Hometown: Marshfield, Mo.
Family: Husband, James; two sons
In Town: Jennie Boosey, from Marshfield, Mo., is a graphic designer for Bass Pro Shops in Springfield, Mo., at its Base Camp Headquarters. She has worked there for three and a half years, and is on the website design team that oversees the Bass Pro boat brands. She has a background in graphic arts, which has lent itself well to both her town job, and marketing on her family farm in the country.
In the Country: Jennie and her husband, James, and their two young sons, own and operate Blue Heron Farm in Marshfield, Mo. Their 50-acre farm is very diverse, and is home to several hundred free range heritage chickens and ducks, a small flock of Katahdin sheep, a herd of Highland cattle, a couple of Berkshire pigs, two livestock guardian dogs and a large gardening operation. The Booseys sell duck and chicken eggs to several local restaurants and grocery stores, and the sheep, pigs and cattle are raised for pastured lamb, pork and beef, also for their wholesale and retail clients. In the garden, Jennie and James grow a variety of vegetables – greens, tomatoes, peppers and more – and they also have an indoor mushroom growing room. Their farm products are not just sold through wholesale and retail customers, they also have a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, and their CSA customers receive a weekly box of the farm’s bounty at a designated delivery point. One of Jennie’s favorite farming ventures is the garden, and she and James are planning to expand this aspect of the farm by adding a high tunnel.
Time Management Tips: “Working in town and helping to run a farm on top of having a family and a household to run is an extremely tough job, but I couldn’t do any of it without my husband, James. We work as a team,” Jennie said. “We are far from perfect, but good communication in this complex relationship is key to being as productive as possible. I try to focus on hour to hour tasks, and finishing one thing before I start another so I don’t get bogged down.”
