Special from the May 6, 1998 edition of the Iredell Citizen Newspaper
Six Acres Ties Family Together
This article is special from the May 6, 1998 edition of the Iredell Citizen Newspaper.
Today's Update:
The Rotary Farmers Market is still operating! It is open May-Oct on Saturdays from 7 am- 12 noon at the corner of West Front Street and Meeting Street.
(Photos: Connie Millsaps continues the tradition started by her father, Lester Millsaps, and brother, Gilbert Millsaps)
By NICOLE SNOOK / Iredell Citizen
The need to cultivate, plant, fertilize, hoe and weed six acres grabbed hold of Lester Millsaps shortly after he retired from Smith Douglas. From sunrise to sunset he devoted his mind and body to producing some of the best vegetables in this area.
Starting with cantaloupes, watermelons and a few vegetables, after a year or two, the garden was filled with sprouting plants - squash, green beans, beets, corn, cabbage, green peas, onions, tomatoes, fall peas, and greens, remembers his daughter, Connie Millsaps.
What did he do with all these vegetables? Gather them fresh, load his truck and he would be off to the Rotary Farmer's Market. “There were just two or three other venders,” recalls his daughter.
With his love of gardening, he found a way to do something for other people. “As long as he had vegetables he went to the Farmer’s Market” every Wednesday and Saturday. It did not take him long to build a clientele. When he ran out of vegetables, people would place an order and then come to his house for pick up,” his daughter said.
As he got older, his health started to fail. That didn’t keep him out of the garden. After his first illness, he was released from the hospital just in time for the planting season. Determined to have one more vegetable garden, he planted a while, then rested on an old stump in the middle of the field. It took planting and resting but the garden was ready.
The next summer he had regained his strength and was able to plant another garden. He, however, harvested his last garden in 1992 and died April of the following year, just as the growing season would have begun.
People wondered where they would get their fresh vegetables. Daughter, Connie and, son, Gilbert decided to try to carry on their father’s work, planting a full garden just as their Dad did, adding spring onions and cucumbers.
One season, Gilbert loaded the truck the night before. He would park the loaded truck at his house and people would come to buy vegetables out of the truck. At times that there would not be enough vegetables to sell at the market.
Since the son passed away in January of 1996, Ms. Millsaps has continued the vegetable garden by herself. The weather and the labor of cultivating the soil makes it hard she said.
The farmer’s market is now located in the parking lot adjacent to the police department. Like her Dad, most of the time she does not have enough vegetables to meet the demands. “People start calling and placing orders even before the plants have come out of the ground. People really enjoys fresh vegetables,” she smiles. Asked who will carry on the tradition, she answered, “There is no one. Planting is something not many people know how to do. I learned from the time I spent helping my father. It is not just the vegetables, it is the people that you meet and the friends that you make,” she said.
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