Family: Husband, Ken Barber
Hometown: Wheatland, Mo.
In Town: Katie Nixon is the food system director of the West Central Missouri Community Action Agency.
“We look for opportunities to serve farmers and farm businesses and help develop the food value chain,” Katie explained. “That’s developing food systems that have value for the community and the environment because small to medium-sized farms tend to be a little more sustainable in their approach.”
In the Country: Katie and her husband, Ken Barber, have owned Green Gate Family Farm since 2010 and began their certified organic operation in 2013, where they raise produce, cut flowers, eggs and potted garden plants and herbs.
“I like to say we are like the old-fashioned truck farm,” she said.
Katie and Ken grow 300 items in their three high tunnels and greenhouse. “We grow about 30 identifiable produce items, but within those items, there are different varieties,” Katie said. “We grow 40 different kinds of tomatoes, 10 kinds of peppers, five kinds of egg plant, so we try to grow a variety.”
Green Gate Family Farm has both wholesale and retail customers. They also offer products online. “We serve schools, restaurants, Whole Foods, and we’re part of the Kansas City Food Hub, which is a farmer cooperative,” Katie explained.
Katie and Ken also have a Community Supported Agriculture program, which allows customers to “subscribe” to their harvest. “With our CSA, we try to grow a variety because we want our customers to have something new every week, not the same thing all the time,” she said. “We do a lot of heirloom tomatoes because they are popular and good money makers for our farm.”
Green Gate Family Farm produces items year-round. “We’re producing food for school and our customers all winter,” Katie said. “We have a winter CSA and a fall CSA, so we are constantly growing on our farm with season extension techniques.”
Mixed lettuce and salad mixed as among the most popular crops in the winter months. “We also do a lot of Asian greens, like bok choy, kale, chard and other things,” she said. “We will do a fall planting of storage crops. We’ll have sweet potatoes, beets, radishes, carrots, turnips, and garlic then we can pull from those in the winter for the CSAs and make sure there are lots of options.”
Future plans: Katie and Ken want to open their farm to other ventures, and pass along their knowledge to others.
“As we get older, we’re looking at what the farm can look like in 10 years and inviting others to be part of the farm,” she said. “We’re going to spend some time looking to transition the farm to a non-profit or agriculture experience or agritourism. We want people to learn and maybe teach the next generation; we just haven’t figured it out yet.”
