When the farm first opened almost five years ago, it was a U-Pick operation (half the farm was in strawberries at the time). Denise re-evaluated the situation and decided to take the farm in a different direction. Now, she and her staff supply area restaurant chefs and specialty outlets with an assortment of fresh produce. Additionally, Denise hosts private markets where she instructs participants on ways to prepare the food. Her background continues to serve her well. “I always think how it’s going to look on the plate and I think that is my biggest advantage as a farmer is that I have the chef background.” Her philosophy is a simple one, “I think food should be beautiful and taste good. If I get a salad that’s not any good I know the rest of the meal is going to hell in a hand basket.”
recipes. “People come in and tell me how just eating right has changed their lives.” Of her clientele she remarked, “They have come to realize that eating healthy is not a fate worse than death. It is so much better than junk. We just had to get back to creating enthusiasm about it.”
The farm grows a wide variety of vegetables including hybrids. “I try to stay with the heirlooms,” Denise said. “I always think Mother Nature gets it right.” Denise is as hands on a farmer as the best of them. Nothing is left to chance. To list the types of produce grown at the farm by just their generic names – beans, zucchini, tomatoes - doesn’t do the vegetables justice. Everything must be just so. “If I don’t like the names of things, I change them,” she said. A perfect example of this is the colorful Kaleidoscope Lima Bean. It is a sight to behold. Like any good specialty farmer, Denise has even been known to harvest her own seeds such as those needed to grow the prized Variegated Yard Long Beans. “I knew I’d never get those again.” Specialty peppers, including a chocolate pepper with a smoky taste, are grown at the farm as well as herbs including several varieties of basil.
Rabbit Run is gaining notoriety, and rightfully so. Denise recently participated in Farm Week organized by the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau (VCB) and she speaks wistfully of one day having her own product line. Having met Denise, I am sure that is just a matter of time. For more information call 239-292-0564 or visit www.RabbitRunFarmllc.com
Rabbit Run is open to the public 11:00 to 3:00 on Saturdays and draws shoppers from Naples to Pine Island. Denise admits her produce is not the cheapest in town. “And,” she added, “I have no desire to be the cheapest in town. I do have a desire to be the best in town.” She said she loves to meet those who frequent the farm on Saturdays and often provides them with
February 2014
Heartland InTheFieldMagazine 37