It is the co-op’s vision to support and strengthen community connections with our local producers — so here are their stories! In this Meet Your Producer series, we will highlight our neighborhood farmers, ranchers and producers so you can see and hear what they’re all about.
Beats Per Minute Farms
Karen Bottary
Leavenworth, Kansas
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About the Farmers
For Karen Bottary, Beats Per Minute Farms is truly a culmination of her life’s experiences.
“I was raised a farmer’s daughter, I served my country. And now I do what I love: farming.”
Karen grew up on the land that she now owns and farms, in a family of dairy farmers. She’s the fourth generation to continue that tradition.
Karen owns Beats Per Minute Farms alongside her husband and a fellow veteran. While she also works full time for a CPA firm, the farm reflects a personal mission of giving back.
She envisioned a safe space for veterans with shared experiences, providing them an opportunity to contribute and earn a fair, working wage. Everyone has a unique role in the operation, from tending the plants, to delivery, to building the display stands used at their market and retail locations. Together they deliver more than 1,300 plants and 45 pounds of packaged basil each week to retail locations from St. Jo to Ottawa.
“We are a group of diverse disabled veterans from Leavenworth Kansas. Using our years of farming knowhow and military backbone we grow the tastiest, best looking, and most aromatic basil in the Kansas City Market today.”
About the Farm
Six acres of basil grow indoors in two boxes they call Farms, and Beats Per Minute is adding a third Farm this summer. Each Farm uses a different hydroponic system as they’ve learned what works well and adapted their practices. At any given moment they have over 10,000 plants in different stages of cultivation.
Karen emphasized the sustainability of this kind of controlled environment agriculture. Each Farm uses just 5 gallons of water per day, which circulates nutrients to all of the plants. She’s proudly committed to organic practices, never using herbicides or pesticides in the space. Instead, she introduces beneficial insects to control harmful pests.
“My dad never got to see this, figure out how we really could make a living. It’s different from dairy; we can control everything that goes into this. If something goes wrong, I can do things about it.”
