Joy Beghtel and her husband Greg wanted more for their family so they bought a strawberry farm that they've transitioned to a larger asparagus operation. Enjoy the story and deep-dive into all things asparagus! Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:00): Joy Beghtel joins me today to discuss hand snapping an acre and a quarter of asparagus spears with her family on their farm, Fields of Joy, in Anderson, Indiana. Enjoy this conversation as we dive deep into all things farming with this perennial crop and their transition away from strawberries. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (00:22): Welcome to More Than A Mile, a local food podcast from Market Wagon, focused on connecting you to local food through farmer stories from across America. I'm Nick Carter, your host, a farmer and CEO and co-founder of Market Wagon. We are your online farmers market with a mission to enable food producers to thrive in their local and regional markets. Food is so much more than just nutrients and calories. It's actually the fabric that holds us together. And I look forward to crafting a generational quilt of farmer stories and experiences, the victories and challenges of individuals, families, and teams doing their part to help democratize food in America. Thanks for joining me for this episode of More Than A Mile, and thank you for buying local food. It's one critical step in making an investment in food for future generations. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:11): My guest today is Joy Beghtel from Anderson, Indiana. Not very far from Indy, just a few miles up the road from where we farm and where the Market Wagon headquarters is at. Joy, thanks for being with us today. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:22): Yeah. Thanks for having us, Nick. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:24): So you grow one edible crop--and one only that I know of, right? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:31): Yes. . Well, one only that we sell on Market Wagon. Yeah. We do grow other things, but primarily just for our farm stand the rest of the year. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:38): So you've got a farm stand where you grow some other produce for, but what do you sell on Market Wagon? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:43): We sell a lot of asparagus. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (01:46): How much, how many acres? Is it measured in acres or row feed? How much asparagus do you have over there. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (01:51): It is measured in acres. We actually grow that much. So I always laugh and say, isn't it every little girl's dream to grow up and own an asparagus farm. We right now have about an acre and a quarter of asparagus. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:06): Wow. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:07): Yeah, that's a lot. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:09): Okay. That's a lot of asparagus and this is--for our listeners who don't know--this is a permaculture, right? So it's perennial. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:18): Correct. It has a 15 to 25 year lifespan on it. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:22): Oh, wow. That long. Okay. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:23): Yeah. It just depends on the variety and I think kind of the weather and that sort of things, but we should get at least 15 years, we're hoping for somewhere around 20 on the plants that we put in. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:35): And so when did you start this farm? Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (02:37): Yeah, so we actually bought the farm in 2013. When we purchased it, it was a U-Pick strawberry farm. We kind of just stumbled onto it--kind of a long story. I grew up on a, what would probably be considered a small hobby farm. Probably not far from where you grew up, Nick. I grew up in Northern Grant County, so... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (02:58): Yeah, I actually showed dairy calves in Grant County. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:02): Okay. I thought you said on one of your podcasts, that you were a Howard County boy and I was like... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:05): I'm a Howard County boy, but there was no other dairy farms in all of Howard County so I got special permission to drive to the next county over and show my Four-H dairy calves. Yep. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:15): Very fun. Very fun. Yeah. So I grew up in Northern Grant County. We had probably what would be considered a hobby farm. You know, we did like a third of an acre of garden and had goats and chickens and rabbits and all of that kind of stuff. And so I didn't think much about it. I really had just an idyllic childhood looking back on it. It was all of that good stuff that you get living out in the country. And then I grew up and went to college, got a couple degrees in social work and Greg and I got married and started living the good life... Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:46): Two degrees. Joy Beghtel (Fields of Joy) (03:46): Two degrees in social work. Nick Carter - Host (Market Wagon) (03:47): Because if you're gonna get one ...
