Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Chandler.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Jennifer. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Well, the farm started back in 2012. In the fall of 2011, I moved back to Mabank, Texas, where I am from and knew that farming was my future. I was raised on a dairy farm, so farming has always been in my blood and apart of my life. Chandler Family Farm started very slowly with just a small fall garden. That first season, I was pregnant with my son Thomas and so all of my veggies were preserved for future baby food. It was 2013 I think , that I began selling at my first farmers market. The farm consisted of laying hens, bottle calves from my dad’s dairy herd and one 1/4 acre garden. We have slowly grown and keep using more garden space as we can find it. We now grow anywhere from three to five acres of vegetables, depending on the year and the field space available. I have a small 10×10 unheated greenhouse and a 30×50 unheated hoop house for seed starting. The animals we now have are hogs for pork, laying hens (about 200), a pet goat and her twins, one Ewe, lots of cattle and a raft of ducks swimming in the pond. We sell at two farmer’s markets, run a CSA with another local farm and have a farm stand here during the main season for our local community. Thomas, my son who is seven, now has grown with the farm and is very involved. It is a true family farm.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
With any business, there are challenges. Farming has a very strong learning curve that changes year to year, crop to crop. I have designed my farm to reflect my lifestyle and how busy or slow I want to live. I choose to take time off each year to have quality time with my son. Its important to me to see him grow up and be involved heavily in that process, not just as we come in go through each day. So each year coming back into the season is exciting and daunting. But it is a life that we choose and that fits us extremely well.
Please tell us about the business.
We are a small family farm growing seasonal produce in the fields using tractors and our hands. We specialize in good old fashion nutrient dense food. We want to feed our family and our communities’ families. I am most proud of raising my son in a way that he knows where his food comes from, how to grow and take care of animals with love and with the best care. We grow a wide range of fruits on vegetables: sweet corn, tomatoes, melons, black eyed peas, peppers, beans, roots, onions, potatoes, blackberries, Israel melons, and so much more. We raise our laying hens with the freedom to roam the farm each and every day. They eat bugs, green grass and are fed a non-GMO grain supplement. Our hogs are raised outdoors as well. They get to root around, dig mud wallows and eat the leftover and spent vegetables and plant debris from the garden. They are also fed a non-GMO grain. We sell our produce, eggs and pork at the Good Local Markets: White Rock FM and Lakewood Village FM in Dallas. Our Deep Roots CSA is where a large portion of our crops go. We have Spring and Summer 8 weeks season where our members get hyper fresh, all local share of veggies each week. The CSA is a partnership with Highway 19 Produce and Berries. Our local customers can shop at the farm stand during the main season around May – August. It’s a beautiful little trailer that gets loaded up with produce and is honor system based.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have worked on a few different types of farms before going all in on my own. Some on hands experience would have been beneficial before jumping in with both feet. I am also getting knowledge of how to run a small business. I feel like that is one of my biggest struggles. Farmers have to wear so many hats each day and the business stuff is the most challenging for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deeprootscsa.net
- Phone: 903-910-5663
- Email: deeprootsfarmers@gmail.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/chandlerfamilyfarm/
- Facebook: facebook.com/chandlerfamilyfarm/
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