82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 7,2001
Mervin and Shirley Weaver with daughters Sherri, 8; Anne, 12; and Gwen, 14, work
together to grow about 20 acres of produce to sell at their roadside stand along Route
501 north of Lititz.
Weaver Farm
Where Family And Vegetables
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
LITITZ (Lancaster. Co.) Lo
cation counts for a lot when sell
ing produce at a roadside stand,
but Mervin and Shirley Weaver
know that to keep customers
happy and returning, much more
than a busy highway is required.
“Freshness,” that’s what cus
tomers want,” Weaver spid.
To offer fresh, tasty produce
isn’t a 8-5 job. These days the
Weaver family is working from
sunup to sundown picking sweet
corn, beans, and a spectrum of
summer produce.
“This is more labor intensive
than dairying, but we enjoy it,”
Weaver said of the family opera
tion. Daughters Gwen, 14; Anne,
12; and Sherri, 8, help with wait
ing on customers. Son Chris, 22,
is employed off the farm.
Weaver’s Produce is located
along Route 501, about one mile
north of Lititz. The 60-acre farm
has been in the Weaver family
since 1953, and had been operat
ed as a dairy until the last dec
ade. The drawback with continu
ing the dairy operation became
apparent as traffic flow in
creased.-The farmland is split by
the highway, making it increas
ingly dangerous to stop traffic to
allow the herd to cross from pas
ture to barn for milking time.
The Weavers examined their
options. They realized they had a
potentially great location for a
produce stand. They had fertile
soil, and unlike many farms, they
also had a water source for irri
gating. The Hammer Creek
winds through their property en
abling them to draw from its
source during dry weather.
In 1990, Weaver sold his cows
and built a permanent roadside
structure. “Even though this is
more labor intensive, I haven’t
missed the cows,” he said of the
switch.
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The best laid plans can easily
be beset by weather and customer
demand.
The unseasonably cool spring
that lasted extra long and then
the drastic change to hot and dry
weather caused some scrambling
to bring forth a harvest.
Weaver is really grateful he is
able to irrigate. He said, “Rain is
better than irrigation, but when it
is hot and dry, irrigation can save
a crop.”
On the other hand, weather a
little on the dry side usually re
sults in a better product. Too
much rain or irrigation can cause
rot and less flavor.
Although the Weavers grow a
significant amount of the pro
duce they offer, they need to fill
in the gaps by purchasing some
produce from other growers.
The Weavers began selling
sweet corn this week. Weaver
said that he has learned to pick
corn two to three times daily. “If
customers stop for corn in the
evening, they don’t want to hear
it was picked in the morning,” he
said.
“They are super delighted to
hear it was picked within the
hour,” Weaver said of keeping
produce as fresh as possible.
Another requirement is offer
ing a wide choice of varieties to
meet demand. Yellow varieties
have become increasingly popu
lar in comparison with white va
rieties that previously dominated
demand. “But it’s more challeng
ing to grow yellow varieties for
the early market because they do
not germinate as well in cold
soil,” Weaver said.
This year Weaver tested plant
ing corn covered with black plas
tic. The cold, rainy spring did not
offer much opportunity to get a
crop in the ground. After Weaver
sowed the seed, he covered the
cold, muddy ground, suspicious
that the crop might not produce
anything. He was pleasantly sur
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T-TJ , 1
Flourish
prised. Two weeks ago the com
that had been planted beneath
plastic towered more than six feet
in height, while the seed that re
mained uncovered had only
grown a few feet.
In recent years, Shirley has
added more flower seedlings and
cut flowers to the market. She
finds lots of pleasure in growing
flowers.
The roadside stand is open
from mid-May through Thanks
giving, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30
p.m. or 8 p.m. during the com
season.
From the beginning, the Weav
ers never had a scarcity of cus
tomers and have made it a priori
ty to always have someone at the
stand. In addition to customer
service this has discouraged trou
ble with theft.
The three girls enjoy waiting
on customers, but having some
one watching the stand requires
eating in shifts. The parents also
allow the girls to have a few
hours break daily to swim and
relax. During that time, the par
ents gladly take over stand re
sponsibilities.
“We know many of our cus
tomers by name, and have met
people from all over the world,”
Shirley said.
The whole family works to
gether at weeding. They rely a
little on herbicide spraying. Their
response to customers who are
concerned about spraying is “We
eat it, too.”
The Weavers also raise 130
layer hens for the brown egg
market and goats for meat,
which is sold primarily to the eth
nic market.
Two neighbors prepared baked
goods and some canned goods for
the market stand.
“We are ready for a break by
November,” Shirley said.
Even then, there is plenty to do
to get ready for the growing
months. Weaver also has a saw
mill lumber cutting business to
work on during winter months.
Winter months also allows
time for them to attend several
vegetable grower meetings.
Shirley homeschools the girls
until they reach the fourth grade.
“It’s a crunch in September
(Turn to Page B 3)
Shirley works hard to keep the display stocked orderly
with the freshest produce.
Operating the cash register, bagging the produce, and
offering service with a smile are Sherri, Anne, and Gwen.
Planting corn beneath black plastic for an early har
vest makes a huge difference as this photo shows. Men/
said that the corn beside of him was planted beneath
plastic while the short rows in front of him were not. The
corn was more than six-feet in heighth two weeks ago,
and promised to be ready for harvest by July 2.