Farmer driven by love of land

Deep purple eggplants hang like showy pendant earrings down a long row of plants at Joseph Fields Farm on Johns Island, the only certified organic farm in the Charleston area.

The certification, obtained in July, is a badge of honor for husband-and-wife owners Joseph and Helen Fields. "It's an entailed process," she says. "We started the transformation over five years ago."

Joseph Fields, 58, has been speaking the language of local produce all his life, though. It's in the way he says "veg-uh-tables," an extra-syllable pronunciation that's a sure sign of being born and raised in the Lowcountry.

Both his parents and grandparents were farmers, so a love of the land and growing things comes naturally to him. "I love to watch things grow, and talk to people," he says simply. "You got to do farming because you love it."

Helen Fields, 57, is more of the public face of the farm, which operates year-round off River Road on Johns Island. She manages the booth at the six local farmers

markets, where they set up weekly from spring into fall. The farm also sells to eight stores, including Whole Foods, Earth Fare and a few Piggly Wigglys.

The 50-acre spread is a veritable cornucopia of fruits and vegetables as the seasons progress: collards, kale, mustard greens, lettuce, green and pole beans, butter beans, crowder peas, tomatoes, okra, sweet and hot peppers, squash, turnips, beets, cabbage, broccoli, onions, potatoes, sweet corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, and muscadine and scuppernong grapes. Heirloom tomatoes are their new best-seller.

Helen says the increased focus on buying local has benefited the farm, especially since it's become organically certified.

"People are more health conscious now. You have to change along with the times to satisfy the customer. You can't continue to do things the same way forever. On the other hand, you have customers that want organic, and for others, the conventional is just fine." The farm also supplements its offerings with conventional produce from the state farmers market in Columbia.

Certified organic is definitely a harder way to do business, the couple say.

"It's a little more expensive, it takes more fertilizer, more labor and working it, such as hoeing," says Joseph. He was a certified welder before going into farming full time when he and Helen married in 1973.

"Everything has to be labeled and kept separately," says Helen. "A lot of that stuff has to be hand-held; you have to pay somebody to go in and pull weeds."

Farm life in general also is far from idyllic. Most challenging "is the hours you put into it, and then the rains come or a storm comes or the frost — to be defeated by Mother Nature," Helen says.

What rewards her most, she says, is "the satisfaction of when a customer comes back and says, 'Those collards were wonderful.' Or, 'Those tomatoes really made my salad.' That's what keeps me going."

Over the years, they've learned to count on the Clemson Extension Service, the South Carolina Farm Service Agency, and the South Carolina State University 1890 Extension Program.

"These are assets to farmers. Years ago, we weren't taking advantage of that. Now that we know, they are very useful to us," she says.

Helen, who also runs a cleaning service full time, is active in farmers' organizations, serving as chairwoman of the Sea Island Farmers Cooperative and the S.C. Association of Farmers and Landowners. The association is working toward buying seeds and fertilizer in bulk so the farmers can get a discount. "That's my goal," she says.

The couple have a grown son and daughter, J.J., 34, and JaNesha, 30, who pitch in to help along with other family members. "As to say whether they (the children) will take it on some day, time will tell," says Helen.

"It's a hard, clean life, if you don't mind the sweat. It's a lot of worry; you've got to count your pennies real careful."

When the markets finally close in December, the Fieldses get a short-lived but welcome break. They get to sleep in later, have more time to themselves and take a trip somewhere. But Joseph starts getting excited about planting time right after Christmas, Helen says.

"My husband is driven by his love for the land. If he could not farm, I would be seriously worried about him. Even though his body hurts sometimes, he still loves it."

Teresa Taylor is the food editor. Reach her at food@postandcourier.com or 937-4886.