Father's Day Spotlight!
No one deserves the “looks most like a farmer” award more than Mike Thorp. Maybe it’s the mustache, perhaps the straw hat, or probably it’s just in his DNA. If he wasn’t so camera shy, we could easily have a galaxy class album entitled “Mike on the Ranch.” Humble, always hustling, and often covered in dirt, Mike Thorp is a farming legacy worth cracking open.
The Backstory
Mike was born into a farming family. Soil and crops were in his blood, but the mustache was his own doing. His father, grandfather, great-grandfather (and a few more before that) all worked on the land. While he always had the option to choose the clean-shaven-no-mud-on-the-boots route, he never considered any other way. He started farming at 16 for a neighbor’s bean plot and, not long after, was managing a 56 acre mixed vegetable lease that his dad helped to secure. “I hulled weeds, moved sprinklers, and drove tractors. I liked being outdoors and growing things. It just clicked with me so I never thought of doing anything else.”
Going Organic
It was this simple, uncomplicated love and natural inclination that kept Mike chugging along… or should we say plowing through? By the time the 80’s rolled around, the organic movement was beginning to surface. Mike was already growing somewhat organically to stay in line with the new “nutriclean program” required by many supermarkets. So before the decade ended, he made the decision to go through certification and transition his farm to entirely certified organic. In today’s lingo, Mike would be considered a trend-setter, making organic growing a standard before it was cool, though he’d never admit to it.
Family Style
Forty plus years later and Mike is still farming organically. You can find him fixing the transplanter, hauling cabbage back to the cooler, and cultivating rows from his favorite seat on the farm: the tractor. The work is hard and physical, and requires much more hat-wearing (not just the straw one) and hands-on involvement than Mike’s previous jobs. But it’s also far more rewarding. “When I worked for two large shippers, I would always come home at night feeling tired but not feeling like I accomplished anything. Working with my family and really in the weeds of things is much more rewarding. I come home just as tired but I feel like I really did something.”