Springtime means big business for Nicole Jonas and her family at Red Granite Farm in Boone County, where the young couple and their three children tend the land, producing a bounty of produce and plants sold at the Ames farmers market and on site.
A DeWitt native, Jonas, 34, grew up on a traditional Iowa farm, as did her husband, Steve. They both graduated from Iowa State University with horticulture de­­grees: hers in ornamentals and his in fruits and vegetables.

Both backgrounds have come in handy as the couple has worked hard to expand their agriculture business.

“We moved to our farm in 2007 and planted our first garden then. We started selling at the North Grand Mall farmers market, and when baby number three came along, I quit my full-time job and began...