Business Focus

Kingsbury Market Garden (KBMG) is a certified organic, vegetable farm that relies on efficiency and innovation to make a small 7-acre plot a viable business. The farm sells wholesale to grocery stores and restaurants, and is part of a three-farm collaborative CSA, Muddy Boots.

Loan Summary

Farmer-owner Aaron Locker used his $30,000 loan to add a heated high tunnel tomato greenhouse, a pole barn and two new tractors to the farm he recently purchased.

The Backstory

This loan is the second Aaron has gotten from the Vermont Farm Fund. The first loan was back in 2011 when Tropical Storm Irene washed away ¾ of an acre of his 8 acre farm along with his fall vegetable harvest. Locker used the $10,000 Emergency Loan to recover and continue his soil enrichment program. He paid back that loan nine months early, the first loan our fledgling organization stamped, “Paid-In-Full.”

This past July (2015), Aaron purchased the conserved Kingsbury Farm from the Vermont Food Bank who had been leasing the property to him in exchange for 30,000 pounds of vegetables annually. Ownership gives Aaron the opportunity to upgrade the infrastructure, which is necessary for him to be able to make a livable wage on this undersized vegetable farm.

Aaron brings deep agricultural knowledge, curiosity and innovation to everything he does on his farm to make the most out of minimal acreage. KBMG is maximizing the loan too by strategically deploying the funds to accomplish several objectives:

To even out the workload of his small, highly skilled crew, Aaron is building a heated greenhouse that will enable him to get tomatoes to market earlier in the summer when he can command a higher price and keep his employees busy at an otherwise slower time in the season, after the major planting is done, but before heavy harvests start.

Aaron purchased two used tractors so he can have one at each of his two remote fields that have helped extend the limited acreage at his home farm. This will save hours of travel time each week going between the plots. A used flatbed truck will enable Aaron to transport produce to local stores and restaurants, which is much easier than in the back of his car.
Aaron also built a pole barn with some of his loan funds. This structure will allow him to continue expanding his thriving market for roasted chilis, providing protection while roasting in inclement weather, and offering cover for patrons on chili roasting Sunday events called Domingo.

I would rather borrow from the VFF than any other lender. They make the borrowing process super easy; I get a great rate; and my payments get invested back in another grower or food producers’ business. It’s a triple win.

The Bottom Line

Constantly learning from his land and his customers, Aaron is on a path to make his business more efficient and more profitable. By using the VFF loan to finance a number of smaller projects, Aaron is already seeing benefits from the improvements he has made. Next summer, he projects increased revenue and more consistent cash flow from focusing on an earlier crop of tomatoes.

Strawberries and bees in a high tunnel at Kingsbury Market Garden