16
JUNE 2021
www.GlobeMiamiTimes.com
Chad built the greenhouse behind him out of recycled window frames.
Flat Four Farms
Chad and Mindy who have “been into Volkswagens forever”, named their farm after the VWs horizontally opposed–four engine – also known as the flat–four engine. PHOTOS AND STORY BY PATTI DALEY
Growing a Home It was the love of an old bus that brought them together, and a quest for land that brought them here, to 22 acres near El Capitan. Off–the–grid, Mindy Lively and Chad Jacobson lived in a travel trailer for nearly four years while creating Flat Four Farms. “We began straight away digging holes for the trees,” says Mindy, “most by hand.” They’ve got over 100 trees and plants in the ground. In the greenhouse Chad built out of recycled windows, Mindy starts new plants. “It’s a big experiment,” says Mindy. “You try it all.” They grow mainly trees, berries and vegetables. Almond, pistachio, pear, plum, three types of cherry, and cherry plum. Low–chill Anna apples, pink lady, a crabapple for pollination. Persian green plum, dwarf nectarine, aprium, and Mindy’s favorite, a white saturn peach. 38 pomegranate trees form a windbreak; they have 11 different kinds. Mindy has started fig and olive trees from tissue culture in a petri dish and berries from cuttings. Raspberries, gooseberry, marionberry, white blackberry. “I’m experimenting right now with some cuttings off of my grapes,” she says. The vegetable garden yields swiss chard and basil and a lot of asparagus, which they both like. “Everybody should have fruit trees in their yard and everyone should have food in their yard,” says Mindy. “Show me your yard and I can show you where you can put something.”
Several varieties of grapes grow at Flat Four Farms. Mindy Lively is experimenting with grape cuttings.
Selling at Farmers Market: Globe & Superior
Chad built compost bins with removable slats for easy shoveling. “We’re doing a lot of hard work now so it will be easier to maintain as we get older,” says Mindy.
Auto
|
Home
|
Commercial
|
Special Event
|
“I’m not in it for the business of it or the money,” says Mindy, “I’m in it because I love it and want others to love it too.” Mindy Lively, born in Mesa, has been gardening all her life. She recently aced the master gardeners test and is volunteering with a local seed library. She had been purchasing trees through a Rare Fruit Growers co–op, but
Bonds and more
Globe Team Christina Ortiz Brittany Blevins Andrea Harrison Elton Miller Barbara Miller
670 E. Ash St. Globe, AZ 85501
928.275.5555
Serving Arizona for over 35 years
Working Chad Jacobson, 48, works full–time as Journeyman Electrician for a large electrical contracting company. After flipping off Facebook execs in Texas, he opted for a different pace; smaller teams and time–off between projects. “Time–off” to Chad means taking on javelina with an electric fence, putting up solar panels, building compost bins with removable slats, working on the vehicles, and helping out friends and neighbors. “He’s really social,” says Mindy. “He likes to help people.” Their huge barn is filled to capacity with parts and projects and some space for Mindy’s gym. Near–term projects include shade for the berries, netting for the trees. Clear out the underbrush behind the house. Attach a water pump to the tank. Graft the pear trees. Solar panels for the workshop. Build another workshop for the vehicles. “Right now I’m just working in the dirt,” Chad says. Chad grew up on farms and ranches. He is a skilled electrician, mechanic, builder, and welder. His uncle owned a machine shop and taught him a lot. “Chad is amazing with metal,” says Mindy.
FLAT FOUR FARMS, Continued on page 17
MOUNTAIN VIEW DENTISTRY of Globe
COMPREHENSIVE CARE n dental examinations / digital x-rays n professional cleanings / implants n filling and crowns / dentures
dental
care
for the whole family
COSMETIC PROCEDURES n teeth whitening / veneers n composite fillings n porcelain crowns
....... Marshall Griggs DDS ....... Phillip Garrett DDS, MS .......
hablamos español www.AALL.net
that option ended. Covid hit. Mindy decided to step up. “I’m just going to do it then,” she decided. “I’m going to help people get trees inexpensively.” This winter she sold over 300 bare root trees last year at the farmers markets in Globe and Superior. She is a distributor for Dave Wilson nursery and starts her own trees and berries in pots using tissue cultures and cuttings. She doesn’t sell anything that can’t be grown here or in Superior. Folks find her on Facebook and come from Safford and Winkleman. Peach and cherry trees are popular. “What makes me the happiest is seeing people so excited about getting a tree,” says Mindy. “80% of the time they have no idea how to plant a tree or what to do with it, but they’re so delighted to get that tree!” She shares her knowledge freely. Flat Four Farm trees grow in 70% native soil. They add vermiculite, micronutrients and gypsum to break up the clay. Mindy often plants multiple trees in one hole – sometimes as many as four – and prunes them to 10 feet in height. “The fruit will be lower,” says Mindy. “Easier to pick.” It requires time, labor and patience. Not all plants make it. They hand–water from tanks filled from a well with 47 gpm capacity. According to Chad, they pump only 3–4 gpm and less in the winter, when most trees go dormant. Last season, Mindy started selling plant starts. In October, she’ll have June–bearing strawberries available. “We grow what we like to eat,” says Chad. Mindy is a vegan. Though Chad hunts and eats meat, he’s ruled out raising protein. “If it eats money and craps work, I don’t want it,” he says.
APS
Electric Drive
188 60
Schedule Your Appointment
5981 W. Electric Dr. Suite A • Globe, AZ mountainviewdentistry@gmail.com We accept CareCredit. Office Hours Monday-Thursday, 8am-5pm
(928) 425-3162
