About the Farmer

When Andrew Garst graduated from Daniel Boone High School in May, he didn’t get much of a summer vacation.  Without missing a beat, Andrew went right on doing the same thing he had been fitting in around his schoolwork since age 15—taking charge of many aspects of running his family’s Jonesborough farm.

                Valley Creek Farm combines a commercial business raising registered Simmental cattle with a half-acre produce garden supplying the family’s stand at the Jonesborough Farmers Market, and Andrew has his hands in all of it.

                “We had all this extra produce, and found ourselves giving a lot of it away,” said Andrew’s mother Shirley, who runs the booth with him.  “A friend was selling his vegetables at the Kingsport market, and Andrew went to work for him part time.  He gave us some tips and we realized we could sell at this market on our own.”

                Now in his third year selling at Jonesborough, Andrew also has help from his father John and sixteen-year-old sister Kimberly, and the family-based focus of the business doesn’t stop there.  The land came from John’s family, and one planting technique involves an innovative piece of equipment developed by Shirley’s father.

                “We always start our seeds in a water bed,” Shirley said; a foam tray with 288 small square-shaped compartments, each with a pinhole in the bottom, floats in a few inches of water with a small amount of soil in each square.  The key to the success of this technique, they realized, was to plant each seed at a uniform depth.

                “So my dad came up with this idea—a piece of plywood cut to the same size as the tray, with 288 marbles glued to it,” she explained.  Each marble is positioned to press into the center of each square of soil, making an identical indentation for every seed to be dropped.

                Andrew also learned much of what he knows from high school agriculture classes and the mentorship of a family friend.  That background gives him the expertise to lead the process of mapping out the season’s work. 

                “You’ve got to really plan your garden,” he said.  “And as the season goes on, you need to know what needs to be done right away, and what can wait.”

                Andrew also spends time getting to know the “personalities” of his crops and animals.  “What many people don’t understand is on a farm, your cattle or your vegetables or whatever—they’re your employees.  You figure out how to get them to work for you for the best production you can get.”

                This season, the Garsts’ biggest difficulties have come from problematic weather patterns.  Usually, said Andrew, late summer means a huge bounty of tomatoes, but this year, the 350 heirloom plants have produced many fewer tomatoes than average.  “It’s been too dry for months,” Andrew explained.

                As his expertise grows, Andrew enjoys the self-directed nature of farm management.  “And it’s rewarding to be able to make a living doing this,” he said. 

                “The money he has made has helped him get a vehicle,” said Shirley.  And, she said, he has been able to put money towards school, as he hopes to begin technical school sometime next year to pursue a career as a diesel technician. 

                For now, though, the farm will keep him busy through the end of the growing season and beyond.  The Garsts expect to participate in the Farmers Market until it closes in late October, and Andrew also shows cattle at regional fairs; he recently won the “Senior Showmanship” title at the Greene County Fair. 

                That award confirmed what Shirley said Andrew has been demonstrating for the last three years of increased leadership on the farm.  “He’s a real, real hard worker,” she said.

                Visit the Garsts and many other local farmers, crafters, and vendors at the Jonesborough Farmers Market, Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon in the town’s Courthouse Square.  The Jonesborough market also features an online ordering system for mid-week pickup.  For more information, visit www.jonesborough.locallygrown.net.

Article and photo by Paige Campbell