By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

ATHENS County, Ohio — Conventional wisdom says it is hard for young people to get a start in farming. Matt and Angie Starline have defied conventional wisdom, at Starline Organics.
They work full-time on their farm “and into overtime,” Matt Starline said, producing a variety of organic food for the Athens Farmers’ Market and local restaurants.

“We chose organic because it is sustainable in every aspect,” he said. “It takes into consideration the soil aspect, doing cover crops, respecting it, as well as making a product for the public.”

From their 50 acres of ground the duo produces seven acres of mixed vegetables, they sell multiple flavors of puffed and crunch cereals made from spelt, they raise Shitake mushrooms, lamb, beef, pork, oats and barley, which they market to a local microbrewery, and make sorghum molasses, which the local bakery buys.

They are in a prime location for their business. The Athens Farmers’ Market has been around for 37 years; Audubon Magazine called it one of the nation’s best – as many as 3,000 customers may visit the market in one day, and it is open year-round.
Restaurants such as the Village Bakery are committed to local farmers. Also, the Starlines don’t have to pay out a lot of cash.
“When I came into this I realized that I wasn’t going to be rich, but our farm is pretty sustainable,” Starline said. “We have a gas well, so we don’t have to pay for our heating bills. Our water – we have a natural spring. Our biggest expense is electric; we’re looking into steps for solar and wind turbine because we’re on a plateau and it is usually pretty windy up here.”

They grow much of their own food and barter for other things at the farmers’ market. Their lifestyle has evolved; Starline grew up on a farm, but then went college. “He started out as an engineering student and decided he wanted to not be an engineer; he wanted to go back to his roots,” said Angie.

As a freshman in college, she became interested in where her food came from, and was a customer at the farmers’ market. She earned her master’s degree and worked fulltime as an audiologist. Meanwhile, Matt found work with several farmers in the Athens area.

The couple married two years ago and in April 2008 had enough money saved to buy some farmland from Terry Anderson (the famed journalist who was held captive in Beirut from 1985-91), whom Starline had worked with for three years.

“By November of 2008, Matt kept expanding so much so that he needed somebody else here all the time,” Angie said. “It got to a point where we were secure with our savings, that I decided to start helping him. We didn’t know how long I would be on board, and right now it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere.”

Starline added, “I can keep up with things in the garden, but when it comes time for deliveries, the marketing aspect, making everything presentable, it is a lot of labor when it comes to vegetables.”

A lot of that labor involves keeping up with weeds, a big challenge for organic farmers. “We hoe a lot,” he said. “We pull weeds by hand, we have cultivators. I am experimenting with different equipment. You have to be innovative with the resources that you use. There are weeds and there are times when they overtake everything.”

Yet, things are going good, and the Starlines are full of plans for the future, including more value-added foods. A long-term goal is to build a certified kitchen and begin professionally canning and labeling food items, Angie said. Starline also has a background in ecotourism, so a bed-and-breakfast is a possibility, as well as a canoe livery since they are near the Hocking River.

Angie is content having traded her audiology career for life on the farm. “One of the things I liked about audiology was meeting new patients and helping them,” she said. “We’re doing the same things.

“I don’t get to see patients every day, but my patients equal my customers at the farmers’ market. I get to know them and I’m not helping them with hearing – I’m helping them eat well and live longer.”