Dru and Adam Montri raise vegetables in 6 large high tunnels and on 3 acres outdoors at Ten Hens Farm in Bath, Michigan, just outside of Lansing. They also both work off farm in jobs related to farming – Dru as the Executive Director of the Michigan Farmers Market Association, and Adam as the Hoophouse Outreach Specialist at Michigan State University’s Center for Regional Farm Systems. In this wide-ranging discussion, Dru, Adam, and I talk about how they balance their off-farm jobs with a farming operation that could easily keep them employed full time, including their strategies for managing employees and their relationship with each other. We also dig into the nuts and bolts of selling to restaurants and how they grew with, and helped to grow that market in their area; dig into winter production and the high tunnel they use for a packing shed; and Dru’s experiences as a woman farmer and agricultural activist.
The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.