FINDING COMMON GROUND IN THE CITY

Springfield produce grower brings a taste of country life to the city center

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This feature story can also be read here.

For nearly a century, the land at Fassnight Creek Farm has provided an outdoor sanctuary for the residents of Springfield, MO.

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“The original ground here has been in continuous produce production for give or take 90 years,” said Dan Bigbee, current owner and operator. “Of course, when it started, if it wasn’t in the country it was on the edge of the country. Now its five minutes from the Bass Pro Shop.”

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Fresh out of then Southwest Missouri State University with a horticulture degree, Bigbee was introduced to Fassnight Creek farm by its previous owner, Frank Phipps.

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“I’ve always been intrigued by vegetable gardening,” Bigbee said. “Both sets of my grandparents were great gardeners, flowers and vegetables. So, when I happened to find out that Mr. Phipps was over here doing four or five acres worth of vegetables, it really intrigued me. And I came over and struck up a friendship.”

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When it came time for Mr. Phipps to sell, he offered to finance the land to Bigbee for far lower rates then a bank would’ve offered. That, along with help from his parents, allowed him to purchase and start his operation.

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“He was a lovely gentleman with lots of practical knowledge,” Bigbee said. “No formal education, but when you want to know something, go find someone who’s been doing it successfully for many years. I don’t care what their education is, they’ll be able to tell you how to replicate that.”

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Despite the knowledge at his fingertips, the transition wasn’t all smooth sailing for Bigbee.

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“I was fresh out of college and full of myself and I thought I was going to try all these new things,” Bigbee said. “I had gardened all my life, but that was just for pocket money for Saturday night, not for my entire living. Finally, after about a year and a half, I realized what I was doing wasn’t working, and I started to listen to Mr.Phipps.”

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Once he got back to basics, Bigbee and his business gained stability. After four or five years he was comfortable enough to start incorporating changes and adjusting his business plan.

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“I’ll never forget the day Mr.Phipps came in and looked at something I was doing and said ‘boy, I wish I had thought of that back when I was farming,’” Bigbee said. “It was like I had hit the grand-slam home run. He was like a second father to me when it was all said and done.”

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The farm started as mainly vegetable production, but Bigbee has looked for ways to diversify.

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“It’s very difficult to make your entire living off of vegetable production,” Bigbee said. “We’re always looking for ways to extend the season. We’ve added bedding plants, vegetables, flowers and flower baskets in the early spring and then go right into produce. And the fall season has become huge for us.”

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To help manage the rocky ground the farm is built on, and to minimize labor needs, Bigbee has worked with local tree services to acquire an abundance of utility chips, which he uses to create an eight- to 10-inch layer of wood chip mulch.

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 “You can't incorporate it with the soil, you have to pull it back and plant through it,” Bigbee said. “But the nice thing is there's no cultivation to it. You just lay your or irrigation line and you're basically done. No hand weeding, or maybe just a little hand weeding, but no tractor work at all.”

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Labor has also impacted the variety of crops grown at Fassnight Creek Farm.

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“We’ve moved away from some crops that are pretty intense because you have to harvest them on an every day or every other day basis,” Bigbee said.

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In addition to a few part-time employees, Bigbee has established partnerships with local organizations, like the Ozark Food Harvest, to harvest the few labor-intensive crops he does grow.

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“What we do is there is they will harvest it and we split it 50/50. That works out really good,” Bigbee said. “One time in particular this spring, they came and picked green beans. I just didn't have the labor, and they were able to come with a large amount of people. Green beans, wholesale at the auctions, were still running $3 - $3.50 a pounds. Everybody that was growing them was selling them, either retail or wholesale, they weren’t giving any away. And I asked, ‘how often do people at Crosslines get fresh-picked green beans?’  They said ‘never unless they come from here.’ So that makes you feel good because everybody's winning in that situation.”

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While Bigbee grows a vast variety of products on the farm, he also attends Mennonite and Amish auctions to acquire what he doesn’t grow and prepare for upcoming seasons.

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“We have a fairly significant deer problem here,” Bigbee said. “So, we don't grow a whole lot of the large pumpkins and winter squash. We grow a lot of minis and pie pumpkins and things like that, because if a deer takes a bite out of them, that's not a huge loss. But on a 200-pound pumpkin or a 40-pound winner squash that takes up a lot of square footage, if you get one of those damaged, then you're not happy with it at all. So, we've gone all over the state buying bins of winter squash, and we even go as far as Fairview, Kentucky to a very large auction.”

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While the farm stand staples – peaches, tomatoes, melons and pumpkins – are some of Bigbee’s biggest sellers, he’s also seen a growth in things like plants for spring flower beds.

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“A lot of the smaller home-owned greenhouses have been forced out because we have so many big box stores that are in the bedding plant business,” Bigbee said. “They take a huge share of the market, but there are still a lot of people who want to shop local and try to find a sole proprietor that is still in that same business.”

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Bigbee said the variety in what he sells also helps set his business apart from those big box stores. 

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“That's the only way you can compete with a big box store,” Bigbee said. “You'll never beat 'em on volume or price, but if you have something unique that they can't access, then that's what draws a crowd.”

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A weekly ‘Garden Spot’ feature on KY3, the local news station for many Springfield residents, has also brought people to the farm.

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“It’s been a really fantastic thing for the farm because it has broadened our outreach,” Bigbee said. “We have people driving from several miles away - Arkansas, south of here, north of here – because they’ve seen me on TV with Steve Grant.”

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More than anything else, Bigbee believes Fassnight Creek Farm customers are craving the opportunity to get away from the city and enjoy nature, something he’s happy to provide.

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“My biggest reward is that God has allowed me to have such a beautiful place in the middle of Springfield, and that he lets me share it with people who need his love and sanctuary,” Bigbee said. “He reveals Himself in the nature of this farm and the beauty of creation and the growing of stuff. It's just real humbling to have it and to share it.”