Candace

Talmadge

Read Candace's bio and previous columns

May 8, 2008

Meaningful Work Grows in Texas 

By now, the collard greens, kale, chard, peppers and eggplants should be in the ground, along with the carrots and corn. The latest planting season is pretty much over at Barking Cat Farm, a tiny grower in Heath, Texas, which is owned and operated by Laurie Bostic and Kim Martin, two former engineers. 

“You’d expect two engineers to go into farming about as much as you’d expect a cat to bark,” is their explanation for the name of their thriving micro-business, which sells its organic produce and cut flowers to Dallas restaurants and florists and direct to local consumers. 

And yes, there is a waiting list of people who want to pay a $520.00 annual fee (in eight-week installments) to be one of the customers who receives a weekly box of no-pesticide veggies straight from the field and $182.00 yearly (in eight-week installments) for a weekly dozen of farm-fresh eggs free of hormones or other additives from chickens that are not imprisoned in fetid, football-field-size coops. 

Organic produce is such big business now that even Wal-Mart has gotten in on the act. But Bostic and Martin go it one better. By selling locally, they avoid the energy expenditures and resulting costs involved in shipping food and other produce thousands of miles from its place of origin – the way most of us obtain it. That’s green in more ways than one. 

Neither set out to become a farmer. Both have degrees in electrical engineering and, right out of college, went to work for a defense contractor (where they met) and then to separate dot-com businesses in the 1990s. They both spent many years working behind a computer screen, and ultimately decided this was not the life for them. 

Bostic and Martin left the tech world in 2002, but kept in touch while employed by non-profits, trying to find work they could call meaningful and fulfilling. That route wasn’t for them, either. Meanwhile, the two did a lot of research and head-scratching about what kind of business to launch as a duo. 

They started their farm in 2004 primarily with specialty cut flowers and some produce. They discovered, however, that it was much easier to sell the food than the blooms, so now Barking Cat Farm focuses on consumables with flowers on the side. 

“The food flies off the shelves,” Martin says. “People are looking for this,” meaning organic vegetables grown locally. 

“We are a lot more passionate about the food side of our business,” Bostic adds.  

The move into produce farming opened their eyes, they say, to the issues surrounding how the country supports – or doesn’t – locally grown food. Our national ability to produce enough quantities of healthy food at a reasonable price affects our security and overall well-being, they contend. “Many of our customers have health issues and have chosen to go with organic food.” 

Like all small businesses, Barking Cat Farm faces its share of challenges – starting with the weather and the insects. Bostic and Martin have an acre of land for flowers and will end up with six acres devoted to vegetables. Mindful of the environment, they farm using high-density planting methods to conserve water, and eventually all of their acreage, not just the flowers, will have drip irrigation. They’re buying a delivery van and a tractor. They predict profits in 2009. 

The two advise those considering the leap into farming not to quit the day job unless they are really well funded. Do the research and develop a plan. Find a nearby farmer or two for a mentor and start small, with just a backyard plot if that’s what’s available. 

Despite it all, neither would trade the uncertainty of farming and hard toil in the fields for any high-paying tech job. “Doing this is so much more rewarding in every way except financial,” Bostic says with a laugh. 

“God willing, I will never work for someone else again,” Martin chimes in emphatically. “I am the captain of my own fate instead of being subjected to someone else’s stupid decisions.” 

And that’s the entire point. Like their fellow entrepreneur in Denton, these Texans took their economic fate in their own hands and created for themselves jobs that nurture and sustain their passion and commitment, while doing a real service for their communities. 

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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