Adonai Acres supplies locals farm fresh produce and more
At Adonai Acres in Holmes County, Mary and Joe Gnizak grow primarily produce — specializing in greens and garlics. The largest growing areas are under cover, using raised beds in tunnels.
Northeast Ohio is home to many small farms supplying the area with a diverse assortment of produce, meats, dairy products, and items such as jams, jellies, syrups, nuts and more.
For those who attend area downtown farmers markets, many of these farmers have become familiar faces and friends. Mary and Joe Gnizak of Adonai Acres are among the market regulars who keep area residents supplied with farm fresh produce and more.
Mary Gnizak is the farmer of the couple's 18-acre farm in Holmes County.
“Joe is my main builder and handyman,” she said. “I do the bulk of the growing and harvesting. He does the building and fixing. He is my biggest blessing, all-around good guy hero.”
The Gnizaks journey toward creating Adonai Acres began 39 years ago when they purchased the farmland. “We basically started out as homesteaders raising our own meat, eggs and food,” Mary Gnizak said.
The garden kept expanding, and Gnizak began to freeze or give away the excess. Without computers or social media, it was a challenge to find a farmers market. When she finally located one in Millersburg in 1994, it cost $3 to get in. “I wasn't sure we could afford that,” she said.
Finally, she did attend the market, bringing produce and her four children who ranged in age from 3-8. “From there I was hooked,” she said. That first year brought in $500.
Along with tending the animals and gardens, Gnizak home educated their children. What started as a homestead slowly became her full-time job.
The Gnizaks now grow primarily produce — specializing in greens and garlics. Mary Gnizak has always grown organically, though the farm is not certified organic. The largest growing areas are under cover, using raised beds in tunnels.
“I like the variety of growing different produce, herbs and fruits my family uses and introducing people to produce they may not have ever tried or known about,” Gnizak said. “The greens are lovely since there are so many varieties and ways to use them. They are also so healthy for you. The garlics roped me in with their variety of flavor choices. I love trying new and unusual things.”
Adonai Acres sells at the Downtown Wooster Farmers Market May through October and year round at Local Roots Market and Cafe, also in Wooster. The farm also offers a community supported agriculture program. A CSA connects a farm to a consumer through a subscription process. A fee is paid at the start of the growing season, allowing members of the community to support the farm and share the risks and benefits of food production. The consumer then receives a share of the farm crops during the duration of the subscription, reaping the benefit in a bountiful growing season and sharing the loss if there should be a lean week or season.
Gnizak explained how making purchases from small farms is what keeps them in business. She said there also is a social, interactive, community piece to shopping local.
“Small businesses and local markets are a great place to meet like-minded people and find connections and interests that intersect to grow into relationships that make us happy to see familiar faces when our paths cross,” she said. “That is something you just can't put a price on, but it means a lot to me.”
She also shared how raising a family on the farm taught many life lessons to her children such as how to work in the gardens and with animals, learning math, interacting with people of all ages, and learning the value of helping others and the value of follow-through and having a good work ethic.
Gnizak described a long, arduous journey with the hard work of farming.
“I think each farm faces challenges every year,” she said. “There are weeds, deer and other wildlife, and growing challenges of the weather, problems finding labor and things in need of repair.”
Starting from scratch with no farming background meant learning along the way and very slowly adding equipment to make the jobs easier.
“We grew as we could afford it,” Gnizak said. “My first fruit trees were put in before we had running water. I had to carry it uphill from the creek across the street. It would have been great to start where we are now, but it was a good journey and we learned a lot along the way.”
Adonai Acres offers CSA shares in an early, main and late season offering with both full and half shares available. CSA pickup is offered at Local Roots Market and Cafe on Tuesdays, at the farm, or at the Downtown Wooster Farmers Market during the main season on Saturday mornings. Email Gnizak for more information or to subscribe at praisetohimgnizak@gmail.com. There are no direct sales or drop-ins at the farm itself.
Gnizak explained how things have changed over the years for those getting started in farming.
“When I started, there was only the Organic Gardening and Farming magazine,” she said. “Now there is a great network of farmers, books, podcasts, YouTube videos and more. When I got my first tunnel, I had to quit doing winter growing since there was no one interested in buying anything grown local. What a change.
“I like the aspect of when you buy local you get to know the faces of the farmers you deal with and build a real connection. (That's) not something that you can do on social media. I think more people are interested in eating healthier and actively look for markets and freshness and come back noticing the difference in flavor and keeping quality of their purchases.”
Thanks to farms like Adonai Acres and farmers like Gnizak, there is a local bounty available.