Pleasant Valley Produce is housed next to their you-can ’ t-missit red barn / produce stand located on Route 108 . It ’ s a breezy open market filled with big bins of sweet corn picked fresh each morning , gorgeous seasonal produce , fresh farm eggs and the Stabler ’ s own farm raised Angus beef and pork , as well as many handcrafted preserves and other food products .
How did two sisters end up carrying on their family ’ s farming tradition with all the other life choices they could have made ? “ I think it takes a special form of stamina to be a farmer ,” says Kelsey . And without much hesitation they ’ ll tell you it ’ s in their
blood . “ We were born and bred into this lifestyle we grew up loving and working the land .” Both Kelsey and Shelby decided to stay close to home for college and chose not to go to the big Ag universities in the Midwest . A farm future wasn ’ t always a certainty for Kelsey . “ I went to college and got a degree in accounting and for the longest time I thought maybe the CPA route might be the way I wanted to go . But by my second year I decided that sitting at a desk wasn ’ t going to be for me . I had grown up too active , loving to be outside .”
Kelsey and son Landon showing their heifer at a cattle show in January .
“ I think it takes a special form of stamina to be a farmer ,” says Kelsey . “ We were born and bred into this lifestyle we grew up loving and working the land .”
Shelby started college on the path to being a large animal veterinarian . “ Then I got very homesick . It was a four-hour drive from school , and I was coming home on weekends a lot ,” says Shelby . Wanting to be closer to home , she switched her major to biology and business administration and graduated from Hood College in Frederick . “ I knew in my heart of hearts that eight years of school wouldn ’ t have made me a very happy person . I wanted to be outside ... I wanted to be doing things . For me , like Kelsey , coming back to the family farm was because farming has been such a driving force in my life . Our dad only had us two girls , and the farm will be ours someday . I love it so much , and I want to keep it alive . The sooner I can learn the ropes and put the work in , the better off later in life we ’ re going to be .”
“ We don ’ t take the opportunity for us to come back to the farm lightly ,“ says Shelby . Some of their friends , most from the Ag world , couldn ’ t always be supported by their family farm operations . Ongoing challenges for the farmer are many and not every farm family can afford to hire their kids . Shelby talks about the misconceptions out there about farming . “ Some people think farmers are rich because they have all this equipment . A farming operation is like any other business or industry with all kinds of financial obligations that go along with it .” Kelsey chimes in . “ We have all our input costs that we have to pay for up front and all of our profits come at the end of the year . You hope its going to turn out and can cover everything . It ’ s a gambling game every year . We pray , we roll the dice , and you win some and lose some .”
If there is a group of people that is beyond skilled at navigating change and adapting to uncontrollable circumstances , it has to be farmers . A perfect example of adaptation is the Stabler ’ s produce stand . “ Like the documentary showed , living so close to such a populated area , we have diversified ,” says Kelsey “ Through the produce stand we ’ re trying to reach the people around us who are part of that urban sprawl .”
“ Get to know your farmer ” is a popular saying these days and for good reason . Who really knows were their food comes from in our grab and go lives ? You buy veggies and meat at a farm stand or farm market you ’ ll know the source . As
42 plenty I Spring sowing 2021