Corinne's Corner

Today's post is the last in the Outstanding in Her Field story that I wrote for Acres of North Central Ohio, due out in May.

It is Corrine's part of the article. I posted the "q" and "a" part of the process, here is how I incorporated Corinne's information into the story that included Joan Richmond (who is also featured in a special section of today's Mansfield News Journal...go Joan!), Mendy Crim Sellman, and Brenda Kocher. All of these women have my admiration.

Also, to read about a new business venture that *this* country woman has brewing, check out my World According to Marcheta blog.

Marcheta *busy, busy

Corinne, Living the Dream

Corinne Gompf worked in office jobs in a large city for 10 years. It was not the lifestyle that she and her husband, Matt, wanted, so in August 2010, they bought a farm in Morrow County with market gardening in mind. The Gompfs christened their farm Heritage Harvest Farm and put down roots, literally.  By the following season the young family had established themselves as a first-class vendor at farmers markets. In 2012 they started a Community-Supported Agriculture, CSA, program. Now entering their third year as market growers, Corinne has no desire to look back on her days in the corporate world. “I love working at home, earning an honest, modest and hard-earned living. This is how I want to raise my children. This is the dream I've had for a very long time”.

 

Corinne says that she wanted to become a market grower because, simply, she loves growing food. “The taste of fresh, chemical-free food that I grew myself is beyond compare, and I truly enjoy discovering new plant varieties from all over the world that I can grow for my family and share with my customers. I love the connection to the land and teaching my children how to sustain our lives through farm-fresh food. I wanted to live this lifestyle, fully immersed in homesteading: growing and preserving our food, keeping chickens, raising my family, etc. I wanted to create this all-natural, farm-fresh food heritage for my son, Fletcher, 4, and daughter, Emery, 10 months.”

Corinne’s eyes light up when she explains her proudest moment. “It makes me so proud that Matt and I had a dream for so many years, and we took a chance and did it. We made things happen. So often, people have dreams and just think, "Oh, wouldn't it be neat if..." Well, we put our dreams into action. Our business tripled in one year, and that verifies, to me, that we are on the right path. Our hard work and dedication to growing chemical-free food is our passion.”

Like Mendy Sellman, keeping animals safe is what Corinne says is the scariest part of farming. Corinne tends a large flock of chickens, which at one point were pecking each other to death. She would go to the coop to do chores and find chickens on top on one, pecking it. The hen might be dead, or close to it. If it was still alive, Corinne did her best to save it. Corinne says that each time was heart-breaking.