In this week’s NYT Mag, Christine Muhlke writes about the plight of Barb and Fritz Foulke, a middle-aged Oregon couple who left behind their professional careers to become hazelnut farmers. What they quickly realized is that growing, making, and selling food is a full-time job — and then some.
After a rough start involving broken down equipment and lots of second guessing (“If we hadn’t signed a loan, I would have walked away,” said Barb), Freddy Guys Hazelnuts has since blown up. The nuts are celebrated by local chefs and the farm has enjoyed six years of intense growth.
It’s a sustainable, back-to-the-land, farm-to-table success story. Inspiring stuff. Read the column here.
Photo: Barb and Fritz Foulke in their hazelnut grove. (David La Spina/NYT)