Being on the farm is all Jason Snyder ever wanted.
Even now, Jason, 50, clearly remembers his happiest moments growing up on his family’s produce farm near Kempton in eastern Pennsylvania. The farm rests in a valley in the Blue Mountain ridge area of the northern Appalachian Mountains, and the Appalachian Trail runs right near the Snyder farm, making for picturesque views for Jason as he was initiated into the farm life.
“The farm was everything for us,” Jason said. “We got up, we had our chores, things to do. We didn’t have a lot of time for play. When we came home from school, we were swept right away to work to wash produce, package it, size it, weigh it, and get it ready to ship. After that, we’d go do our school work, go to bed, and pretty much start over again.”
Jason’s grandfather, Charles, purchased the original farm in 1940 and raised potatoes and dairy cattle. When Jason’s father, Ronald, later partnered into the operation, their primary crop became tomatoes, though they had a fair mix of other produce products like peppers.