Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jason McCobb AKA Farmer Jay. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Farmer Jay, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
My purpose found me. I set out to become a farmer because I realized our food system is broken. I wanted to localize our food and build a local food system for my community. The fact that our daily staples are being shipped from sometimes thousands of miles away is not right. So I started a farm and began growing food and selling to local restaurants and at the markets on the weekend. I was working hard and no matter how hard I worked I was only contributing to a local food system and not building one. As I was selling produce at markets, my customers would always tell me about their black thumb and how they wish they could grow tomatoes or other vegetables at home. Soon after these interactions turned into home consultations and making raised beds for someone to grow at home. Then I created programs to teach people, mainly kids to grow food. I call the kid’s program Farmer Jay’s Jr Sprouts and the adult classes Grow Something with Farmer Jay. So instead of being a farmer, I became a carpenter and a teacher helping and teaching people to grow food for themselves. Over the past fourteen years I have built thousands of gardens and educated tens of thousands of children and adults on growing food.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
When people ask what I do for a living I am often conflicted with my answer. I am a farmer by trade, but that’s not what I really do. I probably spend the most time in my woodshop building gardens for people to grow food at home in, but I still don;t think I can say I am a carpenter for a living. I also spend a great deal of time teaching adults and especially children to grow food, so should i call myself a teacher? I have created a new hybrid job for myself, I created a position where there was a need. Basically I am farmer that builds gardens and teaches people to grow food. As a result it is not uncommon for me to bounce from one job to another throughout the day. I may wake up and go teach six classes at a school making sure all eighty children get to learn about the topic of the day. Then on my way back to the woodshop to build raised bed gardens I will stop off and do a new garden consultation.
My day does not start and end when I leave and return home which is where my woodshop is. Everyday I typically wake around five a.m. and if I am not putting together a proposal for a new garden, I will either work on one of the kids books I am writing or research new ways of growing food. Also before and after work I will have chores to do including taking care of our chickens and planting seeds for new gardeners. Every garden I build will receive a free planting and a free consultation on how to work their garden after it is fully installed. I am so grateful that I love my job so much, it almost never feels like work to me.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I feel gardening is a life skill everyone should possess, it should be as common as tying your shoes. My greatest quality that I think has impacted my journey the most is courage. If you have courage, you can accomplish anything. I have also learned there are no failures, you have just learned one way not to do whatever it is you want to do. Lastly another skill that has helped me on my journey is desire, you have to want what you after. You can’t feel like, “ya that would be nice.” It has to be a “hell ya I want that no matter what!”
Developing these skills can be difficult if you don’t have a path to pursue. You must first find something to be passionate about and then I promise these skills will come second nature.
What’s been one of your main areas of growth this year?
I have put in my 10,000 plus hours in my career and I am considered a professional that people come to to ask questions and learn from in my field. However, I can still admit I am learning. I am constantly reading books and listening to podcasts to try and gain new knowledge. I have seen huge advances in growing and technology in growing plants over the past few years and it’s not going to be coming from where you think. I’d like to preclude this by saying first that I don’t grow these types of plants, but a plant is a plant and will respond the same. What I am referring to is the cannabis industry, there is a tremendous amount of money and research going into growing this plant and I can apply some of these techniques and knowledge to help people grow food.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.myfarmerjay.com
- Instagram: @farmerjay1
- Facebook: Farmer Jay Pure Organics
- Linkedin: Farmer Jay
- Twitter: @farmerjay1
- Youtube: @SustainableAg
Image Credits
Jason McCobb
