Agriculture + Lifestyle
From Crops to Pops, King of Pops
Posted on March 14, 2019 12:00 AM
When word sprouts up that the world’s first popsicle farm was planted, grown and cultivated in Georgia, you lend a listening ear and a curious green thumb.
在《十大靠谱网赌官方平台》在联合创始人Steven和Nick Carse的脑海中还只是一个想法, 这对兄弟创办了一家源于天意和严肃创新的企业.
“流行天王始于2010年，但这个想法可以追溯到更早的时候，”史蒂文·卡斯解释道. “My oldest brother is an anthropologist, and at that time he was doing his field work in Latin America. When I would go down to visit him, which was pretty regularly, we took a liking to paletas, which is basically the Spanish word for popsicle. 它们的味道非常有趣，而且是用新鲜的食材做成的, typically native to wherever we were. 我们会特意去找调色板，所以我在大学期间就爱上了这个产品.”
As time passed, 这些富有想象力的地方性冰棒的甜美和美味的味道又悄悄回到了史蒂文的脑海里，他开始幻想着可以做这样的生意.
“我被公司解雇了，于是决定试一试冰棒的想法. One of the reasons I hadn’t done it before is because it seemed too risky, 但失去工作变成了最难得的机会，让我抓住机会，全身心投入,” Steven said.
Within just a few months, Nick left behind suits, 和他的律师生涯一起加入史蒂文成为流行音乐之王的第二名员工.
Growing roots in Georgia
公司的信念体系和阳光的性格是他们自身和周围人的延伸. The Carse brothers want to make people happy, 想要提供一种美味的资源意识产品，并希望在他们的家乡乔治亚州引起改变.
“Early on, we wrote a vision for our company. 在这个过程中，我们想到的一件事是，我们想成为当地美食界的影响者, and also know and be a part of our community. 我们有发展的愿望，但希望这样做是有目的和有意义的，”史蒂文说. “We, as a company, want our impact to be realized by being positive food influencers, 无情的社区支持者，最重要的是，她带来了意想不到的幸福时刻.”
With roots firmly embedded in Georgia, 史蒂文和尼克知道在其他地方释放他们的梦想是没有意义的.
“我们想把业务设在哪里，或者我们想把时间花在哪里，这从来都不是问题. Being in our home state was obvious,” Steven said. “我们的第一个推车位置离尼克住的地方大约半英里，离我当时住的地方大约半英里. We are intimately familiar with the area. We knew the folks that ran the businesses and the neighbors. 我想有时人们会忘记，当你开始做一件事时，100或200个人试图帮助你，却能带来如此巨大的不同. That was really valuable.”
The growth of King of Pops has been inherently grassroots. From asking customers for flavor ideas, 让他们的父母付出血汗，让他们朋友的孩子暑期打工, what came next was an all-hands-on-deck operation.
Stephen Dobek, left, Nick Carse, center, Steven Carse, right.
Growing crops for their pops
Just four years after starting the business, King of Pops wanted to experiment with growing produce and farming. They were already sourcing their ingredients from the southeast region, primarily Georgia, 但我想成为这个过程的一部分，跟随他们的产品从作物到pop.
“We started King of Crops for a couple of reasons. 最直接的原因是，我们想为我们的老爷们种植一些美味的农产品. That’s still the focus out there today. Along with that, 我们觉得我们有机会，也有责任把钱花在当地农业上. We talk about it a lot in sustainability. We wanted to be a part of that movement so we could talk about it firsthand.
“Lastly ... we have a fun brand. 当你拥有一个有趣的品牌时，你可以谈论一些其他人可能不太接受的事情. For example, 如果我们和一群三年级的学生谈论堆肥，并向他们展示你的食物垃圾是如何制成这种神奇的堆肥的，然后可以帮助种植草莓来制作冰棒——这是一个强有力的故事,” Steven explained.
Nestled between Ga. 166 and Post Road in Winston, about 30 miles west of Atlanta, 当兄弟俩购买了大约70英亩的农田时，一个新的想法变成了现实, which had previously been operated as a nursery. Now, with plans in motion, hiring a farmer was the next step.
From office walls to open spaces
斯蒂芬·多贝克(Stephen Dobek)是纽约本地人，后来移居芝加哥，他对农业的永不满足的好奇心驱使他来到南方. Currently, he’s the managing farmer at King of Crops.
“I was living in Chicago at the time just working in an office, 仅仅是去农贸市场就对农业产生了兴趣, buying food and talking to people. 我开始读书，做研究，然后基本上掉进了兔子洞. 这真的是关于你每天都可以指着或触摸到的物理东西, having that yardstick to measure your progress. ... It’s very fulfilling to have that, and I think a lot of people lack that in their jobs now,” said Dobek.
Wanting to leave behind the bustle of a large city, in 2012 Dobek decided to follow his parents, who had recently retired to South Carolina. 在一个农场开始的一般劳动很快转变为在一个300英亩的多元化家庭农场为期一年的实习. From there, Dobek moved to Louisiana to manage livestock, and then to Morgan County, Georgia, to raise cattle, grow vegetables and plant a fruit orchard.
在南乔治亚州的几个农场和一段时间里，多贝克最终在2018年3月监督了流行音乐之王的农场运营. As manager of the farm, Dobek has a hand in it all – from ordering and budget worksheets, to land rotation selection and even feeding the chickens. Most of all, it involves recognizing and utilizing the farmland’s potential.
“The farm is still relatively young for us, 我们正在挖掘它的真正潜力，并决定最明智的方式来利用这片土地, given our mission of producing crops for popsicles. We’re clearing a lot of new land for long-term growing – plum trees, blackberries, muscadines, blueberries and goji berries, to name a few. Basically, 我们正在努力使生产匹配更多的冰棒结束的东西可以利用每一个变化的季节,” said Dobek.
多贝克正在研究几种每年可以生产最多冰棒的作物. The main component to doing so is understanding the land.
“With any land, there’s intricacies and uniqueness, 特别是从了解土壤成分和与之相关的必要测试的角度来看. For me, when I became a part of King of Crops, 这是关于适应和理解我们在一个大城市的远郊. It’s an exciting part of the job, 了解你所拥有的，并弄清楚如何策略性地利用土地,” Dobek said.
More than just popsicles
卡斯兄弟非常重视他们的努力如何能做的不仅仅是生产出高质量的产品.
“Our vision for the farm continues to expand with each new project. 我们能够展示商业和环境管理是如何相互受益的. We’re collaborating with Compost Wheels, called King of Compost, 他们把城市里所有的食物垃圾都运过来让我们在农场里堆肥. We’re delving into agritourism by hosting school field trips, 最终变成了一个活动空间，甚至在我们Airbnb上的小房子里举办了一个农场住宿. It’s truly evolving every day,” Steven said.
Owning a farm and a growing business, Steven said he has a new appreciation for agriculture, the state’s leading industry, and what it means for him and his employees.
“Owning a farm, you look at produce completely differently – that goes for me, but it also goes for our employees,” he said. “When we bring them out there, 他们只是对我们使用的食材和他们在家吃的东西有不同的欣赏方式. That in itself is invaluable.”
To learn more or shop online, visit kingofpops.com.