Contact: Tom Ruggieri
Address: 18613 Downing Rd Kearney MO 64060
Website: https://fairsharefarm.com/wp2/
In 2003, we began growing organic fruits and vegetables on Rebecca’s family farm in rural, northeastern Clay County, Missouri. We focus on building the soil through biological farming methods, including extensive cover cropping, animal rotations, mineral addition, mulching, and crop rotation. We have been a member of the KC Food Circle for 22 years.
Our infrastructure is focused on sustainable energy and includes a passive solar greenhouse, 30 gpm solar-powered irrigation system, electric tractor and utility vehicle, and a 20kW solar array. The 200+ acre family farm is planted in native grasses, good habitat for deer, turkey, quail, coyotes, and many other species of plants, insects and wildlife.
We grow an acre of crops for our live culture fermented krauts, kimchi and pickles, as well as a farm garden for ourselves and our workers. A laying flock of pastured hens provides eggs for the crew and customers at the farmer’s market. Our fermented foods are produced on the farm in our commercial kitchen and are sold at the Brookside and Ivanhoe Farmers Market, and local stores. In 2020, we modified the layout of or fields, and installed an alley-cropping system of over 8,000 linear feet of berms and swales with perennial plantings of chestnuts, persimmons, hazelnuts and elderberries.
In 2024 we began the production and sale of a new product—Raw American Elderberry Vinegar. This product was produced as a part of a USDA Sustainable Agriculture and Research Project. We are establishing the elderberry orchard to provide elderberries and elderflowers for our vinegar production.