11/01/2025
As I sit here listening to the hum of Pearl Road on our last day of business for 2025, I am overcome with gratitude and emotion in reflecting on the last 5 months. For those who know me well, you’ll know I’m a teacher by trade and education…farmer’s son, farmhand, and farm stand manager by birthright. Both jobs bring incredible value and purpose to my life, but there’s just something extra special about running the family farm stand.
A customer just pulled in a few minutes ago who told me how much joy the stand brought her and her family this year…how they made weekly trips up to the market a tradition to which her and her young daughter looked forward. They stopped today not so much to buy anything, but mostly just to say goodbye. It’s feeling valued and appreciated like this every single day by our community of loyal customers that makes this job extra special for me. You can quantify dozens of corn, bushels of tomatoes, and dollars in the till…but you can’t quantify matters of the heart like this.
Our customers show their gratitude every day through their pocketbooks, just by choosing to support locally-sourced fruits and vegetables over the offerings of the big supermarkets. They show it through their kind words and through generous gestures. For many of them, they’ve become our friends, familiar faces with unique stories that have impacted many who work here. I say it every year, but it’s never less true the more often I say it. We have the best customers around. While you may be grateful for us, we are SO grateful for all YOUR support this season. We couldn’t do this without you!
It’s also the people in these photos who take the monumental task of running the farm stand upon their backs each day that make this a job I cherish. I can’t even begin to describe how hard these people work some days - a gesture that inspires me to only want to work even harder for them.
While they are the hardest working bunch around, I hate to call them my “employees” as these people have become some of my closest friends over the years. I call them the “stand fam.” While they may not all be blood to me, in every other respect, they are a part of my family. They are there to lean on when life throws a curveball. They give me a space to be myself and to fit in. They are patient with me and my meticulous eye for detail that could drive even the most patient person nuts. They make me laugh every single day, often to the point of hysterics. They lift me up when life has me down. They color the farm market with their personalities and heart and make it a place I look forward to coming, even on the days when I’m exhausted. I dare say they do all of these things not only for me, but for each other. That’s just the amazing people they are.
I would like to thank them all, publicly, not only for all their hard work this season that allowed the farm stand to have its most successful season yet, but for the purpose, community, and joy they bring to my own life. I wouldn’t be the person I am without them. I am a better man by virtue of their friendship and example.
I’d also be remiss if I did not give a huge thank you to my dad. He often flies under the radar these days, avoiding the hunting eye of the camera, and opting to work “behind the scenes” more often than not. However you should all know he is still the farming guru that is up at sunrise daily loading his trucks with his famous sweet corn and strawberries, the most delectable tomatoes, and peaches that have literally been known to make people weep. However, to me, he is Dad. The man who raised me to “waste not, want not, taught me the value of a true hard day’s work along with the importance of always finding the time for family and fun, as well as how to pick the perfect pumpkin. Dad, thank you for continuing our family’s legacy and allowing me the privilege of doing it by your side! I will cherish these memories and lessons for as long as I live.
For as full as my heart feels right now, I wish I could spread that feeling to everyone! So I leave you with this message from my heart. Find ways to spread joy and kindness to YOUR “community”…friends, strangers, and perceived rivals alike. Farmers cultivate their crops through water, sunlight, and a lot of labor…but happiness in this world is cultivated through the small acts of kindness you can show to each other. This happiness sprouts in both the giver and the receiver of any such act! I see a lot of pain, suffering, and sadness in today’s world, and it can be easy to feel as if change is beyond our capacity as individuals. However, as I’ve learned on the farm, from tiny seeds and a little love and labor, we can grow enough to bring joy to thousands. Don’t ever underestimate the value of the small acts of kindness!
From all of us at Willie’s Farm Market, thank you again for a terrific 2025 season and we look forward to seeing you all again in 2026! Wishing you all the best!
-Willie
