“ We ’ ve been at the vegetable thing for awhile . That ’ s worked for us . It started post-tobacco . So I didn ’ t have the option that a lot of farmers had . I had to find my niche because it ’ s my full time income ,” Baumann explained . Those other options include an extremely varied category of fruits and vegetables . Scores of tomatoes , peppers , greens , onions , of all shades and more can be found at the farm .
The tomatoes at Lazy Eight stand out in particular . The farm grows a multitude of hybrid and heirloom types . The Black Cherry Tomatoes quite literally pop in your mouth – they are packed with flavor and utterly addictive . In contrast , the San Marzano II Tomatoes hold an almost meaty texture and are perfect for making tomato paste .
Due to the wide variety of produce harvested at Lazy Eight , Baumann and the 16 other employees on the farm work year round .
“ We stay busy . We start harvesting in early spring with spring crops and go all the way through the winter time with cold crops . It ’ s kind of an odd thing – with tobacco you plant in the spring , tend to it all summer , and harvest in the fall . With us , we plant starting in January and plant all the way to December . We start harvesting March and April all the way to the end of the year . It has it ’ s peak times and August and September is a big peak time .,” Baumann said .
At the time of this writing , summer crops like bell peppers , summer squash , cucumbers , and tomatoes are still being harvested at the farm . As summer is quickly giving way to fall , Baumann and company are preparing to shift over to fall crops like leafy greens .
Using seasonal high tunnels on the farm , cold crops like spinach , Japanese turnips , and kale will begin to be planted at this time of year .
Lazy Eight sells their produce at farmer ’ s markets in the area , to several local restaurants , the University of Kentucky Dining Hall , and the Whole Foods in Lexington . As organic farming grows in popularity , they also sell organic transplants to other farms .
“ We ’ re actually growing custom transplants for other farmers ... That ’ s kind of becoming a big thing for us . We just started these organic strawberry plants . We propagate them to sell to other farmers ,” Baumann said . “ The growing tips we propagate them from come from Prince Edward Island ... We ’ re growing for about 12 other organic growers this year and I only see that expanding .” Baumann noted the changing farming economy will be different for all farmers .
“ The biggest thing is the loss of tobacco . It was the staple of the whole farm economy and everybody was kind of left trying to figure out what to do . That ’ s the biggest change ,” Baumann said . “ There is a whole lot of new stuff for everybody . Everybody ’ s trying to figure out what ’ s gonna work best to replace tobacco . For us , it ’ s vegetables , but it ’ s different for everybody . There ’ s not a silver bullet for all fixes .”
According to Baumann , the fading of tobacco is not
September - October 2022 Madison Magazine 17