Pauline Stroud and Allyce Brown had a busy and sucessful day at the Famer’s Market
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
Flush from the finanacial reward of their hard work, the Pope children pose with their proud mom, pictured here (left to right), Adaline Pope, Ginger Pope, Hawkins Pope, and Maebry Pope.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
Ann Crescitelli, an annual crowd pleaser, came to show off her squash, cilanto, mint, sage, and cilantro.
Lauren Monica | Anson Record
ANSON — Leslie Lee with the Anson County Farmers Market kicked off a successful launch of the 2024 season at the market this Saturday, April 27. With the help of her media marketing wizard, Laura Laney, the pair enticed a steady stream of visitors to the Farmer’s Market, everyone eager to get their hands on all their spring gardening needs.
More of a promotional event than a true launch of the Farmer’s Market, Lee and Laney organized the plant and seedlings sale.
Proving that April showers really do bring May flowers, Pauline Stroud, or Aunt Polly, saw a flock of patrons to her booth of flowering goods.
“My first experience with the Farmer’s Market was last year and I am just amazed. I saw today that this was not the same farmer’s market that I knew. Leslie (Lee) has just done a truly amazing job,” gushed Stroud, whose booth was beside annual favorite Allyce Brown of Southern Hospitality.
Brown jumped in to add, ”We really love being here and the people we meet.”
A big seller for the day, Brown mentioned, were the seasonal vegetable plants, though she noted, “Miss Polly has done really well with her flowers and I have really done well selling my house plants today. This (Farmer’s Market) has really become a true gathering place for our community, a place for families.”
Brown is not wrong, as a steady build of loyal customers have certainly been growing under Lee’s lead. Lee and Laney have gone above and beyond to foster a sense of community, a place of belonging, for Anson County residents and the Farmer’s Market has certainly become that under the care of the hard working duo.
Success was found by not only Stroud and Brown, but across the aisle from them, the Pope family recorded a banner day as well for their produce.
A true family business, the family grew all their plants from seeds, showcasing an impressive array of green peppers, black beauty eggplant, and all kinds of tomatoes. The Pope’s have cultivated too many strains of the tomato family to list so if you are in the market for varying tastes of the fruit, the Pope’s have varieties such as spoon tomatoes, mushroom baskets, German Johnsons, Rutger’s, and Brandywine Pinks.
“We have both slicing and canning tomatoes,” shares Ginger Pope, who as a home school mom, truly does it all.
“We really believe in teaching our kids by example. We take pride in knowing what is in all of our food.”
The Pope family are raising their impressive young children with a wealth of knowledge that is fast disappearing from society’s collective memory bank, how to be self sustained while living on the land. The elder Pope’s are confident in the knowledge that when the time comes they will have turned out successful, educated members of society, who possess the skills needed to survive and adapt in an ever changing world. Fads may come and go, but learning the skills to survive in a situation you didn’t expect to find yourself in, is timeless.
Shunning the technological devices so commonly found in the hands of most children, the Pope kids instead can be found holding rakes, hoes, and shovels.
“We tried letting them have technological devices for two weeks and it did not work,” declares the Pope matriarch.
All of the Pope children were on hand to help out their mom at the Farmer’s Market, with the notable exception of ten-year old Ross Pope, who was home helping dad landscape.
Another Farmer’s Market favorite, Ann Crescitelli, had a bevy of herbs and succulents to dazzle the eye.
“Big sellers for me today have been squash, cilantro, succulents, vinca, mint, and sage.”