Full-Time Country Woman profile: Brenda Kocher

 

 

My part time job as a writer for the Galion Inquirer lets me highlight people that I know, get to know people better who were formerly just acquaintances, and meet new people. I've known Brenda Kocher for a long time; she was one of the nurses in the nursing facility my grandmother was in. But I didn't really know much about her until last year when she set up at NorthSide Farmers Market with herb plants. Brenda  had purchased a greenhouse from her neighbor, Rose (a friend of mine), and started an herb and plant business which she named Monarch Homestead.


When Acres of North Central Ohio wanted a story about women in agriculture, my editor at the Inquirer asked me to write it. In thinking about who to include in the story, Brenda came to my mind right away as a perfect fit not only because she farms with her husband, Mike, but also because of her new business as an 'herb lady'. :)


Last Saturday I had a nice visit with Brenda to see her new business.
Here is Brenda's part of the story.

Marcheta *making new friends

Brenda, Herbal Healer

Brenda Kocher and her husband, Mike, are “farm bred and country raised”. It was only natural that when they married, they wanted to continue the lifestyle for their family.  Brenda says that she chose to farm because “God has put us on earth to help feed people”.  In 1985 the young couple took over managing the Kocher farm, which includes grain and beef feeder cattle. Their children Nick and Heather (now grown), are also “farm bred and country raised”.

While growing up on her family’s dairy farm, Brenda learned many “old time” farming skills, such as making maple syrup, apple cider, soap making, gardening, and tending animals. More training came from FFA.  A natural -born caregiver, Brenda is a private duty nurse with an interest in holistic healing. In 2012, she bought greenhouse and started Monarch Homestead. Along with herb plants, Brenda also raises flower and vegetable bedding plants, and water plants for lily ponds. She currently has four aquaponic tanks. Aquaponics is a sustainable food production system that combines traditional aquaculture (such as fish) with hydroponics (raising plants in water).

Brenda says that the scariest thing to happen on the farm came in 2012, shortly after her greenhouse was constructed. A volatile windstorm swept through the state, blowing over the Kocher’s grain legs which landed on other grain legs.

Brenda’s business is still in its infancy.  She says her proudest moment so far is her success in raising a large variety of plants from seeds. She sells the plants by appointment and occasionally sets up at farmers markets, but at this point her goal is more about informing and teaching than retail sales. At markets, Brenda’s enthusiasm for incorporating herbs for healthful living, along with the fragrances and textures of her herb plants, draws people in to learn more about natural, sustainable gardening.  Brenda sees her role as a 4-H leader and president of Crawford County Farm Bureau as opportunities to teach others about aquaponics and herb gardening.

 Contact information

Brenda Kocher: Monarch Homestead

Phone: (419) 543-0537

Facebook: Monarch Homestead

Parsely, Sage, Rosemary and Time

 

Yes, I know that the correct spelling for the herb is t-h-y-m-e.  This post is about herbs and time, so I thought I’d toss in a catchy title, just to see if you’uns are awake J

As mentioned in an earlier post, it is not exactly the right “time”

for the regular home gardener to be starting seeds. Most seed

companies recommend starting indoors 6 -8 weeks before
outdoor planting is ready, in our area May 15^th is the target

 date. But, “time” is what I’ve got a little bit more of these days,

and besides, I like to see a bit of green sprouting on cold February

days. Today I took a few minutes to start some herb plants, just to

 see what will happen.

Herbs are not the easiest of plants to start from seed in a home

situation. Greenhouses use germination chambers to get these

little buggers started. We can duplicate the process at home,

though, and expect some level of success. No victory, even a small

one, is wasted time in my book, so I went for one today.

This is the process that I use to start all plants. Note: if you’ve

never started plants from seeds before, I suggest you begin with

 really easy ones, like marigolds or tomatoes. But I digress; back to

 the business at hand.

 

 

1.     Cover your work surface with newspapers or an old vinyl cloth for protection and to make clean up faster.

2.     Gather your supplies. You need:

a.     Pots with drainage holes if you are not planning to transplant later, which I used since I am starting a small amount. For larger quantities, use cell packs or egg cartons.

b.     Potting soil

c.      Plastic food storage bags for pots, plastic grocery bags for cell packs on trays

d.     Seeds

e.     Craft sticks or plastic plant markers and marking pen

f.       Water

g.     Tray to hold the pots

3.     Put each pot in a bag and fill the pots with soil

4.     Water the pots. It is important to do this now because potting soil has vermiculite to help retain moisture, and the soil sort of bubbles up when watered for the first time. If the seeds are placed in before the initial watering, they usually float together and end up in a pile instead of being dispersed over the surface of the soil.

5.     Sprinkle on seeds. As you can see, they are small. I put a few in the palm of my left hand and then sprinkle the seeds on the dirt with my right hand, much like when adding a “pinch” of “this” or “that” to whatever I am cooking.

6.     Cover the seeds with a small amount of dirt.

7.     Lightly water again.

8.     Label each pot with the craft stick or plant marker

9.     Bring open ends of the bags over the tops of the pots and close with a twisty tie. The bags keep the moisture inside. There is no need to open the bags to water until you see sprouts.

10.    Seeds need heat more than they do light, so place your tray of pots in a warm location. I use the top of my refrigerator.

 

11. Now you can relax and let the seeds to their thing. Check on them daily.

12.  This is IMPORTANT. As soon as you see sprouts, open the bags so that air can get inside. If you don’t, too much moisture will cause “damping off”, which means the plant will begin to rot at the place where the stem meets the soil. And then it dies. Not good.

13.    If you are transplanting, wait until the plants have 2 sets of leaves on their tiny stems. Most herb plants do not like to be transplanted, so I start them in the largest pots that I have room for. But mostly I buy my garden herb plants from Toni Norwood, who has a germination chamber and is a pro at starting seeds from plants.

That’s all there is to it!

This post has evolved into one of my famous “Epic Sagas”, but before I end it I have to mention that I can never write about time without thinking of Pink Floyd.

 Time

By DAVID GILMOUR, NICHOLAS MASON, ROGER WATERS, RICK WRIGHT

 “…Ticking away the moments
That make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours
In an off-hand way”

Marcheta *ticking away moments