Sowing Seeds, Reaping Rewards

Ah, life is sweet at Clear Creek Farm! Ray Davis, a semi-retired financial services professional, is a Certified Instructor with Square Foot Gardening Foundation. Along with his wife of 50 years and co-partner, Wanda, Ray owns and operates Clear Creek Farm in Milton, Florida. The idyllic 30-acre farm is set just west of a US navy training field, and pilots regularly fly over the farm, tipping their wings to say hello.

A professor, Wanda Davis said she wanted something “less sedentary” for her and Ray to do in their “quasi retirement” years. An organic, working farm lifestyle was the answer. Blessed with a green thumb, Wanda is in charge of all of the growing aspects of the farm. Ray builds SFG boxes, arranges the compost piles, helps with making Mel’s Mix, moves large objects, harvests, maintains the micro-drip irrigations system, and makes produce deliveries. He also helps give tours and grafting demonstrations.

Growing Non-GMO, Heirloom Produce on 1.5 Acres
The couple grows and sells fruits, vegetables, mints, and herbs – from apples to zucchini – primarily in 30 SFG boxes with grids. The SFGs are placed on terraces for ease of maintenance and cover an area of about 1.5 acres of ground. They also have various service buildings, greenhouses, barns and high-tunnel shade houses on the high and dry property.  Said Ray, “The rest of the property is in orchards, pine, hardwood uplands, and a flowing creek floodplain. We have been carving the farm out of woods swamp and thickets for the last six years.”Specialty Crops are Made into Five-Star Recipes
“The restaurants love our mints, herbs, and baby carrots along with endive,  mesclun greens, and various lettuces.  Owner-chef, Frank Taylor, from the Global Grill in Pensacola, FL, and his sous chefs and head waiter, come to the farm to pick from time to time.  Frank always takes something we grow to the annual James Beard Competition in NYC when he goes. Last year, he bought Osaka Mustard to use with a trigger fish dish. This year, he chose rosemary spears to use as shish kabob spears to pin shrimp and scallops to a fish entree. Two years ago, Frank took our entire beet crop to render down the juice to stain risotto.  (You can read restaurant reviews at Urban Spoon.) When we started selling, it was to everyone we knew — one bag of snow peas, etc., at the time, and so I started cold calling local chef owners until I located the two or three we provide all our excess non-GMO, heirloom produce to now.” ~Ray Davis

Farm Tours and Eco-Tourism
Clear Creek Farm recently received rave reviews as a participant in the Santa Rosa County Farm Tour. More than 200 people descended upon the farm, while Ray and Wanda handed out flyers, gave demonstrations and tours. The couple also opens the farm to school tours with hands-on SFG demonstrations for kids. Ray said he and Wanda look to expand further into eco-farm touring in the future.

A Sustainable Farm with Solar Power and Rainwater Irrigation
Clear Creek Farm is a solar-powered, net-zero electrical cost operation. Ray said, “We catch and store rainwater and use it to fill our micro-drip irrigation reservoirs, which are warmed by the sun before delivering the water to the SF box grids with gravity flow.  We also have spring water that is used in four coils of geothermal pipe to warm the root zones in our two 10 x 30 foot shade houses in winter, and to provide cooling relief from the hot Florida sun in summer.”