Today we’d like to introduce you to Andrea Morgan.
Hi Andrea, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in Park City and decided to go to the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, Canada so I could ski Whistler. After a couple of years lost in what I wanted to study at school, I came across a degree in the agriculture program (now called the Faculty of Land and Food Systems) that seemed really interesting to me. I switched degree programs and began studying agriculture. I really fell in love when I was introduced to the UBC Farm. It was so inspiring and energizing to see a 59-acre organic farm being run largely by students. Then I learned that the farm was slated for condo development. I quickly became involved and passionate about saving the farm from development and was voted in as President of Friends of Farm, a student club dedicated to the movement. After a couple of years of running a very strong campaign against the University and getting widespread public support, we won the campaign and saved the farm! It is still operating and becoming a pivotal, immensely important and relevant hub for not only agriculture, but agroforestry, indigenous culture, childhood education and so much more. I got a job there after the campaign was over and have been totally hooked on farming ever since.
After three years of working/learning at the UBC Farm, I traveled and worked on various farms in British Columbia for another year. I was feeling very homesick for the high-mountain desert of Utah and moved back the following winter. Desperate to continue farming, I searched for farms in the Summit County area the following spring. My mom always purchased basil at the Park City Farmers Market from Ranui Gardens and I had visited that farm as a child when my parents’ friends, the Erickson’s began the farm in the ’80s. I knew I had re-discovered the farm I wanted to be a part of when I arrived and started rock-picking that spring. I started by volunteering there, then got hired and quickly became fully involved in Ranui operations. I had a quick little stint returning to British Columbia for a year, where I began running my first solo farming business and gave birth to my best crop ever, my daughter! I then returned to Utah to be closer to family and in 2018, I became the owner of Ranui Gardens. The previous owners, John Garofalo and Sue Post (who bought it from the Ericksons) are still co-managing the properties with me and keeping the Ranui Gardens spirit alive!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Farming is never a smooth road, but that is part of its beauty. Everything from daily temperatures, to weather events like hail, to windy days, affect both the crops and people around the farm. Transferring everything you are doing on the land to a product that is ready for market and eating/consumption is another challenging step, and then figuring out how to administer a business when your focus is on caretaking land/soil and crops is yet another challenging step.
The biggest challenge for me by far, happened just last year in 2021. I was on my bike about a mile from the farm when I was hit by a side-by-side driver. I was life-flighted and in the hospital for three weeks. I am still recovering from a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), which has posed many challenges to running a life/farm/business, to say the least. However, farming and being connected with the land was and is incredibly therapeutic for me. I am also lucky that the previous owners of Ranui Gardens, John and Sue are still around and were able to basically take over last year when I couldn’t even come close to dealing with daily operations.
I will also say that trying to balance motherhood with the daily demands of a farm can be very challenging. However, raising a child on a farm and watching how observant my daughter is and how aware she is of where food comes from, is worth every struggle!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Ranui Gardens?
Ranui Gardens was founded in 1984 by Steve and Jenny Erickson, who still own the land. Steve is from Salt Lake and Jenny hails from New Zealand, hence the name of the farm, which means “place of sun” in Maori. The Ericksons began Ranui as an herb and compost farm. They built the business, expanded to vegetables and became one of Utah’s first certified organic farms as well as one of the first CSA (community-supported agriculture) farms. CSAs continue to be essential to small farms like Ranui because members pay for their entire share up-front (usually in the middle of winter), when the farm doesn’t have much revenue generating. A “share” is a certain number of weeks where the customer receives a harvest box of whatever veggies are in-season and abundant on the farm. Especially in the high mountains of Utah, CSAs keep farms alive since the growing season is relatively short and difficult.
The business was then sold to John Garofalo and Sue Post, who further expanded production to include more veggies and fresh cut-flowers. Andrea became the owner in 2018 and has honed in on expanding and diversifying the business. Ranui now has over 50 CSA members, goes to the Park City Farmers Market every week June-October and has several restaurant/chef partners.
Ranui grows all kinds of vegetables and flowers, but the farm is really well known for its greens, garlic and heirloom tomatoes. Our customers come to us in the spring eager to get their hands (and mouths) on the harvest as soon as they can! Ranui is beyond organic in terms of production methods. We like to say we grow soil and are regenerative, or ecological farmers. After 34 years of focusing on the health of the soil, you can taste the difference in our food. The flavors, aromas, colors, freshness, texture and nutritional value of our vegetables are exceptional.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Entering into farming when you don’t own the land or have a family in agriculture is risky in itself. The margins on small-scale farming just are not that good. If the bottom line is not your top concern, but things like land stewardship, health and community are, you better know that you are entering into financial risk. However, the trade-off is in the high quality of your food and what you are feeding your family and community. I haven’t been in business long enough to know and understand risk-taking very well, but I think it is an essential part of running and learning from your business. I wish I had been more willing to take certain risks when I first took over Ranui Gardens. I was fairly nervous and conservative as a new business owner. Even things as simple as changing the crop plan for what to grow and when, and restructuring marketing outlets and the weekly schedule all seem scary at first, but sometimes you won’t know unless you try! It’s all about calculation, however. You want your risks to be well-measured and thought out. Having solid backup plans and alternatives in mind is a good idea.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ranui.com
- Instagram: ranui_gardens
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RanuiGardens
