Photos by Lucie Monk Carter
The Guidrozes and their charismatic dog; no kidding, her name is Tippy Toes.
One persistent idea has been on the minds of Grant Guidroz and his wife Allison: “Can two people make a professional income on a small-scale farm, organically? That was the question all along,” said Grant, who carefully planned with Allison for years toward this end. “Maybe we could do this, we thought. And we wanted to do it here, because we are both from South Louisiana.”
Now Fullness Farm puts the young couple’s theory to work. Situated on a small piece of land off traffic-clogged Nicholson Drive in Baton Rouge, their micro-farm boasts just a half-acre of meticulously manicured rows of salad greens, root vegetables, herbs, microgreens, and cruciferous veggies. A visitor feels far into a country trek, with birds chirping and frogs croaking in the pond nearby. One of the greatest challenges for new farmers is finding suitable land, so when the opportunity arose to lease the nutrient-dense fields, they knew it was meant to be. “This land has history. It was called Longwood Plantation. They used to grow [sugar cane] out here and process it,” said Allison, who is the farm’s co-proprietor along with Grant. “Being here, one of our best assets is the soil, because we are so close to the river. We have seen the soil on all of the places we have farmed before … and this soil isn’t just twice as good, it’s like five times as good. Beautiful, beautiful soil. It drains really well; it has a lot of minerals already.”
Dreaming of having their own organic farm since their early days at LSU, Grant and Allison have spent the last four years working in various aspects of the local-food movement, beginning in college with a small business installing raised garden beds and taking any and all odd jobs along the way to make ends meet. Firmly believing in using all organic processes, they have drawn on their experience from internships on multiple organic farms in Louisiana and Arkansas to implement their business plan. “We wanted to approach this as any other professional endeavor; so we really took a lot of time studying the craft, in every way possible—with books, watching videos about farming, and going to farming conferences. If we took trips with our families, we visited farms. Even on our honeymoon, we were looking at farms. When we were [interning] in Arkansas last year, we lived in an RV; we didn’t have TV or internet or anything, so we just nerded out on books,” said Allison.
Whether conditions in South Louisiana make organic farming more difficult, the Guidrozes can’t say for sure. “We don’t know what it is like to not grow organically, so we don’t have a fair comparison,” said Grant.
“A lot of people say it is really hard to grow here organically because of all the pests and disease—which it is. There are a lot of challenges, for sure, but we just try to have the healthiest plants starting out; because when they get stressed, they put out pheromones and that brings in the pests,” added Allison.
Their emphasis is on healthy soil and pest prevention, using simple techniques such as netting to exclude pests as well as clay to coat the plant stalks and protect them from intrusive insects. While this attention to detail is labor intensive, the farm’s small size allows the duo to perform all the planting, pest control, and harvesting themselves, cutting out expensive labor costs that plague larger farming operations.
Their laissez-faire attitude to the challenges of organic farming is rare in a state where farmers suffer from a host of environmental challenges, from abundant pests indigenous to the native tropical climate to destructive hurricanes that bring devastating levels of rain. And while the Guidrozes use organic practices, they cannot officially claim to be a certified organic farm until they are inspected by a third-party company and provide comprehensive records on their farming practices. According to Harry Schexnayder, who served as the organic program coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), there are approximately twenty certified organic farms in Louisiana with just about half of those actually producing fruits and vegetables as opposed to coffee or dairy products. “It’s tough when [farmers] are in the field fighting nature all day, and then [they] have to come in and do paperwork. It can be done in this state, but you give up some yield; you just have to work that into your plan,” said Schexnayder.
The state ended their organic certification program in 2012, due to extreme state budget cuts coupled with a lack of demand for the program. In response to the program closure, however, LDAF did implement a matching grant for the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) organic cost share program, which reimburses farmers 75% (up to $750) of their organic certification costs. “We want to continue to encourage and definitely not discourage [farmers],” said Schexnayder. The Guidrozes have begun the process for certification, keeping the necessary detailed records and seeking out a private certification company in Florida to inspect their farm.
In the meantime, they are enjoying the overwhelmingly warm reception from the community since their farming venture began last June. They currently sell the bulk of their crops at the Red Stick Farmers Market in downtown Baton Rouge on Saturday mornings, with plans to expand to local restaurants as their yield grows. “[The farmers market] is just a really nice way to sell, to meet our customer, and to tell them what we are about. That relationship that you form at the farmers market is really invaluable. People can hear what we’re doing and why we’re doing it. The support and the reception that we have gotten has just been amazing,” said Allison.
(Photo: The Guidrozes opt for gentler tools in weeding their crops, prizing the health of the plants first and foremost.)
“We had some financial goals to start with and said if we do that, we’ll be good. And we doubled it the first day [at the farmers market],” added Grant. Direct sales are the backbone of a small farming operation, and revenue from the farmers market has allowed Allison to quit both of her once-necessary side jobs.
With their newfound success, they are eager to pay their knowledge forward and encourage others toward farming. The Guidrozes are active members of the Louisiana chapter of the Young Farmers Coalition, which represents, mobilizes, and engages young farmers to ensure their success. Allison, who serves as one of the year-old group’s organizers, said, “We are just trying to connect resources to farmers and provide a community for people who want to farm.” Fullness Farm played host to one of the group’s quarterly meetings in October, bringing together a diverse group of farmers, both in age and experience.
“We have said so many times in starting up this farm how indebted we are to our experience because we know what to do. We couldn’t be where we are without our mentors,” Allison said. “This is really fun. We are living the dream.”
Details. Details. Details.
Fullness Farm Instagram: @fullnessorganicfarm Louisiana Young Farmers Coalition facebook.com/LouisianaYoungFarmers Red Stick Farmers Market 5th and Main streets, downtown Baton Rouge Saturdays 8 am–noon breada.org
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