Sharon Pferschy has always liked working with her hands. She grew up building electronics with her dad, everything from fish callers to alarm clocks.
“I was probably one of the few young females who knew how to solder,” she says.
Her mom taught her more traditional skills, like cooking, but there was always something more attractive to her about doing things that were “nontraditional for females.”
Pferschy attended McHenry County College (MCC) with plans to join the Air Force. During her first year at MCC, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) held an internship fair. Pferschy thought the interview experience would be good for her. She signed up.
“It was pretty intimidating,” she says. “There were five people around the table, and I interviewed and let them know ‘I’m going into the Air Force. I don’t need this job. I just want to practice. And if you can give me some feedback, I’d really appreciate that.’”
Her bluntness impressed the interview panel that day, and the FAA offered Pferschy, 17 years old at the time, an internship while she finished her degree. Once she graduated with a degree in electronic engineer technologies, she joined the FAA full-time.
“I’ve always been on the technical side of it,” she says of her nearly 27-year career. She’s held roles from electronic technician to software specialist and is currently a district facilities manager.
While she enjoys her job, she didn’t enjoy the nearly one-hour commute each way from their previous home in Plainfield.
On the house hunt, Pferschy ran into turbulence from many homeowners’ associations when they learned about the family pet pig, Kevin Bacon.
“I would try to explain to them that pigs are cleaner than dogs, and he’s potty trained,” she says.
Still, it proved to be a no-landing zone for their family. That’s when her real estate agent brought them to a 3-acre property near Elburn. In 2015, the Pferschys moved to the micro-farm.
“It came with a 1-acre farm field, and we didn’t know what to do,” says the first-generation farmer.
A quick internet search led the Pferschys to two crop options: lavender and garlic.
“At that time, we didn’t know what to do with lavender. We didn’t even know that you could eat it then,” she says. “But we did know that garlic was delicious.”
They planned to sell the garlic. Whatever they couldn’t sell, they would eat.
“It was a foolproof plan,” she says.
While the move to start farming met skepticism from family and friends, the Pferschys now grow 70,000 garlic bulbs annually, focusing on varieties high in allicin for the health benefits.
A big learning curve existed the first year. The Pferschys closed on their new property in spring and had only months to prepare for fall planting. With few garlic farmers in the area, Pferschy was lucky to connect with a garlic farmer in Canada who provided a lot of tips and fine points to growing garlic. Garlic Breath Farm was officially born with that first crop in October 2015. She repays the favor by mentoring other farmers.
“Now, there’s more (garlic) farms around here,” she says. “I think that’s because of us. We’ve helped other farms even within a quarter-mile radius.
“We believe the world is plentiful enough and that we will be provided with what we need. And if you need help growing your business – that’s something we can help with.”
Growing the business has required Pferschy to wear quite a few hats, but her favorite still ties back to her roots in technology. Tactical operations are her favorite part of managing Garlic Breath Farm.
“I love thinking about what we did in the past year, breaking it down, figuring out what we did well, what we did not so great on, then figuring out what we want in the future and seeing if the two align,” she says.
It’s quite parallel to her job with the FAA.
“It always comes down to figuring out what the large task is,” she says. “Break it down into small steps and you should be able to flowchart everything.”
While working two jobs can be stressful, Pferschy is wired to think through the steps to get the jobs done. She also understands the value of bringing a woman’s perspective to both the aviation and agriculture sector.
“It definitely makes the industry stronger because of the diverse ways everybody thinks,” she says. “The worst thing you can do is surround yourself with people that are like you. It’s not going to help you grow.”
And she credits her upbringing to pushing the limit on traditional gender roles.
“I grew up with books illustrating a gardener as a female and a farmer as a male,” she recalls. “The difference between the two is scale, not gender. I hope women like me can inspire others to think beyond their preconceived notions.”
This content is part of the Partners 2023 Cultivating Our Communities series, a collaboration among Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Specialty Growers Association. It strives to raise awareness of Illinois’ diverse farmers, farms, and the food, feed and fuel they produce.
