By Joni Garcia
Want locally grown tomatoes in January? You need to check out Maximuck’s Farm. Matt, the owner at Maximuck’s, proudly raves about his tomatoes – “they taste just like August tomatoes grown in the field,” and you can get them anytime! Maximuck’s has been growing produce hydroponically for about 10 years (and they now have seven greenhouses), which allows them to grow different kinds of veggies all year long.
But not everything is grown hydroponically – they offer a good variety of produce grown seasonally too. One thing you have to try is their sweet corn. It’s Matt’s favorite thing to grow and it’s his favorite veggie to eat. “Whether it’s raw, boiled, on or off the cob – it’s the best, “ Matt explains. “And you can cut it off the cob and freeze it to have through the winter.”
When asked about pesticide use, Matt makes a good point – “I’m feeding this food to my own family, so I’m very conscious of the type and amount of sprays used.” He tries to avoid using any kind of pesticide sprays as much as possible. And he opts to use good bugs that eat the bad ones in his hydroponically grown produce, keeping things chemical free.
You must try out their beef! Matt gave me a little lesson, and he let me know that beef comes from steers (the females, who “moo!”). Maximuck’s Farm raises their own cattle. Their beef is hormone free and the animals roam free until they are ready.
Before ending our conversation, Matt reminds me that if there were no farmers, there would be no food, which is one of the main reasons to shop local. And local food just tastes better as well as being for the environment. Just a few additional reasons to shop at the farmers’ market!