Growing Together,

Sharing With Their Community

Story and photos by Michelle Kunjappu

Lancaster County, PA

It’s been a long, slow climb for Devin and Kristi Barto, but ten years of internships, job experience, online classes, and “reading everything [they] could get [their] hands on about farming” is paying off.

Recent recipients of Farm Credit’s Farmers on the Rise award, the couple leases five acres in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania for their Fifth Month Farm, the vegetable CSA they began in 2018.

The new permanent roof, which the couple was able to finance through the award, will offer the Bartos protection from the elements in the washing and packing area. The overhang now covers the wash station “which also helps us meet food safety requirements because it’s sheltering the food and equipment,” explains Kristi.

Lancaster County’s summer weather allows the Bartos to run their CSA early June through the end of September. They have multiple pickup locations and subscriptions available in both Lancaster and Philadelphia. Additionally, they supply farm-fresh vegetables to area restaurants as well as a local wholesale outlet.

The couple’s four high tunnels harbor vegetables all winter, providing 14 weeks of salad greens, fingerling and sweet potatoes, squash, beets, and carrots, among other produce to their members.

As the CSA moves into its sixth year, its continued growth and popularity can be at least partly attributed to the couple’s blending of talents and efforts.

Although Devin did not have a background in agriculture, his interest in agriculture was piqued when he attended a biodiesel conference with a college roommate. Afterward, he pursued an internship on a nearby farm. “Honestly, by day three of being on a farm I thought yeah, I’ll probably do this,” says Devin. In addition to taking classes and reading on his own, he found mentors in farming who invested in him and allowed him the experiences he needed to bring to his own business.

Ongoing relationships with these mentors, who were good at both growing things and the business side, Devin says, have proven valuable, and “I still talk to them, maybe once a year with a question,” he says. “When I first started, I emailed or called all the time.”

Kristi, who holds a bachelors degree in fine arts, did not have a background in agriculture either. She found her own agricultural mentors in addition to learning alongside Devin.

Kristi spent time employed at a successful farm stand outside of Philly as well as at a local flower shop. “Working in those operations helped me develop a broad skill set and it was good to see how other businesses are successful,” she says. Kristi also worked in several bakeries, where she obtained food safety certification and expanded her knowledge of food. “I didn’t have a very straightforward path, but now that I’m running this business with Devin and farming, it has become clear how all things came together in a really beautiful way to help us be successful.”

When asking what advice she’d give to other young, beginning, and small farmers, Kristi recommends they “invest in educating themselves about marketing, especially digital marketing.” Kristi has taken marketing classes at a local college and continues to see the benefits. Our online presence “brings us more customers and also allows us to access customers without having to physically always be at a farmers market or at a farm stand; it has allowed us to reach a wider audience than we otherwise would have,” she says.

The couple has been with Farm Credit since forming their business in 2018. Over the years, the Bartos have found Farm Credit employees to be a valuable resource, beyond simply providing financial solutions. According to Kristi, one employee in particular has proven to be an asset to their operation — Leslie Hoover, Farm Credit's Accounting & Consulting Services Manager. "She has helped us feel comfortable making financial decisions and feel like we’re going in the right direction,” says Devin. “Leslie helps our business be so organized and we know we’re making datadriven choices.”