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East Texas Farm & Ranch Living
Support Agriculture Businesses... They are the Heartbeat of Our Economy
A family affair
Highway 19 Produce offers clean, local food By Shelli Parker
F
Athens Review
amily and legacy are two words that Emerson and Whittyn Bever are learning first-hand at Highway 19 Produce and Berries. They will grow up on a farm, surrounded by love and family because their father came home from college with a dream. Bobby Bever earned his degree in horticulture in 2010 and told his family his life’s goal was to produce clean, local food for his neighbors. “I want to grow food,” he said. That marked the beginning of Highway 19 Produce and what
would become three growing areas on North 19, South 19 and one on county road 1119. The name fit and the family committed to growing nonGMO, chemical free produce and berries. Prior to this, Bobby said he spent his teen years working at Calloway’s nursery where he “fell in love with tending to the plants.” “Our farm is Bobby’s dream, he prides himself on providing local, organic produce.” mother Pam said. Using only organic fertilizers, including fish emulsion, pasteurized chicken manure and compost teas the results may not
always be picture perfect but are of excellent nutritional quality. “We may not always have the prettiest product, but an educated shopper knows the difference in local, vine- ripe organically grown produce.” Pam said. The family consisting of parents Mark and Pam, sister Lindsey and Bobby got to work making the dream happen and it wasn’t long before the family had a line waiting for their amazing berries at local farmers markets. Bobby met his wife Halie at a wedding where city and country came together and it wasn’t long before she was working alongside the rest of the family at the farmers market. Soon two little girls Emersyn and Whittyn joined in the family legacy.. Slowly but surely, the Bever’s pushed through trials and tribulations to turn the dream into a reality. The farm produces a wide variety of produce including mouth watering strawberries. “The 2018 strawberry season was a hit, probably our best season of strawberries ever!” Pam said. Harvesting over 10,000 pounds of sweet strawberries made customers happy as they came to pick their own. Unfortunately, as is the nature of farming, rain hit hard in 2019 and ruined the crop. Lucky to produce 1,000, the little sponge- like strawberries were ruined. Highway 19 Produce could have possibly saved the crop by spraying them, but that would have violated Bobby’s strict standards and his commitment to clean food. Organic produce including berries, carrots, onions, broccoli, zucchini, squash and more can be purchased through the Athens Farmers Market, Good Local Farmers Market in Dallas, the
Coppell Farmers market and also sells to several local restaurants including Railway Cafe, The Forge and others. Chandler Family Farms of Mabank and Highway 19 Produce have teamed up to offer a Community Supported Agriculture group allowing the community to purchase local seasonal food directly from the farmers. Customers purchase a share each week. Information on this may be found at http://www. deeprootscsa.net/ If you would like more information please visit www. hwy19produce.com
Athens Farmers Market opens continued from page 1
May 2020