As an only child growing up in Ukraine, Mike Katrutsa wasn’t raised on a farm and didn’t know much about agriculture. But in 2006, his mom married an American and moved with her son to West Tennessee – and soon, Katrutsa was hooked on farm life.

Michael Katrutsa of Camden grows and sells fresh produce. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Thanks to a nudge from his stepfather, his early experience included showing pigs and chickens through the local 4-H club. At just 14 years old, Katrutsa planted a quarter acre of tomatoes and radishes on his family’s property and started selling the vegetables. The following year, he added 2 acres of sweet corn. In high school, he judged livestock for the National FFA Organization, and by the time he decided to major in agriculture on a scholarship to the University of Tennessee at Martin, he’d already known for a long time what he wanted to do with his life.

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“I like being outside and this kind of business is about communication,” says Katrutsa, owner of Mike’s Produce in Camden. “I sell direct to the consumer and then I see them coming and enjoying it. That brings joy to my heart.”

He is one of only a handful of full-time farmers in the area, which is incredible at only 31 years old.

“I like being my own boss, too,” he says. “I don’t have to listen to anybody but myself.”

Mike Katrutsa of Camden grows more than 20 acres of produce including tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, okra, watermelon and more. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Growing the Business

Katrutsa’s farm has steadily grown over the years. Today, he raises more than 20 acres of vegetables and fruits from broccoli, peas and cantaloupe to okra, cabbage and zucchini. Tomatoes, including the soft-skinned Red Bounty, hard-to-find heirlooms and low-acid yellow varieties, have been his best sellers. Sweet corn runs a close second. “People are buying them by bulk and canning and freezing,” Katrutsa says.

But his personal favorite crop, both to cultivate and to eat, is watermelons, especially the seedless Sugar Baby.

“It’s got a lot of taste and it’s easy to grow, plus you don’t have to tie and stake them,” he says. “Everybody loves watermelon. I don’t care who it is – kids or grown-ups. A bunch of people last year kept coming back, saying, ‘Man that was the best watermelon I’ve had in my entire life.’”

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Awhile back, Katrutsa shifted from wholesale to direct-to-consumer retail, selling produce from a freestanding store on his farm six days a week and on Saturdays at the downtown farmers markets in Memphis and Jackson from July through September. He has also developed a following from several local restaurants, where patrons gobble up his cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and squash from salad bars.

Farming in the hot, humid climate of West Tennessee can be challenging, to say the least.

“Last year it was really dry and hot,” Katrutsa says. “I irrigate most of my stuff, but the tomatoes, if it gets above 92 degrees for seven consecutive days, they quit pollinating.”

Mike Katrutsa sells his produce from the farm store and at the downtown Memphis Farmers Market. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Katrutsa Feeds the Community

About a decade ago, Katrutsa added 2 acres of strawberries and opened the fields for Camden residents to pick their own. The U-pick operation has been wildly successful.

“I have had the same customers coming for 10 years now,” he says. “This is bringing awareness to the people, especially the kids, that their food doesn’t come from stores. It comes from farms. They can see where it’s grown and how it’s grown. Most of the kids haven’t ever been on a farm, never been around strawberry plants.”

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On pretty weekends when the kids are out of school, the strawberry fields are packed with pickers of all ages carrying buckets and boxes to gather the fruit. They pay for their sweet, juicy treasures by the pound.

“Not many growers do U-pick because they’re afraid people will come in there and make the plants die,” Katrutsa says. “Boy, I’ve never had that happen. Most of the time, it’s pretty good.”

In 2022, Katrutsa was named the Benton County Young Farmer of the Year for the third year in a row and competed against other farmers from across the state in the Young Farmers and Ranchers Achievement award.

Mike Katrutsa moved from Ukraine to Camden as a teenager and today makes his living selling produce. Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht

Putting Down Roots

He’s certainly come a long way since arriving in West Tennessee from Ukraine as a teenager. Though he and his mom left long before the Russian invasion, he still has family in his home country and normally would visit every year.

“I haven’t been since the war started, but we have raised money to help with military assistance,” he says.

Katrutsa adds that his relatives are safe and doing what they can to aid in both humanitarian and financial ways. He remains hopeful they will hold onto their independence.

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In addition to helping his homeland, he also wants to make a difference in the place he’s called home for more than 16 years.

“I’m hopefully making a positive impact on the community,” he says. “As far as I know, I’m the only one in the county that’s a vegetable producer. So people don’t have to go out of the county to get that. They can come up here, a short driving distance, and purchase it and hopefully change their eating habits and eat healthy and know where their food comes from.”

Photo credit: Karen Pulfer Focht