The sky’s the limit at JP’s Farmers Market in Hunker, Westmoreland County, where Joel Milowicki offers a vast – and growing – selection of fresh produce, meat and other specialty products. Being PA Preferred® has helped Milowicki reach more people with his farm-fresh, Pennsylvania-grown products and ingredients.
We chatted with Milowicki about what it’s like to farm in Pennsylvania, what crops he’s known for and agricultural areas where he’s looking to expand. Read our Q&A below to learn all about JP’s Farmers Market:
PA Eats: Could you tell us a bit about yourself and what you grow?
Joel Milowicki: I’m a fourth generation farmer. We were dairy farmers and I got into produce in 2016. Then in 2017 we decided to plant fruit trees, so we planted a small peach orchard with grapevines. In 2022, we actually purchased Simon’s Apple Orchard and made it into an LLC. We kept Simon’s name and my wife and I operate it with our business partner, Joe Simon.
Pretty much, if you can grow in Pennsylvania, we grow it. We grow strawberries, blueberries and we’re planting blackberries. We specialize in melons, specifically watermelon and cantaloupes. We grow canary melons, honey dew cantaloupes and Crenshaw melons, too. In Pennsylvania, sugar sells.
We also grow a fair amount of tomatoes and green beans. We are one of the largest producers of red beets in PA. The first year, we planted about half an acre. I never thought we’d be planting 15 acres of red beets. We also grow sweet corn, potatoes, garlic, onions, cucumbers, eggplant, all kinds of hot and sweet banana peppers, bell peppers, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkins, squash and more. We also make all kinds of jarred goods.
We raise black Angus beef and Suffolk crossed sheep and sell beef and lamb. I also raise laying hens. We have chickens and sell our own eggs. There are a couple of beekeepers here, too, and we sell the honey that comes from the farm and orchard.
The whole family is involved. From time to time, my father makes homemade soup. He was an executive chef. My uncle raises the beef and my mother, my wife and I help him with that. I have three small children and they all have chores that they do around here. Sometimes, they sit out front of the market selling lemonade or decorating pumpkins.
What are your top products?
We’re known for watermelons, peaches and sweetcorn. Watermelons are something that people didn’t believe I could grow in Pennsylvania. We actually did a tour and showed them that we do grow watermelons, and that made a big difference. If I could just grow peaches and watermelons, that’s what I’d grow. But, we grow about 30 acres of sweet corn. People around us have been growing sweetcorn for 40 years, so it’s taking a little bit of time to get customers who are willing to try ours, too. But I do see it coming around.
As far as top sellers and profit, sweetcorn is number one, tomatoes are number two, watermelons are number three and red beets are number four.
What do you have in store for the future?
I’m looking forward to trying to get into more and more fruit production. We keep building high tunnels and greenhouses. We’re also talking about planting some more fruit trees like apricots and plums.
We’re going to venture into growing more flowers, as well. My mom was a florist for 40 years and she’s retired, so we’re going to venture into doing some cut flowers and some dried straw flowers and that type of thing, and that will be her baby.
What makes growing produce in Pennsylvania special, and what are the challenges?
The hardest thing for us with production is animal damage. If there was one thing that would help vegetable and fruit producers, it would be some type of assistance with putting up permanent fencing to keep the deer out. I planted 2,500 apple trees over at the orchard. I had a little over 500 of them destroyed – broken off at the ground – by the deer.
It can be nice that our growing season in Pennsylvania is a short season. You can really concentrate and do a very good job, turn out a quality product and then, when the cold weather settles in, have a few months break from it. I think it just makes you a better grower. The general public appreciates that you have a short growing season. They’re more willing to spend and buy, knowing it’s only a short window that we can get these watermelons or strawberries. With PA-grown products, there are about three months that are really strong for produce.
I also see that there are a lot of younger generations starting to want to learn about ways they can get a product that doesn’t have as many preservatives, chemicals and additives. While I’m not organic, I use the bare minimum in my spray programs. I have small children that are out in the field, wanting to eat this stuff, too. I don’t want them out there with the most harmful products. So we really try to go with a minimal approach.
Besides being PA Preferred, what sets you apart from other farmers and growers?
Well, I don’t let anything alone and I try to do my very best. I also think I was born a salesman and my skills of being able to sell things really helps me out.
Another thing is location, location, location. My little store is located between Greensburg, Mount Pleasant, Scottdale, Youngwood and New Stanton, all within about 4 to 5 miles from us. It’s nice to be close enough to the consumer that they don’t have to drive 45 minutes to get here.
The other thing that sets us apart is that a lot of people in this business purchase produce and resell it. I grow this stuff. We do videos online, where you can see me driving my green bean harvester or out in the corn field. My goal with those is to educate the public on what we’re doing.
I knew from an early age that I was going to farm. I just didn’t know what kind until I fell in love with produce farming. So, it’s more than just a job to me. It’s a lifestyle. And the best part is that my wife, who does not come from a farming family, is very intelligent and a very good bookkeeper. She keeps the bills paid and the household running, which in turn lets me do a good job with the produce. We work together as a team. And, she doesn’t always like to admit it, but she fell in love with it, too.
Find JP’s Farmers Market at 412 Brinker Rd., Hunker; (724) 396-9220.
This series was created in collaboration with PA Preferred.
PA Preferred® is Pennsylvania’s statewide branding program that promotes locally grown and processed food and other agricultural products.
- Photos: JP's Farmers Market
