Ron & Linda Sheldon

Linda Sheldon 

Wanna be Farmin' is the name of the company that is owned and operated by Ron and Linda. Ron is not in the picture because he doesn't like being in pictures. They are originally from Connecticut and got into farming because it was different, there is a high demand for it, they get to be their own boss, and they get to do what they love. "One of the best aspects of farming is that you get to see the hard work pay off when you sell produce to a customer"-Linda Sheldon. This can be said of many careers but especially in the farm world it takes a lot of dedication, blood, sweat, worries and time. For example an average harvest period is 90-120 days depending on the crop.However this is not including the time it takes to grow a "cover crop". They use mostly winter rye so they can protect soil nutrition and prevent top soil getting erosion. The produce that is grown at Wanna be Farmin' is tomatoes, cucumbers,squash, beans,eggs,and other vegetables. To be able to grow this type of produce they use irrigation so like in a year like this one their crops will survive. They have a smaller operation because of two reasons. The first being they do not want to hire more hands if it is not necessary; and the second being they want to put the hard work into it so that they can have not only pride in what they do but also confidence in the quality of the food. This is very honorable because they are insuring profit through the quality of their labor.However there is also a third way to manage the quality and that is by not using any spray on their crops. They meet the standards for being organic but the title and process are to expensive for them to complete. Another way they insure profit is that they have certain breeds of crops that result in "a better looking produce" because customers care about appearance. The two brands of tomatoes that is grown at their farm are "big beef & fountain fresh". These are both bigger in size and better looking. You can buy these tomatoes at the Berea Farmers Market for $ 2.50 per pound or a basket (which contains about 8-10 tomatoes) for $5. There entrepreneurship is helping to produce healthy and local food to the community. Hopefully by utilizing concepts such as crop rotation and cover crops they will continue to prosper and provide help to the town.