Meet Farmer Jay

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Farmer Jay again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Farmer , we are so thrilled to be connecting again and can’t wait to hear about all the amazing things you have been up to. Before we jump into all of that, some of our readers might have missed our prior interview, so can you take a moment to reintroduce yourself?
I am Farmer Jay, an organic market farmer turned garden builder and educator. For the past 14 years I have built thousands of veggie gardens and taught tens of thousands of kids to grow food through my program Farmer Jay’s Jr Sprouts. My ultimate goal is to inspire the next generation to grow their own food and eat more fruits and vegetables.

Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
As my business evolves and I explore different ways to educate the next generation, I have been working on new ways to accomplish this. I am happy to tell you I have published four books that are available on Amazon. I wrote two books that are based on two of the most important classes in my Jr Sprouts program, Seeds and How They Travel and Plant Anatomy. The other two books are, Farmer Jay’s Jr Sprouts Activity Book and Bug Hunter’s Coloring Book to get the kids thinking and creative.

In addition to the book series I am also working on a card game called Harvest Heroes and a board game called Hive Hustle Bee Adventure. Also to further support the continuing education of kids growing food I am also working on several growing kits where kids can not only grow vegetables, but also delve into fun experiments with new and unique growing methods.

All the while working on these new projects I am also still teaching classes and building new gardens. I am very happy to be bringing my almost twenty years of urban growing and educational experience to market in a new way.

We also want to give folks a chance to get to know you a bit better so we’ve prepared a fun lightning round of questions. Ready?

Favorite Movie: I love movies and couldn’t pick just one favorite.

Favorite Book: Any book I can learn from

Favorite TV Show: Modern Family

Favorite Band or Artist: Bob Dylan

Sweet or Savory: Savory

Mountains or Beach: Mountains

Favorite Sport (to watch): None

Favorite Sport (to play): Agriculture

Did you play sports growing up (if so which ones): Wrestling, swimming

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: Marine Biologist

French Fries or Onion Rings: French Fries

Favorite Cartoon growing up: Tom and Jerry

Favorite Childhood movie: Fletch

Favorite Breakfast Food: Eggs

Was there a moment in your career that you can tell us about that illustrates or demonstrates the kind of person you are, your approach, ethos, etc.
My mission became clear that I needed to teach kids and help secure the next generation’s food system about 12 years ago after one of my Jr Sprouts courses. The group of kids was mixed ages ranging from 5-8 years old and we just finished our final eighth class of the series. The last class is a fun class where I teach about the seasons, what causes them and then we do trivia. After, each child answers a question, I give them their “Certified Jr Farmer Certificate” and congratulate them. Then I tell the kids they have a very important job now and they have to recruit and encourage others to grow food. This class was a Friday and I got a call the next day from a mother. She told me her daughter woke up and was filling her wagon with basil plants she had grown, so she asked her what she was doing. Her daughter replied, Farmer Jay said we had to encourage other people to grow food so I am going to give our neighbors basil plants and tell them to Grow Something! This literally brought a tear to my eye and is something that I will carry with me the rest of my life.

Website: https://www.myfarmerjay.com

Instagram: @farmerjay1

LinkedIn: Farmer Jay

Facebook: Farmer Jay Pure Organics

Youtube: @SustainableAg