DOUGLAS, NE (KMTV) — Taylor and Suzy Rogers were restaurant workers in Omaha. He was a cook, and she was a bartender.
They saw their chef searching for better produce, and started growing microgreens in their Benson apartment. Eventually, the chef started buying them, and that led to the couple buying land in Douglas and starting the In Season farm. They work and live there with their young daughter Olivia.
"We were really inspired by our chef's relationship with local farmers coming to deliver to the kitchen," Suzy said.
As the couple started selling their produce, they saw there was a real desire for what they were doing.
"In the area we had a lot of restaurants that wanted our product, we had a lot of people that wanted it, and we just wanted to help fulfill that demand," Taylor said. "We saw a lot of people who wanted to eat healthier again, we saw a lot of people who wanted to start cooking again."
The Rogers say what sets them apart from mass produced vegetables is quality and nutrition.
"A carrot grown in sand is not nearly as nutritious as a carrot grown in compost," Taylor said. "All vegetables are that way. The way you know it is different is by taste. The more sugar a plant is putting off, the more nutritionally valued it is. And so, when you taste a carrot that is sweeter or a tomato that is sweeter, there's a reason, and it's because it is better for you."
In Season sells to more than 20 restaurants in the Omaha area, as well as at several local farmers markets.
They also had a very millennial way of learning how to farm, turning to Instagram and YouTube, where they say a lot of young farmers exchange ideas and advise.
They are both setting a trend, and bucking a trend. While there are more Millennials doing what they are doing across the country, the number of small family farms and farmers are going down, not up.
But, Taylor and Suzy say that with a lot of hard work, and the support of family and friends, they are making it, even if some of the people they know were skeptical at first.
"Lately, we've gotten a lot of 'you've proved me wrong' kind of thing," Suzy said. "It feels good".
