May 2009
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Flowers have helped diversify Staker’s Farm and Greenhouse
ByMattReeSe expand into several new ventures in the
Back in the mid 1990s, the future of early 1990s, most notably peppers. At the
tobacco was not looking bright. A grow- time, there was a good local market for
ing concern was spreading around south- peppers, and a tobacco setter worked
ern Ohio as one of the economy’s tradi- pretty well for pepper planting.
tional staples was in peril. Some farmers With his new greenhouse in the win-
sold their land, some panicked; Nolan ter of 1995, Staker was able to expand his
Staker bought a greenhouse at an auction pepper business by starting his own
for $325. plants. Along with dwindling tobacco
On Staker’s Farm and Greenhouse acreage, Staker was planting as many as
near Stockdale in Pike County, Staker 7 acres of peppers, raising corn, soy-
and his father, Nolan Sr., had grown as beans, wheat and hay, running a beef cat-
much as 17 acres of tobacco, but the tle feedlot and growing another 6 acres
shrinking quota encouraged them to or so of “just about everything else.” This
Nolan Staker’s greenhouse flower production has helped diversify Staker’s Farm and Greenhouse, and transition
to decreased tobacco acres.
acreage included sweet corn, multiple varieties of flowers. Staker has found
types of melons, tomatoes, various veg- that the half-acre of greenhouses takes
etables and pumpkins that were being up more time than the rest of his diverse
sold at local groceries and farm markets. farm operation combined.
“The first couple years with the green- “This is just about like having a dairy.
house business, we brought in a few We have to be here every day to take care
flowers to sell and, around the same of these plants. You have to take care of
time, a guy just about 4 or 5 miles away these plants seven days a week once it
retired from his greenhouse that sold a warms up,” Staker said. “We still run
lot of flowers and plants,” Staker said. about 30 brood cows on the hillsides, 200
“After that, we just kept increasing the acres of hay, 200 acres of corn, beans and
amount of flowers and vegetable plants wheat, 9 acres of pumpkins, sweet corn,
we were selling.” strawberries, and 6.5 acres of tobacco,
As the plants themselves (and not the but the flowers are the most profitable
end products) became a more important thing we do.”
part of the business, Staker found that The work in the greenhouses really
demand on his limited greenhouse space gets started in February when pepper
was growing. He was fortunate to get plants, cauliflower plants and some oth-
some grant money through the Southern ers are started from seed. These earliest
Ohio Agricultural and Community plants are followed by tomato starts
Development Trust Fund and a regional (including increasingly popular heirloom
funding program to expand to nearly a varieties) in late February or March.
half acre under plastic on his farm. Now After that, Staker has to carefully time
Flower retail sales really pick up prior to Mother’s Day and Staker tries to get many of his flowers in peak bloom
instead of peppers, Staker sells pepper when he pots his roughly 100 varieties of
by then to entice customers.
plants, tomato plants, herbs and many flower plugs.
continued on page 15
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