农业+生活方式

法国人的蓝调

发布于2022年3月1日12:00 AM

考虑到他的利益, one might say former Atlanta Brave Jeff “Frenchy” Francoeur is well rounded. The story of how he went from the right field to the farm field starts with his father-in-law, 马尔科姆·麦科伊, 和朋友温·摩根. 

Malcolm and Winn met when Malcolm was working with IBM at the University of Georgia’s Corporate Relations Department. They had a hyper-local weather forecasting system and wanted to evaluate the impact it would have on blueberry farmers. 

“So, I had to go and find the blueberry farmers to talk to and get involved with. 我见过他们，我很喜欢他们，”马尔科姆说. “我们推出了这个项目, and the more I met the farmers and heard about the business, 我认为, 我真的很想做蓝莓生意.”

马尔科姆家有大约600英亩地, 他退休后, 他决定抓住这个务农的机会. That’s when he reached out to Winn, who, as it turns out, is a blueberry expert.

“My grandfather started growing blueberries in the late ‘70s,” Winn said. “Growing up, blueberries were really the crop I knew best.”

That’s a pretty humble telling of the tale, according to Malcolm.

“I tell people that Jeff and I invested in a blueberry farm, but we honestly invested in this guy because he’s grown blueberries all over the world. 他过去经营的是1,占地500英亩, gigantic blueberry farm in Mexico and I say he’s one of the top five experts in blueberries globally,马尔科姆说。.

Once Malcolm realized he could make his blueberry farm idea come true, 他联系了他的女婿，试探他的兴趣. That was in 2015, and at the time, Jeff was playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.

“He called me and said, ‘Hey do you want to come down and check this farm out? 你想种植60英亩的蓝莓吗?“嗯，我开始研究蓝莓. 我对他们一无所知, but I came down here and saw this piece of property and fell in love with it,杰夫说.

And so, Major League Blueberries was born in Nicholls, Georgia.

尽管他们欣然承认，是温在“掌控一切”,” Malcolm enjoys lending “moral support” while he’s at the farm. Jeff balances his time between broadcasting for the Atlanta Braves, 照顾家人，开拖拉机.

“任何到这里来的人, 我总是告诉他们，你必须上拖拉机, 你得开几个小时的车. 没有电话，没有人打扰你，只管打开音乐. 有一种平和的感觉，”杰夫说. “首先，我喜欢户外活动. Between golf, coaching my kids and running, I love being outside. When you come down here, there’s something about connecting with the earth. Seeing these plants start so small and then they’re 8 feet tall during harvest and have 7 or 8 pounds on them — to experience that, 它让你的心脏跳动起来. 我爱你的每一秒.”

But to make it to harvest takes a lot of hard work and dedication.

“有很多工作要做. We have to do everything by hand, but we get it done somehow,” Winn said. “我认为我最喜欢的农业部分是作物. Growing up with the crop and seeing how genetics have improved through the years, 闻到它, there’s something about being connected to the land and earth, and there’s something about being connected to your food — getting your senses involved with food. 这让我在早上开始工作.”

尽管这是一场感官盛宴, Malcolm said being a farmer requires self-reliance and dedication.

“我认为最大的惊喜是现实, 如果你是一个农民, you’re responsible for anything and everything that happens on the farm. 你也找不到真正能帮你的人. 你必须自力更生. 如果它坏了，你就得修好它，”马尔科姆说. “So, the picture of the farmers driving on the tractors in the bright sunshine — the guy who’s really making it happen is back at the office making all the phone calls, 支付所有账单. The guy on the tractor has got the best part of the job.”

If you ask Winn, driving the tractor is something Malcolm enjoys a little too much.

“Yeah, Malcom will get back and is just covered in dirt. 他一直在外面拖拖拉拉什么的, and I’m jealous because I really want to be in those shoes. And so, I invite him back to the spreadsheets,” Winn said with a laugh.

“然后我必须回来。”马尔科姆补充道. “但后来我想，‘我不能再坐在这里了. 我有三个小时的阳光. I’ve got to at least go get on a tractor and enjoy this before we go back to the spreadsheets!“而农业就是一门生意, but it is a business that you are responsible for and you’ve got to live with. 所以，有压力. 你得有个好收成. You’ve got to make sure your costs are under control and that at the end of the day, you’re going to make your bank payments and make money you’re going to live on. 所以，这是小菜一碟吗? No! 这是你一生中最难做的事情之一.”

Realizing that farming is a serious undertaking is one of the biggest lessons Malcolm has learned.

“现实是, you’re running a multimillion-dollar business every day by the decisions that you’re making,他说. 这些决定可能是好的，也可能是坏的. And they’re going to impact your ability to produce fruit and to make an income.”

It’s a way of life that they feel the younger generation is not connected with.

“A lot of the farms in our country are going out of business, and the ones that aren’t going out of business are sending their kids to be in other professions. The part that concerns me is our future generations not farming,” Winn said. “人们已经完全脱离了食物. 你去商店，看到蓝莓, 你看草莓, 你看到树莓, 你把它们放在你的马车里. Very rarely do you look at the label to see where they’re from. And so, there’s that disconnect between people and where their food comes from.”

他干这行已经七年了, the hard work of farmers and the disconnect with consumers is something Jeff will never take for granted.

“It’s very fulfilling when you go to the grocery store and you see people buying your blueberries and buying what you’ve done, 努力工作. But like anything, at the end of the day, it is a business,杰夫说. “我认为有一件事很酷, 或者是巨大的满足感, is the challenge that every day you come here there might be something new on the farm. But I feel like by 7:30 that night, we’ve conquered it. We’ve picked our berries and we can sit out here on the porch, watch the sun go down in this beautiful field and realize, 这真是糟糕的一天.”