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Our Featured Vendor Tonight?
We open for orders tonight, featuring…
Jack DeFord, with his JM Gardens, the newest vendor to join Miami County Locally Grown!! When I met him for the site visit of his family farm, my husband will understand – I was smitten. I stepped from the car, acknowledging the farm’s loveliness and charm, as Jack proclaimed “This is my favorite place in the world!” And I smiled, hoping my children will say the same as they give a stranger the grand tour of my own farm when they’re 26 years old.
Jack has been a regular customer on our Virtual Market for the past year, delighting everyone when he’d come in to pick up pounds of lettuces, and when asked if he was having a party, he’d just smile and say “No, these are for me” as he left with a mountain of greenery.
His enthusiasm is infectious – like when he came to customer pick-up, and found out my volunteer was none other than Kevin Davidson, the producer of Jack’s beloved lettuce and romaine. His colorful exclamations made everyone laugh, as he stuck out his hand to shake Kevin’s, praising his products and asking questions.
Jack grew up on the family’s 66 acre homestead in eastern Casstown, although his mom, Holly, is convinced he was born in the wrong era, as she said the 1890’s would’ve been more in line with his interests. He loved growing up on the farm, where the stone forts he built with his sister and brother still stand as a testament to their creative energy and youthful enthusiasm. No video games and no cable to be found throughout their childhood – and even better, no desire for such distractions when they had an idyllic outdoor playground at their fingertips!
It’s rare to meet a young man who talks so enthusiastically about the hand-hewn beams and workmanship of their old barn. As Jack said, it is just sad to see so many barns falling down and in various states of disrepair. He has a driving desire to save a remnant of a different farming era by taking down a dilapidated barn piece by piece and bringing it back to be rebuilt on the family land. Many people talk, but when Jack spoke of this dream, you genuinely had to believe he possessed the drive to see it through.
Jack is in love with all things farming, so much so he’s taken over 20,000 photographs of farm equipment and machinery at work. He acknowledged that his possible projects are endless, and even now he’s currently out of space, as his garage is taken up with the corn wagon he’s rebuilding, and his parents barn is full of, among other things, three antique tractors and a John Deere two-row planter – his very first purchase when he graduated from Wright State!
It was refreshing to hear his pride when showing off the trailer his Grandpa had built, and talking about all the work his parents put into making the farm both functional and comfortable since they purchased it in the ‘80s. The respect certainly went both ways, and was wonderful to see both how appreciative he was of everything his parents provided, and how supportive his Mom and Dad are of his varied endeavors and interests.
The assortment of Indian corn, gourds and pumpkins Jack, as JM Gardens, currently offers on the Virtual Market are beautiful – not only aesthetically but because they represent the importance of supporting local, and all the work your neighbors have put into building a beautiful future by remembering the hardworking past.
www.miamicounty.locallygrown.net!