BUCYRUS, OH (CRAWFORD COUNTY NOW)—Driving on county backroads in the winter may seem like a bleak experience to most Ohioans. The soil, when not covered with snow, has a dull, hard appearance that makes the skies above look even greyer. But just outside Bucyrus on Shafer Road, in the greenhouses of Edible Landscapes, proprietor Sam Rittenour and her husband Jacob tend to seedlings that sprout from warmed beds of soil and in carefully tilled batches under special heat lamps.
The Rittenours have just finished their first year as owners of the established farm-to-table business, which serves a variety of clientele in multiple counties: grocery stores, restaurants, and cooperatives.
“We’re somewhere on the outskirts of industrialized farming,” said Sam Rittenour. “We focus on clean growing, so we don’t use any synthetic chemical inputs. And we focus on the local market.”
“Our main product is salad mix,” she explained. “So, we grow a lot of leafy greens—large leaf lettuce. We grow a lot of different head lettuces like Romaine, Iceberg, Bibb, and Buttercrunch. We have microgreens like spinach and kale. When it gets a little warmer, we do peppers. Lots of tomatoes and garlic.”
“Anything that will grow in Ohio’s climate,” Jacob Rittenour said.
A climate which, as any Ohioan knows, can get harsh very quickly. But walking through the expanding network of greenhouses, one gets the sense that seedlings are quite safe from the winter winds.
“It’s just about protecting them from the elements,” Sam said. “I have some in our propagation room where I start the seeds.”
“We grow them in dirt, and I’ve heard from customers,” she continued, “there’s a difference with them grown in dirt versus on a mat of some sort, or hydroponically. The seeds absorb the vitamins from the soil that they don’t get from other materials. We tend to it, nurture it, and harvest it all by hand. We triple-wash it and bag it up. And then it goes to the customer.”
Some of the washing is done, literally, in a converted washing machine, which sports a pristine vegetable wash basket in place of the spinning tub.
“We’re gearing up for the growing season at this point,” Sam said. “We end the previous season with the greenhouses as loaded as possible. We’re using up the rest of our winter plants that are in the ground, and we have seeds started for spring. So, we’re waiting on those seedlings to get bigger before we transplant them to the ground.”
To help with the multitude of tasks, the Rittenours rely on dedicated helpers and family, including a mother-in-law who deep cleans the washing area, and an uncle who helps with deliveries.
“We are very lucky to have family to help us,” Sam said.
In addition, Edible Landscapes offers opportunities for local youth through Goodwill and Ohio Job & Family Services, a chance for kids to “get some hands-on learning experience,” said Sam.
“And it’s more than just teaching them how to do parts of the job,” Jacob added. “It’s mentoring them on how to be a good employee and tackling life, and giving them workplace experience.”
The responsibilities of maintaining and expanding a locally established brand are important to the Rittenours. “It’s mostly word-of-mouth,” Jacob explained. “People know the brand. It’s been around for a while. And we’re here to stay.”
“I feel like we’re selling more than just lettuce. We’re selling the healthy lifestyle and the resilience it takes to make the product,” Sam said. “And the loyal customers that we have too … They stick around when we are going through the slow season and say that our products are worth the wait. They come back.”
“It’s just rewarding to see the miracle that happens every day,” she continued. “Right now, all this stuff should be dead, but it’s alive. That’s probably my favorite part. I went to school for art. So, it’s a chance for me to do some art with nature.”
Right now, Sam and Jacob Rittenour are working with a cold canvas. But they are putting together a stunning color palette of vegetables for their customers. And as we contemplate our own winter resiliency, we should remember the seedlings sprouting under lamps, the greenhouses that keep them safe, the hard soil that awaits the rain, and the farmers that brave the elements, anticipating spring.