Flat Four Farms

Chad built the greenhouse behind him out of recycled window frames.

Chad and Mindy who have “been into Volkswagens forever”, named their farm after the VWs horizontally opposed–four engine – also known as the flat–four engine.

Several varieties of grapes grow at Flat Four Farms. Mindy Lively is experimenting with grape cuttings.

Chad built compost bins with removable slats for easy shoveling. “We’re doing a lot of hard work now so it will be easier to maintain as we get older,” says Mindy.

PHOTOS AND STORY BY PATTI DALEY Growing a Home

It was the love of an old bus that brought them together, and a quest for land that brought them here, to 22 acres near El Capitan. Off–the–grid, Mindy Lively and Chad Jacobson lived in a travel trailer for nearly four years while creating Flat Four Farms.

“We began straight away digging holes for the trees,” says Mindy, “most by hand.”

They’ve got over 100 trees and plants in the ground. In the greenhouse Chad built out of recycled windows, Mindy starts new plants.

“It’s a big experiment,” says Mindy. “You try it all.”

They grow mainly trees, berries and vegetables. Almond, pistachio, pear, plum, three types of cherry, and cherry plum. Low–chill Anna apples, pink lady, a crabapple for pollination. Persian green plum, dwarf nectarine, aprium, and Mindy’s favorite, a white saturn peach. 38 pomegranate trees form a windbreak; they have 11 different kinds.

Mindy has started fig and olive trees from tissue culture in a petri dish and berries from cuttings. Raspberries, gooseberry, marionberry, white blackberry.

“I’m experimenting right now with some cuttings off of my grapes,” she says.

The vegetable garden yields swiss chard and basil and a lot of asparagus, which they both like.

“Everybody should have fruit trees in their yard and everyone should have food in their yard,” says Mindy. “Show me your yard and I can show you where you can put something.”

“I’m not in it for the business of it or the money,” says Mindy, “I’m in it because I love it and want others to love it too.”

Mindy Lively, born in Mesa, has been gardening all her life. She recently aced the master gardeners test and is volunteering with a local seed library. She had been purchasing trees through a Rare Fruit Growers co–op, but that option ended. Covid hit. Mindy decided to step up.

“I’m just going to do it then,” she decided. “I’m going to help people get trees inexpensively.”

This winter she sold over 300 bare root trees last year at the farmers markets in Globe and Superior. She is a distributor for Dave Wilson nursery and starts her own trees and berries in pots using tissue cultures and cuttings. She doesn’t sell anything that can’t be grown here or in Superior. Folks find her on Facebook and come from Safford and Winkleman. Peach and cherry trees are popular.

“What makes me the happiest is seeing people so excited about getting a tree,” says Mindy. “80% of the time they have no idea how to plant a tree or what to do with it, but they’re so delighted to get that tree!”

She shares her knowledge freely. Flat Four Farm trees grow in 70% native soil. They add vermiculite, micronutrients and gypsum to break up the clay. Mindy often plants multiple trees in one hole – sometimes as many as four – and prunes them to 10 feet in height.

“The fruit will be lower,” says Mindy. “Easier to pick.”

It requires time, labor and patience. Not all plants make it. They hand–water from tanks filled from a well with 47 gpm capacity. According to Chad, they pump only 3–4 gpm and less in the winter, when most trees go dormant.

Last season, Mindy started selling plant starts. In October, she’ll have June–bearing strawberries available.

“We grow what we like to eat,” says Chad.

Mindy is a vegan. Though Chad hunts and eats meat, he’s ruled out raising protein.

“If it eats money and craps work, I don’t want it,” he says.

Chad Jacobson, 48, works full–time as Journeyman Electrician for a large electrical contracting company. After flipping off Facebook execs in Texas, he opted for a different pace; smaller teams and time–off between projects.

“Time–off” to Chad means taking on javelina with an electric fence, putting up solar panels, building compost bins with removable slats, working on the vehicles, and helping out friends and neighbors.

“He’s really social,” says Mindy. “He likes to help people.”

Their huge barn is filled to capacity with parts and projects and some space for Mindy’s gym.

Near–term projects include shade for the berries, netting for the trees. Clear out the underbrush behind the house. Attach a water pump to the tank. Graft the pear trees. Solar panels for the workshop. Build another workshop for the vehicles.

“Right now I’m just working in the dirt,” Chad says.

Chad grew up on farms and ranches. He is a skilled electrician, mechanic, builder, and welder. His uncle owned a machine shop and taught him a lot.

“Chad is amazing with metal,” says Mindy.

FLAT FOUR FARMS, Continued on page 17

Auto | Home | Commercial | Special Event | Bonds and more

Christina Ortiz Brittany Blevins Andrea Harrison Elton Miller Barbara Miller

670 E. Ash St. Globe, AZ 85501

n dental examinations / digital x-rays n professional cleanings / implants n filling and crowns / dentures

n teeth whitening / veneers n composite fillings n porcelain crowns

Mindy and Chad continue to put in the hard work it takes to establish the farm. They have tried to hire help to no avail. Photo by Patti Daley.

Mindy has nectarines, peaches, plums and apriums growing in the stone fruit orchard. In April, Mindy and Chad brought a trailer load of trees and garden plants to sell at the local farmers market held at City Park in Globe.

FLAT FOUR FARMS, Continued from page 16

Mindy has been learning and teaching all her life. A single mother, she homeschooled her two kids, now grown, and created a website for homeschool resources that she’s giving to one of her sales reps.

“I just want to be outside all the time, doing stuff in my yard,” Mindy says.

She learned about trees through the Rare Fruit Growers and talking to different people, seeing what they did. Dave Wilson Nursery provides a lot of good information and University of Arizona extension has a wealth of online resources.

“There’s always somebody that you can learn from,” says Mindy. “ I used to go to the library to learn everything and ask people, now all you do is YouTube it.”

“She replaced the water pump in this with YouTube,” says Chad proudly, pointing at a 1971 Volkswagen bus.

Mindy bought the 1971 VW bus when she was single, with dreams of the open road.

“I was going to go on the road, living in my bus,” says Mindy. “I pretty much got rid of everything and then I met him.”

The couple met at the Arizona Bus Club in 2011, when Mindy joined to learn about her vehicle. They hit it off. Five years later they found the property. By both accounts, it was love at first sight.

Flat Four Farms is named for Volkswagen’s horizontally opposed–four engine, also known as the flat–four engine.

“We’ve been into Volkswagens forever,” says Chad.

When he retires, he plans to sell their surplus produce out of a 1956 Volkswagen flatbed pickup truck, currently in the barn.

Mindy still dreams of traveling in her VW bus.

“We’re doing a lot of hard work now so it will be easier to maintain as we get older.”

She laughs when asked about labor. Chad hired someone to help, but he never showed up.

“If I get an intern that wants to come up here and stay and learn and help, that would be great,” says Chad.

He envisions using their 2–bedroom house for those that come. He’ll build a new house into the side of the mountain with steel beams, styrofoam blocks, concrete and a southeast–facing greenhouse.

“The only thing showing will be the roof and the greenhouse,” says Chad.

When all the work seems overwhelming, Mindy says she just sits on the front porch and looks at the view.

“It’s about taking your time and being aware of nature and enjoying stuff,” she says. “Buses go slow.” u

HOME INSURANCE BUILT BY YOU

When it comes to designing the look of your home, you can rely on experts like the Scott Brothers. But designing your home insurance policy? That’s where we come in. With American Family, you’ll find unique coverages you can’t get anywhere else. From protecting your home against hidden water* to helping you repair or replace broken home appliances,* we’ll help you build the right policy for your unique needs.