Future Farms 2008:
Planning for Change
Tuesday, August 5: Farm Tours
Farm Tour Photo Galleries
More information
about farms on the tours
Central
OSU-OKC
Horticulture Center (Oklahoma City)
OSU Horticulture Department head Julia Laughlin will show visitors
the John E. Kirkpatrick Horticulture Center’s 40-acre grounds
and gardens, including 16,000 square feet of production greenhouses,
orchard, vineyard, arboretum, and community garden. The Center
also hosts the year-round OSU-OKC Farmers Market, featuring 100%
Oklahoma-grown produce, meats, dairy, plants, and flowers.
Sunrise
Acres (Blanchard)
Robert & Barbara Stelle will walk visitors through their 2-acre
high-density market garden area, featuring some vegetables at harvest
stage and others newly planted for fall & winter production.
Tour participants will also see the 9000 square feet of greenhouse
space, where they grow vegetable & herb transplants, along
with lettuce and tomatoes for winter production. The Stelles sell
their certified organic produce directly from the farm seven days
a week, all year long, and at venues including the OSU-OKC Farmers
Market and the Oklahoma Food Co-op.
Sailor Orchard (Blanchard)
(on-bus talk)
Bob Mearkle, owner of Sailor Orchard, will board the bus and talk
about his peach orchard, located in Blanchard. He will describe
production methods and pruning techniques, and share how he and
his wife Connie pick the highly coveted peaches and sell them from
their home. A couple of boxes of the juicy tree-ripened peaches
will make an afternoon snack.
Wichita
Buffalo Company (Hinton)
James and Sandra Stepp raise free-roaming buffalo on pasture, without
hormones or other growth stimulants of any kind. They will address
how buffalo can be successfully raised and marketed in Oklahoma,
including fencing, corrals, handling equipment, and medical and
nutritional needs. They will also discuss the demand for buffalo
meat and the need for more producers to raise the animals. The
Stepps began their buffalo business in 1998 as a sideline. They
now both work full-time on the ranch and have five employees.
SS Farms (Hinton)
(on-bus talk)
Dean Smith of SS Farms will ride the bus from Wichita Buffalo
Company to talk about his pepper fields in Hinton. Mr. Smith grows
1,200 acres of peppers that are 4 times hotter than the habanero
pepper, along with other crops. He has been specialty crop farming
on a commercial scale for many years.
Christian
Cheese (Kingfisher)
George and Lawanna Christian have been dairying for forty years
and making cheese for ten, using Grade A milk from their own dairy
herd. Their raise their cattle without hormones or antibiotics
and graze year-round on pastures kept free of synthetic herbicides
and fertilizers. The Christians market their cheeses directly
online, through the Oklahoma Food Co-op, and at some forty Oklahoma
grocery stores.
Chapel
Creek Winery (El Reno)
Professor Andrew Snyder will guide students on a tour of this working
winery, which also helps to train students in Redland Community
College’s program in enology (wine science) and viticulture
(grape growing). The winery focuses on making small batches
of many types of wines, so that students will become experts in
all aspects of the industry. It opened a tasting room last
winter.
Northwest
Crestview Farms (Edmond)
Susan and Vernon Graff grow certified organic vegetables, berries,
fruits, herbs, and other produce on their 26-acre farm. They
sell at the OSU-OKC Farmers Market, through the Oklahoma Food
Co-op, and from an on-farm retail shop that also features other
Made-in-Oklahoma products.
Cattle
Tracks LLC (Fairview)
John and Kris Gosney raise certified organic hard red wheat and
beef on their Centennial Farm. They grind some of the wheat
into flour, and sell wheat berries, flour, and beef cuts on their
website and through the Oklahoma Food Cooperative. This tour
stop includes a meal featuring products from the farm, as well
as the family tradition - homemade ice cream. Tour participants
will also have opportunity to grind flour from organic wheat berries,
see the Oklahoma Centennial witness trees, and go to the top of
the Gloss Mountain range, on the farm, for a view of the beautiful
area.
Wagon
Creek Creamery (Helena)
Ron and Barbara Crain have been dairying for 15 years, raising
their herd of 50-60 pasture fed cows without growth hormones or
grain. From the milk, they make a variety of dairy products,
including yogurt, yogurt cheese, butter, ricotta, buttermilk, and
cottage cheese. They sell online and through the Oklahoma
Food Cooperative.
Indian
Creek Winery (Ringwood)
Jenny & Chris Lewis produce a wide variety of wines from their
vineyard’s grapes. The winery also hosts several agritourism
attractions, including a bed & breakfast, wedding chapel, and
gift shop.
East
Queen’s Ransom
Farm (Newalla)
Jeff & Rejina Janes grow tomatoes and other fruits and vegetables
on ten acres, including 1/4 acre of strawberries on plasticulture
and 350 Apache blackberry vines, for sale at the Shawnee farmers
market. They are currently adding about 200 table grape vines.
The couple, who have been farming for two years, will discuss becoming
a self-supporting farm through diversification, perennial crops
and annual crops. They will focus on planting crops among the trees,
working with the land to maintain natural habitats, and using plasticulture
and drip irrigation for water conservation and weed control. Micah
Anderson of the ODAFF plasticulture program will also demonstrate
laying plastic.
Valley
View Pecan Company (Earlsboro)
For over 30 years, John and Janice Grundmann have been shelling
pecans, specializing in Oklahoma native varieties. In 2001,
they completed construction of a new 6,000 square foot plant, capable
of custom shelling on orders of all sizes. An on-site retail
store offers pecan candies, fudge, peanuts, English walnuts, black
walnuts, Brazil nuts, cashews, almonds and candies made with a
variety of nuts. The Grundmanns shell for customers in four
states, and ship candy and nuts nationwide. They will walk
visitors through the process, from cracking, shelling, floating,
and cleaning to the ready-to-eat pecan meat.
Tiger Mountain Ranch (Henryetta)
Sharon and Carl Glidden’s guest ranch demonstrates many
of the endless possibilities of agritourism, offering customizable
programs drawn from a range of Native American and cowboy traditions
and skills.
Rocky Top Goats (Henryetta)
Cliff Porter runs 200 to 250 Boer goats on 180 acres, selling mostly
show wethers and slaughter goats. He handles all the labor
and management himself, with a focus on minimizing costs and
labor as far as practicable. Before beginning the goat
enterprise in 2000, Porter ran a commercial cow-calf operation
for many years.
Grape
Ranch Winery (Okemah)
Since its beginning in 1999, Grape Ranch Winery has been voted
best winery in Oklahoma more than once. Overlooking a pecan
orchard on the North Canadian River, the winery offers daily tasting,
as well as a full schedule of live music on Saturdays and Sundays.
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