By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Being an executive assistant for a consulting firm in downtown Columbus just didn’t sit well with Becky Barnes. So, the 26-year-old Pickaway County woman decided to do something about it. She became an organic farmer.

She had some prior knowledge of farming. “My dad and his brothers have 2,000 acres of wheat, corn and soybeans,” she said. “It’s a three-family farm. Me and my cousins helped out with the farm chores when we were young.”

Two acres of that farm have been set aside for organics, and named Honeyrun Farm. It is run by Becky, her brother Isaac and his wife, Jayne. The trio were also initially helped by Becky’s sister-in-law, Adrianne.

For the first 18 months the four kept their day jobs while devoting themselves to the two acres each evening. But in March, Becky became an organic farmer full-time. To this day, Becky, Isaac and Jayne have managed to make a small profit from their farming.
“We’re giving it a try,” Becky said. “Obviously, there’s a lot of skepticism with the rest of the family, since they’re more into conventional farming.”

A small wire fence separates Honeyrun Farm from Barnes Family Farm. On the two-acre farm, Isaac, 32, keeps bees in 65 hives. Jayne, 28, grows and sells flowers. Becky manages edible crops such as basil, tomatoes and corn. Together, they battle the rampant weeds.

“Weeds are out of control, but we’ve become more knowledgeable on how to control the soil and still have healthy plants,” Becky said. “Maybe we were too ignorant to know what to spray, and we didn’t like the idea of spraying what you were going to eat.”

Concoctions of garlic spray, hot pepper wax and others have helped control the weeds.

They’re also fighting bacterial spots and tomato fungus. Deer haven’t been a problem, since the farm is adjacent to Dry Run Creek. An electric fence helps keep the raccoons away.

Isaac supplements his income by managing a golf course. Jayne takes time from the farm duties to tend to her four-month-old son. Becky, however, spends as much as 18 hours a day picking tomatoes, making soap in the kitchen, making trips to area restaurants and hauling vegetables downtown to the Pearl Alley Market.

She’s quickly learning of the struggles of getting the crops to market and finding buyers in those markets.

“I worked in downtown Columbus for 18 months and didn’t like that at all,” she said. “I saved enough money to quit and do this, and I believe I’ve made the right choice.”