The Cimarron Organics farm began operation in the summer of 1998. But it had been a dream of mine for many years before that. While working at Whole Foods Market in Richardson Texas in 1989, I became interested in organic agriculture, both in its health benefits to the consumer and its benefits to the environment. Over the next several years while working as a registered massage therapist and then later as a general contractor, my interest in organic farming grew into a goal of actually starting a farm. Finally, in the late summer of 1998 I began to put the plan in place. My parents owned property in the River Road area of Amarillo. Having grown a sizable personal garden themselves for many years, they had most of the necessary equipment to get the farm up and running. While I initially started the farm, it quickly became a family venture. My son Ryan, my parents, my brothers and my wife all quickly pitched in.

Late that summer, we began to haul in compost and start the initial plowing of the field. We then planted a cover crop of vetch and rye to help add nutrients and organic matter to the soil. The next spring the cover crop was tilled into the soil and we were ready to start planting vegetables.

That first year we grew on 1 ¼ acre and had a product mix very close to what we grow now. (Take a look at our crops grown page for more information). We sold at the farmers market and through Eat-Rite Health Promotion Center in Amarillo. Other than a few rookie mistakes, that first year was very successful.

If the first year was a great success, the second year was a huge failure. In 2000 we expanded in size by 700% and had terrible year. By growing that much it seems like there was never enough time to accomplish what needed to be done. No soil tests, inadequate soil amendments and too many weeds! Production was terrible and with the labor costs to get everything planted and weeded, we were sunk before we really got started.

In 2001 we shrank in size to less than 1 acre. We grew tomatoes, watermelons and a few other varieties and were only moderately successful. We were really at a crossroads then. After a couple of tough years it was time to make a decision. Would we stay in it or move on.

Early in 2002 I decided to grow tomatoes in our small greenhouse along with a few other things outside and took a full-time job as a roofing salesman. This would allow me to enjoy growing and still contribute to the support of my family. Everything was about to change though. On April 2, I fell off my mountain bike while training (bicycle racing is another love of mine) and broke my neck. I was paralyzed instantly. For the next two years my focus would be on rehab and adjusting to life with a spinal cord injury.

Fast forward to late summer 2004. Everybody had adjusted pretty well (my wife Christine, son Ryan, and daughter Austin along with my parents and my three brothers have all been great, couple that with some good friends and you have a recipe for success). But I still wasn't working. My van lacked the modifications that would allow me to drive. That's when I started to think about restarting the farm. My brother Jeff and I started to discuss the possibility of restarting the farm together. He was enthusiastic from the start. Jeff is a firefighter and when he's not working a 24-hour shift, has the time and more importantly the desire to spend time on the farm.

In September 2004 we started to plan in earnest. Jeff had been interested in blackberries for several years so we knew that would be a major focus. Ryan had grown tomatoes in our small greenhouse and they did very well. Because of that and our previous success with tomatoes in the field we decided to build a larger greenhouse just for tomatoes. We brought in 8 tons of compost and planted our cover crop. We also started putting together a seed and supply list for the upcoming year.

2005 was a good year for us. We made a few mistakes but did a lot of things right. Tomatoes in the greenhouse grew very well. (All our greenhouse crops are grown directly in the soil. This allows us to plant cover crops between seasons which we till into the soil. Cover crops play an integral role in organic farming. When tilled in, decomposition of green plant matter improves soil structure and microbial activity) We planted 200 blackberry plants that grew very well and will produce their first small crop in June 2006. We will plant an additional 600 plants in late April. We will also plant 300 raspberry plants at the same time. They will start to bear fruit in late August or early September. We planted 1500 strawberry plants in late September and hope to have a strawberry harvest in early June. This is our first-year to grow strawberries so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Our plan is to eventually have between 4 and 5 acres in production, with 1 to 2 acres in cover crops at all times. This will allow us to rotate our crops which helps keep soil born diseases at bay and better manage soil fertility. We will focus on blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and tomatoes. We will also grow carrots, onions, squash, hot peppers, sweet peppers, green beans, black-eyed peas, potatoes and okra

Ronnie Kimbrell

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