Owners Of Schnepf Farms Discuss Diversity Of Experiences From U-Pick To Hay Rides To Future Glamping
Farming in the modern landscape is as much about connecting with the land as it is eating the food. At Schnepf Farms, owned by Mark & Carrie Schnepf, it is about carrying on a lifestyle but bringing new converts into the fold. With the trend of going back to nature, Schnepf Farms creates this through a diversity of possibilities including u-pick possibilities, festivals, hayrides and even glamping. The Schepfs sat down with The Buzz at their farm outside Mesa, Arizona to discuss life and the land.
The Buzz: Can you talk about diversity within this business for both of you from the orchards to glamping?
Mark Schnepf: When Carrie and I first got married 26 years ago, we were faced with the idea of “What do we do to earn a living with this farm?” It had been in the family for generations and we had the opportunity to sell it but we didn't really want to because we just were kind of starting our lives together. So we had to reinvent ourselves. We took a look an education and entertainment as a way of bringing more people onto the farm, creating some additional income, and then helping preserve it. So we didn't start with a great master plan of “This is what it's going to end up like!” It was born a little bit out of desperation. We just had to figure out a way to earn a living. Carrie comes from a news background. She was a news anchor and we didn't have any money for budgeting, for marketing, that sort of thing. We decided to have a peach festival and invite the public to come and pick our peaches rather than commercially pick them and ship them away. She got her news media people to support that and they came out and covered that and it was a phenomenal success. We were picked out of peaches in the first three hours. And it was a two-day event so it was a real challenge to try to keep up with that. And it's grown so much over the years. So it was one thing after another. It was adding amusement rides. It was like “Let's give people more reasons to come and visit the farm. Let's create this marvelous you pick garden where people can pick vegetables!”
Carrie Schnepf: I was born and raised in Mesa but I grew up and did my internship and I lived in New York, and LA, and everything. I was a big city girl. When I moved out here it was like -- there wasn't even a stoplight. There was a stop sign and that was it
The Buzz: But you guys met at a farmer's market, right?
MS: No. It was a blind date. She was a newscaster. I was the mayor of the town. And someone just thought, "Gosh, they should get together. So lo and behold, we did.
The Buzz: Could you talk about how the glamping came about because that's thinking ahead.
MS: I'm loving it. We've had this campsite for 15 years. We’ve had people camping out there and full hook-ups. We’ve been doing camping for 15 years, just like we've been doing U-Pick, selling vegetables for 50 years. And now it's becoming everything back to the basics. I just started searching and I found this first Silver Streak that you see out there. I just happened to find it and it was this great price. We've just been having so much fun creating and finding new ones.
The Buzz: There seems to be a lot of artisanal things going on here at the farm.
MS: Absolutely, in fact, we referred to the farm as this beautiful blank canvas where we can create these marvelous masterpieces in different pockets. We both have a passion for preserving this lifestyle for future generations. We're doing things that will help make sure that this farm passes on to the next generation.
The Buzz: Can you talk about community and connection with people coming out to a working farm like this with tours including the hayride you did today?
MS: We just feel so strongly that people need to reconnect with the soil. And most people have this innate desire to reconnect with the soil. We just think it's so important that they make that connection with where their food comes from and not from a grocery store or not from a convenience market. But it actually is grown by farmers, by real people. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of resources to create and grow the food that people eat. And they need to understand that. And we're able to do that. We educate 25,000 school kids a year. They come out on tours, and they have that experience. Every family that comes out and picks has that experience. They make these amazing memories that they're going to pass on and talk about.
CS: It's so fun because now the brides -- like this bride that I'm a booking. She was wondering about can they bring in their own food. She works at a major restaurant in Scottsdale as the general manager. But I said, "No, we have a great shop." And she says, "Our fondest memory is when we were going out -- was my fiancee and I going out and picking a pumpkin during the pumpkin and chili party." And they loved the farm so much and that was their first date.
The Buzz: It's that personal connection. And we were talking about this a little before. You can't create history. History happens. And the history of your family being here with the homestead and all that kind of stuff, you talk a little bit about that.
MS: My grandparents were farming in what is now Downtown Mesa. My grandfather wanted to expand but he couldn't afford to buy anything closer in. But it was just $25 an acre for this land out here. He bought a section of ground, around 640 acres. It was a total challenge, but my dad was the oldest of seven kids. He came out here with my mom. They spent their honeymoon night out here in a little one-room shack. Then rest of the family moved out. They were all raised on it. Over the decades, the family expanded, bought other farms, lost other farms, sold other farms. Just the way the family history played out, we're the ones fortunate enough to actually have this amazing piece of dirt that we can do all of these fun things with and not just sell it for a bunch of rooftops. It's multi-generational. We have that connection. It's not just use, but we have employees that grew up on the farm, whose parents worked for my parents a generation ago, and they're still here because they love it so much. It's a part of their lives and their kids' lives. You just can't hardly find that anywhere else. It just doesn't exist in most business models around the world. So it's something very special.
Tim Wassberg
A graduate of New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts with degrees in Film/TV Production & Film Criticism, Tim has written for magazines such as Moviemaker, Moving Pictures, Conde Nast Traveler UK and Casino Player. He enjoys traveling and distinct craft beers among other things.
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