Crafting an heirloom KC man finds new way of life on Milo organ

MILO, Mo. -- Dan May walks out to his greenhouse in the morning, stokes up his wood-burning stove and surveys the status of his Russian ox hearts, boxcar Willies, green pineapples, Aunt Ginny's purples, Italian sweets and mortgage lifters.

Although much of the collection sounds like an Olympic team, it is actually just a sample of the many types of heirloom tomatoes he grows on his organic farm.

May, who has been raising heirloom-variety vegetables for the past seven years, sells most of his produce to five-star restaurants in Kansas City. He said chefs at restaurants such as Lydia's, Cafe Sebastian and Joe D's tell him which varieties of vegetables they want at the beginning of the growing season and he grows them according to their order.

Many of his tomato seeds are imported from Europe. The vegetables are chosen not only for what he considers to be a superior taste but also because they look beautiful on the table.

"The colors are really brilliant and range from a hot pink to a brilliant red," he said. Some of the tomatoes are bright green even after they ripen.

A vegetable called bright light Swiss chard, growing in the center of May's greenhouse, is neon yellow and vibrant green.

"When it's cooked up, it keeps that appearance," he said. He explained that heirloom varieties of vegetables produce seeds that continually grow the same product.

"Most of the commercial products today have been hybridized for disease resistance or shippability. Farms are going more toward shippability, tomatoes that will bounce but not bruise," he said.

He also raises a gourmet spring salad mix which includes 16 varieties of greens.

Expects to do well

May, a certified organic farmer, follows a book of rules and his farm undergoes a rigorous inspection every year where both soil and plants are tested for any presence of pesticides or other chemicals. Compliance is sometimes difficult, but he believes it is worth the effort.

"I grow on 15 acres and I bet I'm buying the same amount of seed as a 100-acre farm," he said. He expects the farm to pay off with generous returns. "I expect to do $100,000 in gross revenue off these 15 acres," he said.

Before he moved to his Milo farm, he ran an organic lawn-care business in Kansas City.

"I got mugged with a baseball bat," he said. "I had to learn to walk and talk all over again, and I still don't read very well."

Dan, who has been active in Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, never did any farming before coming to Milo. He spent summers on his great-grandparents' farm helping to harvest hay and corn but that was the extent of his farming expertise.

"I never sat on a tractor, much less plowed," he said.

His neighbors have been very helpful in answering questions and giving advice about some of the technical aspects of farming. Dan sees much of the work he is doing as a spiritual commitment.

"I'm doing like my grandmother says. You need to build the soil because it's your future life," he said. "The best thing I can do is leave my children something valuable, and that's not money. That's good soil."