"Chile Man" Makes A Living On 2 1/2 Acres

"Chile Man" Makes A Living On 2 1/2 Acres 27-3-7 It takes hard work and some marketing know-how, but Robert Farr figures any innovative grower can make a good living on just a few acres. Despite a successful career in computer marketing, Farr was really a frustrated farmer. By 1998, his 1/4-acre yard in Virginia was nearly filled with several varieties of chile peppers, herbs, and other plants. One day he decided he was ready for a change in careers. So in July of that year, he and his wife, Carol, made a move to the country, near Purcellville, Virginia and settled in on a 10-acre farm. Robert brought along his chiles and herbs and added elderberries, gooseberries, horseradish, tomatoes, and numerous perennial flowers. The Farrs now have 2 1/2 acres of crops. Through direct marketing, they've turned the produce from those acres into a gross income of about $125,000 last year. In 2002, they harvested 1.5 million chile peppers (which are quite small in size), along with tomatoes, horseradish, berries and herbs. These crops form the base of 20 different gourmet hot sauces, salsas, barbecue sauces and mustards. They blend and cook the ingredients on the farm, and bottled them up in about 20,000 bottles. That's 18,000 more than they sold their first year, just four years earlier. The Farrs worked together to develop the recipes for each of their products and they sell direct to consumers and restaurants, pocketing the share normally taken by retailers and distributors. A selling point, particularly with restaurants and quality conscious consumers, is that no artificial flavors or colors are added to their product and no chemicals are used in growing their crops. Rather than just calling them sauces and salsas, each product has a distinctive û and innovative û name. There's Louisiana Lightnin', Hold Your Sympathy, Perfectly Pungent Papaya, Caribbean Shake, and Gimme Some Ginger! If one of those doesn't get your attention, maybe you're up for some Jumpin' Jamaica Jerk, Honey I'm Home, or Respect Your Elderberries. For people who aren't into hot chiles, they offer Born to Be Mild and Just Horsin' Around, a horseradish mustard that contains no peppers. To reach consumers, they attend more than 20 fairs and festivals, but much of their success comes from open houses at the farm where they hold their own festivals, usually with entertainment, and invite in the public to come out and taste their wares. They'll host 12 such events this year, including two plant sales. "We invite people to come out not only to taste our products, but to take tours of our fruit, vegetable, and flower gardens," says Farr, who is known throughout the area as The Chile Man. "I host the 30-minute tours throughout the day, and also give tours of our commercial kitchen where we make our sauces and salsas." With his computer background, Farr put together a website (www.thechileman.com) that also generates sales and contains recipes that use his products. He credits much of their success to his marketing background, but he says another reason for their success is the way in which they produce their crops. "We use organic production methods and plant crops in raised beds," he says. They control weeds using no-till methods and mulch. And they use companion plantings to control insects and enhance production. Another value-added segment of the Farrs' farm business is teaching their production methods to others. In what they're calling the Chile Man Seminars, they're holding a series of classes in organic growing and creating a sustainable garden or small farm. In so doing, Farr figures to capitalize on all aspects of the business. Farr intends to continue expanding the Chile Man sauce and salsa business, but says eventually he may need to contract with someone to produce ingredients for him. He recommends that if traditional small grain and livestock farmers need additional income, they consider the possibilities of value-added products. It could be something like growing cucumbers and making pickles, keeping bees and selling honey, gro

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