Bending, checking, picking, weeding and watering: summer days are long, hot and busy for Mark Yaeger. Summer is sweet corn season at his business, Yaeger’s Farm Market. That means Mark and his family are busy keeping up with customers who are eager to savor fresh sweet corn and other vegetables.
Owning and operating a farm market means you have to like working with plants. It also means you should love interacting with people. Mark enjoys both, so this is the perfect job for him! Working together as a family is also important to him and being a farmer makes that possible, too.
The farm and market have always been a family business. Mark’s uncle Dave started the business in 1967 and built the farm store a few years later. Over time, Mark became more involved until he took over the business in 2002. His employees are almost all family. His mom, Eleanor, manages the farm market and his wife, Mary, assists with field operations. His three children stay busy with jobs like aintaining greenhouse plants, hoeing weeks in the pumpkin patch, and helping customers.
Sweet corn is the number one selling product at Mark’s farm, but he andhis family actually grow hundreds of different flowers, fruits and vegetables. You could probably find a plant for every letter of the alphabet on his farm, from asparagus to zucchini!
All that growing is hard work and not just in the summer. Even on snowy days in February you will find Mark in the greenhouse seeding vegetable plants and flowers. All throught the year, he and his family are working hard so they can product flowers and food for people to enjoy.
Profile:
Mark Yaeger – 2nd generation vegetable grower
Family: Wife Mary, children Melanie – 16, Jessica – 15, and Trevor – 13
Location: East of Cortland
Trivia: One of Mark’s favorite things to do is plant different kinds of flowers with colors that look beautiful together.
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