Growing Local: Decatur’s Kinky Turtle Farm Has Vegetables And Fruit, Not Turtles

by Jen Jeffrey
posted January 7, 2012

Where are the turtles? John Fausch of the Kinky Turtle Farm in Decatur in Meigs County was asked immediately. He replied, No turtles, just vegetables and fruit.

He explained the name of his farm came about from a verse in the Bible and an old hymn:

1 Timothy 1:17 New International Version (NIV)

17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

John loved the joke about a child coming home from church telling that they had learned about The Kinky Turtle – (King Eternal).

Whenever he sang the hymn Lead on oh King Eternal in church, he would sing the words Lead on oh Kinky Turtle. His wife, Debbie, couldnt get that out of her head when she heard him sing that song. She decided the name of their business had to be Kinky Turtle Farms.

John and Debbie Fausch live on 10 acres and grow acre of produce by themselves. They are organic and sustainable growers. John was in the Air Force for 20 years and then went into sales for another 20 years selling ATVs, motorcycles and boats.

When he was laid off three years ago, he decided to try his hand at growing vegetables. He and Debbie tripled the size of their garden. We became the pepper kings; we have the hottest peppers-super hot!

John is most proud of his peppers and his fig trees. I dont know of anyone else that sells figs at the farmers markets. They are hard to grow.

John will plant more fig trees and hopes that people will be interested in coming to his farm and buying some of the started trees. He has a Facebook page for the farm and will post information about purchasing them.

The Fauschs sell their produce to the Bradley County Farmers Market on Peerless Road in Cleveland as well as 5 Points Market on 2nd Street in Cleveland.

John has a fig tree that has the perfect spot on his farm. The others grow normally, but the one that thrives is in a corner away from the wind and it is protected from the elements.

Other produce grown at Kinky Turtle includes tomatoes, sweet peppers, pears, cucumbers, asparagus, beets, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, squash, carrots, beans and okra. I pick okra while it is still young; that makes them a good size for canning, John says.

We also specialize in cherry tomatoes. They are hard to grow and not a lot of people like to grow them.

John has countless recipes he likes to share regarding the produce that he grows. I was in Vietnam when I was in the Air Force and learned about many flavors over there.

To ward off insects, John does not use chemicals. He instead uses methods placing certain plants in his crop that stave off the harmful pests. He also depends on the good insects that eat the foes. We plant radishes because they repel a lot of the bad bugs, John explains.

Debbie adds, We plant marigolds, which repel the bean beetles, so we plant them with the beans.

John said, We also plant flowers to bring bees. We need bees to pollinate.

John has a compost pile where he recycles everything unused. We compost everything. A neighbor of mine will be bringing over some leaves this week and we will mulch them.

We put mulch on what we grow – its organic and will eventually become soil. It repels certain bugs and retards weeds. Some people go out and buy mulch – I will never do that. I use the compost as my fertilizer too.

Something unique that he will grow this year is Hungarian Wax Peppers. John says they are really unique in the way they taste. You start eating from the bottom and its mild, but it gets hotter and hotter as you get to the end.

He will also grow The Star of David Okra. When you slice it open, the shape is like the Star of David. The texture of this okra is more fibrous.

KT Farm relies on a spring from the Moon Slew Creek nearby. John has built a pump house and he brings the fresh water through the pump so there are no chemicals in the water they use, which adds to the idea of being organic.

One of his favorite things to make is a cucumber-tomato dish where he slices cucumbers and tomatoes, adds virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic and onions and lets it sit overnight.

As a small child, growing up in Wisconsin, John had the traditional dreams wanting to be a policeman or fireman, but as a teenager he wanted to enlist in the Air Force, which is what he did.

John declares, The farm is more of a ministry than anything else. God has provided for Debbie and me and given us a means in which to reach others.

To reach John and Debbie Fausch for garden-fresh recipes or to purchase their produce, you may find them on Facebook; or call 423/280-1539 or visit the Cleveland Farmers Market and 5 Points Market also in Cleveland.

Jen Jeffrey

[email protected]

View Photo: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14
Baby fig trees
Beans and okra
Beans, heirloom tomatoes, banana peppers and cucumbers
Burgundy beans
Celeste figs
Compost pile
Fall onions
Fresh okra and tomatoes cooking
Kinky Turtle Farm
Pears
Starting seeds
The Kinky Turtle
Turnip
Winter cabbage

Fruit and vegetables with Bill & Sheila
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