The Wilson family works year round to grow quality produce
Gardening has long been a family affair in many households, especially this year, with kids out of school early.
In addition to three high tunnels – 14-foot tall, 84 foot long plastic covered greenhouses – John L. Wilson of Dallas County, Mo., also has three 100-foot-by-100-foot gardens. He alternates those, planting one each summer.
“That’s one garden for us and the chickens get the other two,” John commented, referring to the 29 hens and four roosters he has in addition his vegetables. Then in the winter, they get all three.
“In December, I planted kohlrabi, five kinds of radishes, five kinds of carrots, three or four kinds of beets and Swiss chard before going to spend some of those cold winter days in Arizona. Ever since I got back, I’ve been weeding and I still am.”
He added with a laugh. “The first of April, we planted the second high tunnel and our granddaughters, helped.”
After 10 years of working in his high tunnels, John knows what grows best and what sells locally.
This spring, in his third and newest high tunnel, they planted sweet peppers, eggplant, corn, rutabaga, black-eyed peas, okra, turnips, spinach, green beans, sweet peas, yellow squash and zucchini.
The outside garden is planted with winter squash, potatoes, onion, eggplant, peanuts, green beans, peas, black-eyed peas, okra, sunchokes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, 12 varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, cantaloupe, sweet potatoes and summer squash.
“Right now, our last one, which is actually my first and the oldest one, is full of hay which I’ll use on my 144 tomato plants. We use 45 to 50 bales on our different varieties of tomatoes. A friend starts the plants for me so I just use seedlings in the high tunnels because otherwise the heat is too much for the seeds. Still, the bugs don’t last in the heat either so we don’t have to use any pesticides. The temperature can get up to 130 degrees in there by early summer.”
John mixes chicken manure with sawdust from the local stave mill to make his own fertilizer, one more way he avoids using outside chemicals like those found in commercial fertilizers.
He is glad this season to have a new John Deere tractor, a very small one with a 5-foot tiller that he can turn around inside the high tunnel.
“My lawnmower is 28-horsepower and this tractor is only 25 but I love it. I went to Farm Fest and got multiple quotes on what I wanted but my local dealership in Lebanon gave me the best deal.”
Ozark winters can be hard on high tunnels or hoop houses, as their smaller cousins are often called. After 10 years, the weight of snow and ice have taken their toll.
“I had to replace the steel framework on my first one this year. The wind also ripped the plastic but it was 10 years old. It has all been replaced and repaired now and will be ready to go for this year,” John said.
Winter weather, however, is not his greatest challenge.
“Without a doubt, it’s the marketing,” John said. “We sell our vegetables at the Marshfield Farmers Market and also right here on our farm. You can come out and pick what you want. We sell all we can and then bring the rest home, can and freeze some and then give away the rest at church and to the neighbors. And then the last of it, we feed to the chickens.”
Still, John is the first to say the best part of gardening is watching the new plants come up. “I just love that.”
He is busy passing that joy along to the next generation, his grandchildren Scotty, Skye and Summer Keller, ages 13, 9 and 7.
“Our daughter Jennifer also helps us run our booth at the Marshfield Farmers Market so it continues to be a real family operation.”
John and ShirleyAnn Wilson live 7 miles west of Conway on Highway WW and often put a sign out on the road beside their mailbox when the produce is ready.
“We welcome folks to stop by and come pick and pay right here. It’s a really good deal for all of us.” John concluded.
