long Contributing writer To the novice, farming may
sound like a simple matter of putting the seed in the ground and picking
the produce. But five
local farmers, all women with their own small farms, have discovered
growing their products is only half the battle. Marketing their produce in
competition with large commercial outlets presents a whole new set of
challenges.
To meet those challenges, the farmers decided that rather than
compete for markets they could work together. They call themselves Gaia
Grower Girls, after the Greek earth mother.
Tammy Hinman, Thea Folls, Heather Bailey, Rose Ryan and Susan
Poppenger met at the Skaneateles Farmers Market and, though some
are technically competitors, hit it off right away, Hinman said.
All of them are owners and proprietors of their own farms. It's
still an unusual occupation for women, Folls said.
"Farming is traditionally a male profession. Women are
traditionally the support. But we are the farmers," she said. Hinman,
Folls, Bailey and Ryan live in Niles. Poppenger lives in Spafford.
Farming is by nature an independent venture, Folls said. "It is
easy to be an isolated person as a farmer. We needed to reach out and
share experiences," she said.
The name was Folls' suggestion. She once owned, with her husband, a
pottery business named Gaia and made the suggestion almost as a joke. It
sounded funny, she said, all those Gs. But the others liked it and it
seemed to fit.
Hinman, whose 4-acre farm is the largest of the group, studied
agriculture in Colorado and came to Central New York as an agricultural
apprentice. She liked the area and stayed to start her own vegetable farm.
She sells her crops to restaurants in Skaneateles and Ithaca and
hopes to move into the Syracuse market.
Folls and Bailey, her daughter, have an acre in cut flower
production. Folls does most of the farming while Bailey, a graphic artist,
has a flair for arranging and marketing. Their subscription service that
delivers fresh flowers to Skaneateles homes weekly is the model for
one of the first Gaia Grower Girls projects.
Folls got into farming when a friend gave her a copy of Lynn
Byczynski's book, "Flower Farmer." At the time she was looking for a way
to stay home with her extended family and still be productive, she said.
The book totally inspired her.
Ryan's farm, Harvest Home Organics, produces a variety of organic
vegetables and flowers and homemade jams. Her garlic won a blue ribbon at
the State Fair in 2002.
Ryan, a public health technician for the Cayuga County Health
Department, started with a roadside stand with corn, gladiolus and garlic.
Poppenger is a flower farmer who specializes in both fresh and
dried flowers. Her one-acre farm, called Pods and Poppies, is in its third
year of commercial production, but Poppenger has been growing and drying
her product for over 15 years for friends and family. She produces for
farmers markets, florists and gift shops and teaches workshops through
BOCES adult education in Cortland and Cayuga Counties.
Now, as a group, the farmers hope to turn these minor success
stories into a larger undertaking.
"We formed the group for support and to bounce ideas off each
other," Hinman said. "But the past couple months the ideas have
multiplied," she said.
Most of the ideas hinge on the concept of community-supported
agriculture, she said. This summer they hope to have a festival to make
people aware of agriculture and female-owned businesses in the region.
"We want to let people know the importance of the community
supporting agriculture. So many of our products come from other
countries," Folls said. "It has a trickle down effect on the entire
economy."
Another Gaia Grower Girls program is to expand on Folls and
Bailey's subscription service. The Folls Flower Farm delivers weekly
bouquets to homes, the size and number of bouquets depend on the level of
subscription. The types and colors of flowers are selected according to
the customer's tastes.
By next year the group hopes to add a combination of all their
produce, including Hinman's vegetables, Poppenger's dried arrangements and
Ryan's organics and jams, to the weekly offerings.
"We want to capitalize on the Skaneateles Lake region. It is
a fairly affluent area. A lot of them work in Syracuse and don't want to
go shopping, They appreciate delivery," Hinman said.
They hope the expanded service will be available by the spring of
2004, she said. Copyright, 2003, The
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