Tracy. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Time for another installment of one of our most favorite blog series: the Employee Spotlight! We hope that these interviews will help acquaint you with the folks on the farm who are largely responsible for keeping the delicious JBG vegetables rolling out, week after week.

This week, we tracked down our ubiquitous and very hard-working Barn Manager, Tracy Whitehead. Over the past two years, he has become immensely integral to every part of operations here at JBG. Whether it be communication from the main farm to the barn or wholesale department, triple-checking produce availability, managing farm folks, or figuring out novel ways to ameliorate and expedite barn procedure more efficiently, Tracy has his hands in most steps of the process of getting veggies from the farm to your plate. He has gone through an evolution of roles at the barn: Wash Crew Lead, Cooler Manager, and most currently, Barn Manager. He's quite a character, and we are oh so grateful to have him on our team. Learn more about Tracy below!

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in small towns all around Abilene, TX. From middle school to high school I stayed in a little town of about 600 people called Hawley. Go Bearcats!

What brought you to JBG?

I have been managing small scale farms for the past 6 years. Before that, I helped churches and small programs grow food for food banks, and programs to feed the needy through food banks and donation programs. The one thing I felt I was missing was learning how it all came together on a larger scale. From learning how to crop plan and grow for large scale providers, to learning how to work and manage a large group of people to make all the different aspects of a farm work smoothly. My aim is to round out the last bit of my skill set before I make an attempt to run a farm on my own.

Tracy's dash. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What is your current role at JBG?

I currently fill the role of Barn Manager at our Hergotz location. I compile and send the Pick List to the farm each morning. This is what let's our Harvest Manager, Vicente, know what to pick for all our department's daily needs. After that, I facilitate the main communication between the farm and the barn. This can range anywhere from quality and availability issues with produce, to ensuring materials are promptly shipped between locations as needed. I assist all our departmental leads in planning out work loads based on produce availability and other events we have going on throughout the week such as markets and wholesale distribution. Afterwards, I help the barn and the farm keep its produce rotated and organized throughout the coolers. I take weekly farm visits to go over with Vicente and Becky our availability for the following weeks as well as better fine tune what crops are in demand or not. This allows our sales teams, markets, and CSA to create an amazing range of produce for our customers. From there, I help create processes and workflows that range from ways to pack and handle produce more efficiently, all the way to making sure we are as up to date as possible on health and safety standards. There is much more, but the day really is a blur! With farming there is always so much to do in a day.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What have you learned from your role?

More than one sitting would allow me to explain! One of the most important things I've learned is how to interact and facilitate a wide range of personalities. With such a large farm/family, it really is important taking the time to understand people's strengths and weaknesses and finding a constructive and positive way to set them up to succeed. I've learned from Krishna how to breathe, calm down, and not be so fiery when conflicts arise. I've learned how to better depend on other's strengths to accomplish even larger goals.

What's your favorite thing about working at the barn?

The people. I have a burning passion for farming and educating people on areas they want to learn and improve. Many of the folks here started working because they felt a need to reconnect with the Earth and our food. I love the opportunity to give them insight on how it all comes together. Sometimes the barn can be distanced from the farm due to location. Many here simply see the produce at it's final stage. I love being able to give them insight on the entire picture and how it came to be. I look forward to seeing their faces each day and discussing what wacky tasks we have to try and solve that day. Not to mention the constant supply of good food, humor and music!

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

What does your life look like off the farm?

Well outside of being a full-time farmer, I am a full-time father. I have a beautiful 4-year old daughter and a handsome 2-year old son. Most of my time is spent with them, trying to raise two positive impacts on our planet. My daughter loves crafts and planting seeds, so we spend a lot of time coming up with cool little projects. My son is just learning to talk, so a lot of time is spent with him learning the basics. When I'm not doing that I try to decompress by playing some video games (which strangely enough entail micro managing farms and people)!!

Tracy and his kiddos. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Photo by Scott David Gordon.

Do you cook a lot? What’s cookin’ in your kitchen?

Cooking and hosting is probably one of my most favorite things to do. This is probably one of the reasons I love farming so much. Things are so much tastier when you have put your own blood, sweat, and tears into them. I love various ways of cooking and processing meat, especially wild game. BBQ is one of my favorite things, but I have dabbled in just about everything. Cooking is like an art to me, and I am very much about presentation, taste, colors, and how they all go together. Many friends and family have pressed me to pursue a culinary career... maybe one day! The weather is just about right to start a slow smoked ham I think.

What might people be surprised to learn about you?

Hmm... maybe that I can sing just about every Disney princess song? Or maybe that I know all the My Little Ponies by cutie marks... Or maybe that before I really started pursuing farming I worked for one of the largest video game companies for 7 years? Actually, I think when people find out my age, that is the most surprising thing to them.

What’s your favorite and least favorite crops to deal with and why?

My favorite would be cucumbers, because I love pickles so, so much!! My least favorite would probably be okra, I like to call it the "Devil's Plant." It is so much work from start to finish. You have to harvest it's spiny fruit almost every day through a mass of prickly and itchy plant stalks. Afterwards you have to handle the itchy things as your packing. Not to mention, I am not a fan of the slimy taste.

What’s your favorite season?

Texas summer!! I love the heat so much. Nothing like working out in the heat, sweating all the toxins and stress of your day away. I never feel cleaner inside and out than I do in summer. Everything is alive and booming during this time. Some of the best vegetables of the year come from this season: tomatoes, peppers, melons and more! Also, nothing like relaxing in the shade, enjoying a nice ice-cold beer after a long, hard, hot day.

Enjoying that beer. Photo by Scott David Gordon.

If you were stuck on a desert island, and could only have three things, what would they be?

1. A very high quality pair of waterproof work boots
2. a Gerber Multi Tool
3. Maybe some durable plastic to create water from condensation? You can make just about everything else you need.

Staff Survey: If Tracy were a vegetable, what would he be and why?

Krishna: Celery - strong stalks to pull the load in the cooler!

Ada: A carrot - he's become as integral to our operations as our carrot crop. We grow so many carrots, and they can often be spotted in all corners of the farm - every cooler, sales of every department, usually some in the compost bin and a pile on Krishna's desk. Kinda like Tracy. He's everywhere. Anatomically, he's not too far either... lean and skinny (like one of our rainbow varieties) with some poof on top.

Mike Mo: Shishito - they/he are mild with the potential to be fiery.

Ryan: Tracy's like a beet--earthy and sweet and something you can depend on year round.

We're thinkin' Tracy will do just fine on that desert island... he's quite a resourceful one. A huge thanks to Tracy for taking time out of his immensely busy schedule to talk with us! 'Til next time, folks!