East Coventry farm grows hard-to-find produce items
East Coventry >> Pennsylvania is farms galore so when a married couple started a small farm three years ago, they decided to grow produce that other sellers weren’t likely to have.
David and Wendy Ryle are the owners of the sustainable and organic Jubilee Hill Farm. David said he grows specialty items that aren’t common in the area to attract consumer interest.
“We find stuff that no one is growing,” he said.
David researches the foods other countries grow that are hard to find in the U.S. He said people are used to seeing only a few varieties of fruit and vegetables in grocery stores and sometimes believe that’s all there is. Although a store may have just three kinds of apples, there are actually thousands of apple varieties, he said.
David said produce that travels far distances doesn’t leave much room for specialty produce because they have a short shelf span. He said growing local allows him to plant unique produce that will stay fresh for market days.
“When you buy a bunch of shallots at the store, you’re buying something that was picked six days ago in California that spent two days in a semi-truck making its way 3,000 miles across country,” he said.
David and his wife Wendy sell at local markets so their produce is still fresh for their customers.
“We really believe in variety…and developing a customer-base extremely close to where we are so the ecological footprint of what we’re doing is really small,” David said.
Wendy said, “We grow them (specialty produce) first and foremost because we think they’re delicious and we want to share them with people,” adding that it also helps set them apart from other market stands.
Last year, an organizer of the Lansdale Farmers Market saw the Jubilee Hill Farm stand and decided the Ryles had a unique product their customers would enjoy.
“We must have you. You have things that no one else has,” David said the organizer told him.
After a lot of encouragement from market organizers, the Ryles started selling their organic produce in Lansdale this year. David said people were drawn to the foods they weren’t familiar with.
There were three different varieties of mustard greens available at the market: green wave mustard, red splendor mustard and golden frill mustard. David said each of the greens have different characteristics. One tastes like a spicy brown mustard and one has a wasabi flavor, he said. He said golden frill mustard is great for sandwiches, burgers and salads because it have a very distinct taste.
“They are different levels of intensity and different kinds of flavor,” he said.
Another specialty green vegetable grown on Jubilee Hill Farm is golden purslane.
“It’s this succulent green that grows from June to late August. It’s got more Omega 3 fatty acids than any other plant on the planet,” David said.
He said a lot of people aren’t even aware it exists because the vegetable isn’t seen in stores.
An Asian green vegetable called bekana is another produce item not well known in the U.S.
“No one else grows it that I know of. It’s like kale meets lettuce,” David said.
Later in the season, the Ryles will have actual purple and blue potatoes to bring to market.
“These are actually much better than white potatoes,” David said adding that the Peruvian purple potatoes have more nutrients than standard white potatoes.
Another thing customers receive from the Ryles that they may not get at grocery stores is cooking tips. Wendy said her husband is so knowledgeable about the plants he grows that he can tell people the best ways to prepare them.
“You don’t get that in a grocery store…there’s not a whole lot of interaction where you can find out how to use something,” he said.
The Ryles sell their organic produce every Saturday at the Lansdale Farmers Market and every Sunday in front of their East Coventry home located at 253 Harley Road. For more about the farm, visit the website at www.jubileehillfarm.org.
