Since 2003, Jim Thomas Jr., his wife, Rose, and Jim Thomas Sr. of Share-Life Farms have brought their certified organic vegetables, fruit, and eggs to the summer and winter Columbia Farmers Market.
Since 2003, Jim Thomas Jr., his wife, Rose, and Jim Thomas Sr. of Share-Life Farms have brought their certified organic vegetables, fruit, and eggs to the summer and winter Columbia Farmers Market.
“This is a good retail market for us,” Jim Jr. said. “Many of our customers buy most of their groceries at the market during the season. We really enjoy providing high-quality food that our customers appreciate.”
Jim Jr. has been farming since the 1970s. The farm has been chemical free since the early 1990s, and Share-Life Farms has been USDA certified organic since 2004. Jim Jr. turned to organic practices on the farm after Rose’s health was compromised from overexposure to farm chemicals, he said. Her health improved “when we began to eat our own organic vegetables.”
Part-time employees help Jim Jr. with the planting and the harvesting on five acres of the family’s 120-acre farm in Marshall. They grow in two high tunnels and a small greenhouse.
“We raise a wide variety of vegetables,” Jim Jr. said. That includes spinach, asparagus, berries, and seven varieties of kale. From May through October, Share-Life offers Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares in Marshall and Columbia.
Share-Life Farms also sells organic produce to Barred Owl Butcher & Table, Café Berlin, Main Squeeze, Clovers Natural markets, Range Free, Nourish Café, and Broadway Brewery. In addition, the Thomas family works with After the Harvest, a hunger-relief nonprofit organization that provides healthy, fresh food to people in need in Missouri and Kansas as well as donates to its local food pantry.
