Jeff Sickler has only been running his own farm in
Moatsville, West Virginia, for a few short years, but
he has a lot going on.
At Sickler’s farm, you can find everything
from gardens and greenhouses to chickens, pigs,
honeybees, sheep, Goldendoodle pups, and some of
the first high tunnels in West Virginia.
The Sicklers, who are devout Christians, start
every day with morning
devotion. “I ask how we can use
this farm for ministry,” Sickler
says. Before making the move
to farming, Sickler was part of
a Christian organization that
organized short-term mission
trips for adults. Sickler was
contributing to the cause by
providing work opportunities
for mission teams when he
received a call about a high
tunnel. At the time, Sickler did
not know what a high tunnel
was, but when he obtained one,
he saw his business really begin to grow. The high
tunnels, which are essentially unheated greenhouses,
help extend the growing season, improving
profitability and productivity.
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pollinate his flowers and fruits, and his own compost
facility. He also grows various vegetables and berries,
which he sells at farmers markets in Barbour and
Monongalia counties.
Farmers markets have become an important and
eye-opening experience for Sickler. “You would think
at farmers markets, there would be competition,”
says Sickler, “but that’s not the case.” Instead, he
says all of the farmers help each other. They share
ideas, products, and business.
“When some of the other
farmers run out of tomatoes,
and they know I have some
left, they send customers over
to my stand, and I do it for
them too,” said Sickler.
We are in the
growing pains
stage right now,
because anything
we are making,
we are investing,”
says Sickler.
So if you are looking
for beautiful mums, fresh
produce, or just a good
conversation and you find
yourself in Barbour County or
at the Morgantown Farmers
Market, look up Jeff Sickler.
One of Sickler’s largest crops is mums. Sickler
and his family have grown mums for five years.
Initially, they began with 1,000 mums, which quickly
sold out. After purchasing the high tunnels, Sickler’s
mum business really took off. Now, they can hang
thousands of flower baskets year-round. Just this
February, they planted 40,000 mums and by Mother’s
Day they sold out.
Another profitable aquistion for the Sicklers was
a pot filling machine which not only saves on labor,
but hastens the process of planting the mums. The
machine spreads the soil evenly, and can pot 240
plants in just ten to fifteen minutes. “We are in the
growing pains stage right now, because anything we
are making, we are investing,” says Sickler.
Mums are not Sickler’s only project, though.
Sickler has several kinds of livestock, honeybees to
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 15