Heirloom Bean Biz Thrives On Just One Acre

Heirloom Bean Biz Thrives On Just One Acre CROPS New Techniques Paula Foreman is a one-woman heirloom bean business She’s hands-on from planting weeding harvesting and processing to marketing directly to her customers It’s not a big business but one she says has a big return in satisfying customers “I have a core of incredibly faithful customers and they come first ” says Foreman “I rotate through a stable of bean varieties that are customer favorites but every year I experiment with something new ” What Foreman looks for in a new bean variety is taste and texture “Beans can be beautiful but if the description says nothing about flavor it’s a non-starter ” she says “If it doesn’t taste good why bother ” She compares her freshly harvested beans to supermarket offerings “You don’t know how old they are ” she says “They can take forever to cook and have a mealy texture Mine are soft and creamy ” Foreman prefers to buy seeds from small suppliers like Uprising Seeds Adaptive Seeds and Victory Seeds Vol 41 No 2 “I save my own seeds for replanting but when I try something new I like small seed houses run by a handful of people ” she says They’re do-it-yourself and hands-on ” She appreciates that her regular customers are willing to try new things The same factor plays a role in the farmers market where she takes her beans Nearly 20 years ago Foreman took a chance and left her career to volunteer on a CSA farm earning a weekly share of produce for her efforts After 3 years she decided to try market gardening for herself “I had no money no land and no experience just a desire ” says Foreman “When I came across heirloom dry beans in a Seed Savers Exchange catalog I knew that was it ” The CSA gave her access to 1/3 of an acre The first crop was a learning experience The second year went better At the time she was working as a baker in a restaurant noted for a chef/owner willing to experiment “When I told her what I was growing she said she would buy everything I harvested ” says Foreman As her co-workers went on to other restaurants her customer list grew Her plot size also grew to a full acre one of three she leases allowing her to rotate beans to fresh ground each year Now in her 15th year on the leased land 90 percent of her customer base has transitioned from restaurants to individual and farmers market customers At harvest she emails past customers about that year’s varieties So far the largest crop on her acre has been 400 lbs of saleable beans She plants cultivates and harvests by hand picking individual pods “Harvesting by pods keeps the beans cleaner ” says Foreman “I fill a 5-gal bucket and thresh them using a threaded rod with a propeller-type attachment at its end As it spins around in the bucket it splits open the pods without breaking beans ” She winnows them by pouring them into a box in front of a box fan It blows away the lighter dry pods and the heavier beans fall into a box Foreman has moved from wheel hoes to laying tarps between the rows for weed control It has eliminated a lot of work and she feels the bean plants are taller and stronger with more pods When Foreman started marketing her heirloom beans pricing was a challenge A veteran farmer advised her to charge a premium She recognizes that marketing to customers in a large metropolitan area gives her an advantage “My average price for beans is $9 per pound but my market is accustomed to higher prices ” says Foreman “Those prices might not fly in another market ” While she wouldn’t turn away new business she does warn that existing customers are satisfied first “I have loyal customers some of whom have become friends and between them and my farmers market customers they take whatever I have ” says Foreman Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Encore Farm Paula Foreman encorebeans@gmail com; www encore-farm com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.