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LOCAL GROWER OF THE MONTH

Hummingbird Farms- Ridgely, Maryland
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For more than 20 years, Jennifer Sturmer has dedicated herself to producing red, ripe, amazingly flavorful tomatoes in an environmentally friendly way. Her tomatoes are hand picked to ensure the highest quality, ripest fruit. Grown hydroponically and without the use of harsh chemicals, the integrity of the fruit is maintained from her plants to your table. Jennifer demonstrates the remarkable efficiency of hydroponic gardening—intensive crop production where soil is replaced by an inert growing medium, rockwool, and a nutrient solution for irrigation.

She grows about 17,000 plants on a mere 1.75 acres.
She plants twice each year for two crops. The first harvested from October to January and the second from March to July, yielding up to 11 tons of tomatoes per week. She and her husband and business partner , Rick, have evolved a strategy that helps them stand up against the competition. They not only use hydroponics to make efficient use of valuable resources but also use predator insects and organic soaps and oils to control pests and disease.

Beefsteak tomatoes are her biggest seller. But they also have expanded into other varieties, like heirloom, cherry, and red, yellow, and orange clusters, to name a few. “We diversified and that niche served us well,” says Jennifer. “And our typical customer looks for us because we are picking the tomatoes red, ripe with flavor. We have that edge.” .Hummingbird’s name comes from Hummingbird Cay, a privately owned island in the Bahamas where Jennifer, a biology major, spent two spring breaks in field observation, research, and seminars. The owner of the cay later contacted Jennifer with a proposal. Would she consider building and running a hydroponic tomato greenhouse in Maryland? “It sounded like conducting a huge experiment that really counted,” says Jennifer, who was preparing to join the Peace Corps. “I couldn’t resist the opportunity to start my own business.”

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