In 2010, a financially ruined couple started farming on leased land; after hitting $100,000 on one-third acre in New York, their farm now pushes nearly $700,000 a year from mostly 2.5 acres

(Source: Aaron Shellow-Lavine/WAMC)

A couple who lost their home in 2010 now earns almost $700,000 a year growing vegetables on just two and a half acres in upstate New York. Corinne Hansch and her husband, Matthew Leon, went through serious money trouble during the 2010 recession. When their home in California was about to be taken away, they decided to try growing food for a living. Their first try, in Northern California, fell apart when they lost the land they were renting. So they moved to New York’s Capital Region. Starting on just a third of an acre, they built a small but very productive farm. It has since grown into a large local food business with its own store downtown.

A rough start in California

The couple turned to farming because they had no other choice. In 2010, Leon lost his job and the couple faced losing their house. Speaking on the Real Organic Podcast, Hansch said: “We had nothing to lose, so we might as well start vegetable farming.” Leon had studied farming in college, and Hansch grew up on a small farm, but neither of them owned land. They rented an empty field in Mendocino County, California, and used compost to improve the soil. Their small farm did well under a local organic certification group. But after five years, the landowner decided to use the property differently, and the couple had to leave, a problem many new farmers face when they don’t own their land.

Moving to New York

This setback pushed the family to move east, where they could use land owned by relatives. The land sits inside a protected nature preserve about five miles from downtown Amsterdam, New York, and covers 120 acres in total. Hansch and Leon started Lovin’ Mama Farm, using 10 acres of the preserve, though most of their crops grow on just two and a half acres. The move changed everything for their business. Mendocino County only had about 90,000 people nearby, but the Capital Region gave them access to more than a million potential customers. In their first year, they had little space and strict rules kept them out of most of the market stalls. At the Troy Waterfront Farmers Market, they were only allowed to sell microgreens at first. “We made $7,000 our first year just selling microgreens,” Hansch told the Real Organic Podcast. By the end of their first full year, total sales had already passed $100,000.

Building healthy soil

Much of the farm’s success comes from years of soil work. The land didn’t start with good soil, so they added large amounts of compost. In an interview with public radio station WAMC, Hansch explained: “We’ve built our soil by adding compost every year between crops… we did that for eight years, until we grew our organic matter in our soil to 12%, which is kind of unheard of in the conventional world.” The farm avoids heavy machinery and deep plowing to protect the soil and keep earthworms healthy. Instead, they use light tools that barely disturb the top layer of soil. They also use black tarps and wood chips to block weeds instead of using chemical weed killers. Trees and pastures around the farm act as natural buffers, protecting the crops from chemical drift coming from nearby conventional farms. Ponds and natural habitat nearby support helpful insects, birds, and frogs, cutting down the need for pest control chemicals.

Sales grow, and so does the business

Today, Lovin’ Mama Farm brings in close to $700,000 a year. Most sales happen directly to customers, through six farmers markets every week, year-round greenhouse growing, and homemade products made from their crops. The farm now has nine greenhouses growing fruit, vegetables, and flowers, with about 12 employees. Even with this success, getting loans has been hard. Hansch told WAMC that securing commercial farm loans remains difficult, so the couple has relied instead on state grants, municipal programs, and direct sales to fund growth.

Opening a shop downtown

To bring in more income and help solve local food access problems, the couple opened a retail space in downtown Amsterdam. They rented a 2,100-square-foot storefront near Main Street, turning it into a certified kitchen, market, and café called Lovin’ Mama Kitchen. The downtown area has very few grocery stores nearby, so many residents without cars have to travel miles to reach a supermarket. Leon told WAMC: “For 15 years we’ve been vegetable farming and not had a certified kitchen with which we can turn that product into a value-added item. So, basically, now with a certified kitchen we can take the thousands of pounds of tomatoes that we produce every year and can them into salsa, posadas, tomato sauce.” They paid for the new store using several sources: $35,000 raised through crowdfunding, a $35,000 Community Development Block Grant, and another $32,000 from the National Grid Main Street Revitalization Program. The shop sells fresh produce, ready-made meals, and discounted food boxes, and it accepts EBT (food assistance) payments to help lower-income shoppers. “The cool thing is, because we are the farmers, we can really provide things at cost, and we can get really creative… we’re really at an advantage because we are the producer,” Hansch told WAMC.