Pendleton's Country Market: A crop of seasonal diversity

Despite the plethora of business how-to books, consultants, advice and resources, Pendleton's Country Market distills its own powerful entrepreneurial philosophy: listen to your customers, listen to your heart, keep positive and provide reasons for folks to keep returning to the farm throughout the year. Instead of focusing on the downside of declining agriculture over the last twenty years in Kansas, John and Karen Pendleton ask themselves "what if" when adding a refreshing dose of positive, entrepreneurial energy to the local farming scene with their ag business.

Pendleton's 300 acre farm stretches out on the glacier-leveled plains of the Kansas River Valley. John's father, Albert, started farming the present day homestead in 1951, with John and Karen taking over the business in the late 1970s, focusing on cattle and feed crops.

The farming scene started changing in the early 1980s with a dose of extreme weather. "1979 was one of our best farming years ever and I remember my father-in-law telling us to remember that season as we wouldn't see it again for a long time," Karen recalls. His prediction was right, with the following years bringing record-breaking heat and little rain, resulting in failed corn crops. "Everybody looked for alternative crops to bring other income in back then," remembers Karen.

Rather than focus on ways to keep the cattle and feed crops going, the Pendletons looked to diversify their farm income in 1981 with a fresh product: asparagus. "Frankly, we just really like asparagus," Karen explains with a smile. "We talked to our county ag agent and he confirmed that perennial asparagus could grow well in our climate and we thought there was market for it."

The first year they planted 3,500 crowns on half an acre. Asparagus plants need a season to mature before harvesting, which proved to be a strong marketing technique because word could spread to let folks locally know Pendleton's sold asparagus. "So many folks wanted asparagus that we just kept a list and kept calling the next person on the list as more asparagus became available," says Karen. "We sold everything our first season and were forced to limit folks to ten pounds per person."

Now Pendleton's Country Market's reputation rests on asparagus, having expanded to 25 acres of the spring vegetable. Asparagus provides a busy, intense spring season with harvesting from about mid-April through mid-May. The Pendletons grow five or six asparagus varietals that grow well in Kansas, primarily Purple Passion and Atlas. "When we started asparagus over twenty years ago, it was primarily a pick-your-own business with folks coming in every year for 20, 50, or even 100 pounds of asparagus that they put up and used throughout the year because it made economic sense," Karen explains. "Now our asparagus business comes primarily from people coming for a day outing to the farm. Twenty acres of asparagus are sold pre-picked through our on-farm store and customers can still do pick-your-own on the remaining five acres. When Karen realized many customers didn't really know how to cook with asparagus, she self-published an asparagus cookbook, putting the book together on her computer and selling about 200 copies annually. "We charge seven dollars for the cookbook which basically just covers the cost, but it helps us sell more asparagus," adds Karen.

The uniqueness and fresh appeal of Pendletons' asparagus fosters loyal customers, drawing from the nearby Lawrence area with a population of over 100,000. "This gives us the ability to charge a premium price of about 30 percent higher than supermarket stores," Karen explains. "Since we 'snap' rather than 'cut' our asparagus, the customer is getting 30% more asparagus by weight. When cutting asparagus below the ground, there is a tough bottom end that is usually 30% of the weight. By snapping the asparagus, the customer is not paying for that tough end, and thus no waste. The reason wholesale growers cut the asparagus below the ground and have a tough bottom end, is that tough end acts as a plug and keeps the top of the asparagus fresh longer, since we are selling direct to the customer, they don't need such a long shelf life," adds Karen.

Further diversification of Pendleton's Country Market grew through customer demand and ideas. "Folks came out and bought their ten or twenty pounds of asparagus and asked, 'What else can I buy,' so we figured we'd better come up with something," laughs Karen humbly . This led to expansion into other crops that lengthen the selling season through late fall. "Being the first to have something for sale during a season has proved to be a selling advantage," Karen comments. Pendleton's product mix include rhubarb, peonies and other early vegetables in May, along with hydroponic tomatoes from the hoop house and bedding plants from the greenhouse. Throughout the summer, a range of vegetables are harvested and taken to the Lawrence Farmers' Market three times a week, a market the Pendletons have participated in for twent- two years.

Additionally, over three acres are devoted to flowers, grown for both fresh farmers' market sales, dried flowers into the fall and Karen's custom wedding floral business. Karen recently added on-site workshops to the business mix, including flower arranging and Mother's Day kids workshops during which children decorate a pot and then transplant an herb or flowering plant.

One business idea Karen and John enthusiastically tried that they chose not to continue was their summer corn maze. From 1999 through 2002, the Pendleton's created an annual five-acre corn maze in shapes ranging "Turtle Island" to "Butterfly Wishes." All the mazes received strong press (including photos on the Associated Press wire) and ninety percent of the maze visitors were not from Lawrence, bringing new customers to the farm. While Karen admits they enjoyed the PR value, they decided to not continue it. "Corn mazes depend on high corn which requires extensive irrigation and maintenance," Karen explains. "What's great about being a diversified farm is that you can try out new ideas such as the corn maze and not jeopardize the whole business."

Exposure to new ideas inspire the Pendletons. "We found it very helpful to travel and visit as many places that were doing similar things, particularly when we were starting out," Karen explains. Karen and John's early travels (always with jars of their own pickled asparagus and recipe book in the car trunk for impromptu thank you gifts) have evolved into a close network of farming peers around the country to which they can turn to for advice, support and ideas.

The Pendletons gave up cattle completely in 1988 to focus more on the Country Market business (the cattle feedlot is now the customer parking lot). They still farm 270 acres in corn and soybeans they sell for feed. Karen and John hire about 20 part-time people to help during the summer season, mostly local college students.

Karen credits the success of Pendleton's Country Market on their family's willingness to try new things, adapt to change and strong work ethic on keeping up multiple roles. "It is hard to be all things required for this business -- grower, marketer, salesperson, bookkeeper -- especially during busy times," explains Karen. With a family of three teenagers, keeping farm activities balanced with school activities is a challenge, particularly during the busy asparagus season in spring.

In 2004, the Pendletons find themselves at a strategic crossroads with their business: should they expand further and, if so, how? "Our kids are growing up and leaving the house for college," Karen comments. "We want to keep options open for them to return if they want and still plan for our own retirement." One idea they are thinking about is upgrading the barn with heat to provide a year-round on-farm sales site. In the meantime, another business "hat" Karen and John wear involves helping others get into diversified farming operations. Through a grant from the Kansas Rural Center, the two coordinate meetings to assist with value-added product development.