Untitled Document

Phil Stewart left a stable job in Montana to start a produce operation in Fulton, Missouri because he was tired of working in the office and didn’t like feeling anxious about the work week every Sunday night. Working the 90,000 square feet of his garden alone and avoiding the use of motorized machinery is, according to this 58 year-old man with abounding energy, the only sensible thing to do. Growing season in Fulton is roughly a hundred and eighty days, from spring frost to winter freeze, but Phil’s garden is a year-round job. His responsibilities include selling at open markets, ordering seeds and supplies, book keeping, mowing and mulching. Also, he chooses to work the land using methods considered out-dated today. A motorized tractor or a helping hand don’t suit him. Others in the garden disrupt his solitude, and disturb his quiet efficiency.
After five years of working the land, Phil feels he has successfully transformed his livlihood from office to outdoors. Waking long before his wife and son each morning, he walks briskly through dawn’s dampness or lifts weights in the garage. “I was born to move,” says Phil, a self-proclaimed man of contentment. His only worry is the effect that time might have on his body and mind. To Phil, a long life isn’t worth much if it cannot be vigorously lived. Therefore, gardening has become for him not only a way to make a living, but also a way to offset the aches and bodily pains of encroaching years. Committing to the soil manifests a greater dedication to his own well-being.

"Plotting for success"


view the story
Phil Stewart left a stable job in Montana to start a produce operation in Fulton, Missouri because he was tired of working in the office and didn’t like feeling anxious about the work week every Sunday night. Working the 90,000 square feet of his garden alone and avoiding the use of motorized machinery is, according to this 58 year-old man with abounding energy, the only sensible thing to do. Growing season in Fulton is roughly a hundred and eighty days, from spring frost to winter freeze, but Phil’s garden is a year-round job. His responsibilities include selling at open markets, ordering seeds and supplies, book keeping, mowing and mulching. Also, he chooses to work the land using methods considered out-dated today. A motorized tractor or a helping hand don’t suit him. Others in the garden disrupt his solitude, and disturb his quiet efficiency. After five years of working the land, Phil feels he has successfully transformed his livlihood from office to outdoors. Waking long before his wife and son each morning, he walks briskly through dawn’s dampness or lifts weights in the garage. “I was born to move,” says Phil, a self-proclaimed man of contentment. His only worry is the effect that time might have on his body and mind. To Phil, a long life isn’t worth much if it cannot be vigorously lived. Therefore, gardening has become for him not only a way to make a living, but also a way to offset the aches and bodily pains of encroaching years. Committing to the soil manifests a greater dedication to his own well-being.