Polchlopek Farms
···
Saturday Farmers Market, May-October: D shed
Products: corn, radishes, beets, etc.
···
You’ll immediately spot their huge mountain of corn or Marc Polchepek smiling on the back of their transport truck like he is here.
Marc's been farming his whole life. Along with his wife Lenore, their family knowledge has trickled down to their kids and in-laws too, who you’ll also find at the Market. “My grandfather taught my father to farm and then my father taught me and now I’m teaching my two daughters. I learned from being around it all time and am still learning.”
In additional to our Market, they have a popular farm stand at home. “During the farm season, we stock the stand every morning. It’s very busy on Fridays and then we try to come down here on Saturdays. Many of our customers are our own neighbors and in many cases they buy in large quantities so they can can or freeze the item for when it’s out of season. That way they can have quality produce year round.”
Marc Polchepek, a lifelong farmer, cited the difficulties of working in tandem with Mother Nature and the constant requirement of remaining adaptable. “As farmers, we’re dependent on the weather. Haven’t you ever heard the farmer saying? 'A dry year will hurt ya, wet year will kill you.' It wipes out your entire crop. This year we had up to 90 degrees humidity, a dry one, and it killed many of our crops. It’ll be a short season this year.”
Thankfully the crops that survived are looking gorgeous, piled high on their farm stand table in the form of deep green corn stalks and ruby red tomatoes. “We grow all different kids of corn—sweet, butter, white, etc. You have to learn which is produce works for your farm, your soul, and your customers.” Soon they’ll add more kinds of produce to their current mountains of corn and piles of tomatoes found in D-Shed on Saturdays—it’s rumored that the Polchepeks have been known to create pyramids of radishes at their display so stay tuned!
.
