Online Farmers Market Keeps Community Connected to Local Produce amidst the COVID Pandemic
Driving through Sheridan, Wyoming, in early November, most of the roadside fields seem to be retired for the year. Winter looms around the corner and Wyoming has already seen it’s first snow, browning the remaining crops and closing the growing season. Despite this natural cycle in the outdoor growing season, on the weekends, Sheridan has a unique farmers market that runs throughout the winter where you can find fresh lettuce year round.
Five years ago, when Joe Wesnitzer first started bringing his lettuce to the market throughout the winter, he was met with big eyes and curiosity. “People would just ask, ‘how?’” recalled Joe. Joe uses a system of growing called hydroponics. Hydroponics is a method of growing plants, usually crops, without soil, by using mineral nutrient solutions in an aqueous solvent. Hydroponics is a sustainable, effective method of growing — especially for people who live in areas with short growing seasons and harsh, cold winters.
Joe started Papa Joe’s Produce as a hobby and a way to keep himself engaged in the community with the idea that he would just bring the produce to the farmers market on the weekends. Joe’s greenhouses produce not only a variety of lettuce but kale, basil, cilantro and a variety of other herbs as well. The positive response in the community to his products encouraged Joe to expand and led to him bringing on his son-in-law, Adam Bunker, to help run the greenhouses and help with marketing.
Adam was working in web design with hopes that in retirement he could start growing his own food, when this opportunity came up. “My favorite part is coming in on Monday mornings and seeing how much everything has grown just over the weekend,” said Adam. Now, they have the goal of adding one new greenhouse each year, for the next ten years.
Several months into Adam’s time working with Papa Joe’s, the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread across the United States. As farmers market attendance began to plummet, the two knew that they would need to figure out a solution to the decrease of in-person customers. Adam and Joe worked with other local producers to set up an online farmers’ market through the Papa Joe’s website. The online orders began with eight orders the first week and grew to approximately fifty orders by the fourth week. The online orders ran for 21 weeks until markets began to open again. Working with eight other local producers, the online market offered over 50 different products, ranging from fresh produce to beef, milk, homemade salsas, and coffee. “It wasn’t an easy task between coordinating with all the producers and driving around to make the drop offs,” said Adam, “but we made it work and it was a really successful way to get people our products during a challenging time.”
The Wyoming Food Freedom Act enabled producers to sell directly to consumers and encouraged the expansion of agricultural sales by farmers’ markets, ranches, and farms. The Food Freedom Act lets producers market their products to customers with the disclaimer that the products are not licensed, inspected, or registered with the state. This allows producers to sell their goods as professional or semi-professional food producers instead of hobbyists.
“It’s better for everyone when people are able to support local producers,” said Joe, “It means fewer trucks on the road transporting produce from all over the country, the produce tastes better and is fresher and the money goes directly back into the community.”
Adam and Joe have added a new greenhouse as their consumer base has expanded to restaurants and schools in the area. Their first greenhouse utilized a vertical growing system but their second greenhouse uses a deep water culture system where the plants float on a raft. This has enabled them to grow significantly more plants at a time. As the operation continues to expand, they hope to start growing vegetables, including tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers, in addition to the leafy greens that they currently produce. Adam and Joe are both passionate about this unique system and have multiple ongoing experiments running at any given time to test and explore the best growing conditions.
Papa Joe’s frequently gets visitors who are captivated by the lush greenery in the greenhouses year round, including some of the local schools. “I think it’s really important for kids to see that there are other opportunities outside of college, more in the trades, to find a fulfilling career,” said Adam.
