Customer Feature: Gritt’s Farm (Putnam County, W. Va.)

“Being fresh, growing local and embracing family” is the mission of Gritt’s Farm, a multi-generational farming operation and agritourism venue located in the Kanawha Valley of West Virginia. The farm primarily offers fresh produce and plants, in addition to seasonal events and on-farm experiences for the community to enjoy.

What started as a dairy and produce farm in 1927 has grown and changed a bit over the years, but the commitment to family and producing high quality products have not wavered. Bob Gritt (pictured below) is the third generation of the Gritt family to own and operate Gritt’s Farm. His sons, Bobby and Brad, are the fourth generation to be involved with the farm.

Following the passing of Bob’s father, Lee, in 1986, Bob took over the operation. At the time, greenhouse-grown flowers and tobacco were the farm’s primary offerings. Bob decided to stop growing tobacco and focus more on produce and flowers. As a means to promote flower sales, he had the idea to start a small pick-your-own pumpkin patch to get customers out to the farm. This was the family’s first taste of agritourism, which proved to be quite successful and as a result, has expanded greatly over the years.

Today, agritourism continues to be a key aspect of the Gritts’ business. Each season looks a little different for Gritt’s Farm. In the spring, Gritt’s Farm recently started growing tulips and offering a spring festival, in addition to the flowers and vegetables grown hydroponically in the greenhouses. In the summer, Gritt’s Farm offers field-grown produce and flower picking, in addition to hosting farm-to-table dinners (pictured below). In the fall, visitors enjoy the “Fun Farm,” which includes a corn maze, pumpkin patch, corn slide, apple cannons and more agriculture-related activities for the whole family. The Gritts are also growing Christmas trees, which they planted three years ago, but because of the growing time, it will likely be another two years before those are ready to be cut down for customers.

In addition to the agritourism offerings, the Gritts grow a segment of their produce crop using a method called hydroponics, which is a technique for growing plants in a water-based nutrient solution rather than soil. Gritt’s Farm has over an acre of hydroponic tomato production, from traditional red tomatoes to heirloom and cherry tomatoes. They also grow a variety of other produce crops in a more traditional manner outdoors, including cantaloupes, cucumbers, squash, cabbage, green beans, strawberries and pumpkins, which occupy more than 100 acres on the farm. Around 5-10% of their production goes to the wholesale market, while the rest is sold directly to consumers at local farmers markets, roadside stands and at the farm.

Bob shared that keeping up with the times and continuing to evolve have been challenging for Gritt’s Farm. “Change is hard, but a business has to adapt to succeed,” said Bob. Automation has changed and streamlined many aspects of the business, but labor needs remain paramount to keeping the operation running smoothly as the farm has grown. 

This fall, the weather proved challenging for Gritt’s Fun Farm, as it was hot early in the season, followed by a rainy and wet period. The farm grows 30 acres of pumpkins but their crop couldn’t meet consumer demand and sold out within the first week, due to lower yields caused by the severe drought they faced over the summer. The Gritts ended up buying pumpkins to supplement their crop, since they still received many visitors to the farm looking to buy pumpkins. The second half of the Fun Farm season was much better than the first, offering more pleasant fall weather, so the Gritts saw a healthy turnout of 3,000-4,000 people per day. Great turnouts can create their own set of logistical challenges, as parking 4,000 people in a field can be difficult. The Gritts remain dedicated to improving their operation and offerings in order to provide their guests with the best experience possible at the farm.

Bob is appreciative of his Farm Credit loan officer, Ryan Vaughn, who is very numbers-oriented. He shared, “Farm Credit understands what my needs are and what comes with farming, which makes working with them a lot easier. The loan officers deal with many farmers, so they know what other producers are experiencing and they understand the challenges I’m facing.”

Looking to the future, Bob hopes to keep Gritt’s Farm strong and active throughout the year, whether they continue to expand their agritourism offerings and events, or increase their produce and flower production. Since much of their business is seasonal, Bob said they try to have something going on at the farm in all seasons to sustain their workforce. He’s interested in starting a pick-your-own strawberry patch, but they don’t currently own land suitable for that sort of crop and farmland for high-value crops is getting more and more scarce.

When asked what advice he’d give to young or beginning farmers looking to get their start in agritourism, Bob shared that being aware of the many safety precautions is critical. Ensuring all activities are safe and thinking through all risks and possible outcomes are key to running a successful agritourism operation. Something else for folks to keep in mind when considering this as a side hustle or career path is that agritourism operations are very hands-on and labor-intensive, and most of the work is done on the weekends and holidays. As challenging as agritourism can be, Bob said it can be very rewarding, too. “We want to make people happy when they come to the farm, and we want to make sure they’re satisfied with the products they get from Gritt’s Farm. We pride ourselves on making sure people have a good experience and treating them right so they’ll want to come back year after year.”

This story was published in the Winter 2024 Leader Magazine. Access the full magazine (digital version) HERE.