Gardening at 80 : Sullivans raise and sell produce in Highfill.

By By Randy Moll

Originally published July 27, 2009 at 7:39 a.m., updated July 27, 2009 at 8:03 a.m.

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HIGHFILL — Though the town of Highfill has a farmers' market at the corner of Arkansas highways 12 and 264, one local couple has chosen to sell their produce a little farther west of the intersection - from their front yard - to take advantage of the shade.

Passersby can't miss their table under the shelter of the large trees in their yard - across Main Street from the police station. When the umbrella's up, Sue Sullivan is there selling the fruits and vegetables her husband, Loy, grows in his garden. Sweet corn, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes - large and small - can be found on the Sullivans' roadside table.

The couple has been married just short of 60 years, and Loy has been gardening for even longer than that.

"I can't remember not having a garden," he said.

Loy is 80 and grew up during the "big depression," as he calls it - big in comparison to the current economic downturn. People planted gardens to survive, and the food they raised was often about all they had to eat, according to Loy.

"This country was mostly woods," Loy said. "We used to take our guns and go out in the woods and we might get a rabbit or a squirrel - what we found is what we had to eat. When we would stop at the general store, we would stand our guns up against the wall outside andgo in to have a pop or something."

The traffic passing their home on Highway 12 is one thing that has changed much over the years, the Sullivans said.

"It used to be if someone came down the road, you went to the window to see who it was," the Sullivans said as cars and trucks streamed by their home in an almost constant flow.

Except for about a year when Loy worked for General Motors in Kansas City, the Sullivans made their home in the Highfill area. Until building their current home in town, they lived on a farm south of Highfill where they milked cows and raised chickens, Loy said.

"We sold tomatoes for $14 a ton and for as low as $9 ton in the mid '50s," Loy said. "We sold milk - grade C - for 8 cents a gallon. We raised 20,000 chickens once and sold them and only made a $6.75 profit. I decided then to get out of the chicken business."

Though Loy had been working in the lumber business for some time before, he went into it full-time in 1963, operating his own saw mill and kiln to cut and dry highgrade lumber for cabinet shops. He retired from his lumber operations in 2000, he said.

Though Loy has always planted a garden and can't remember not having one, he expanded his garden this year after hearing that Highfill would have a farmers' market. But after sitting out in the sun at the highway junction, Sue decided if she was going to sit outside all day she'd rather do it at home under the shade oftheir big trees. That way, the Sullivans' table is close to the garden, and Loy can work in the garden while Sue sells his produce.

And the Sullivans' garden has done well. It can be seen from the highway, with row after row of sweet corn and vines full or ripening tomatoes. Loy tends to it and shuttles back and forth between the garden and stand on his lawn tractor while Sue sits under the shade of the trees at their table and reads when not waiting on customers.

The Sullivans operate their stand two or three days a week, and plan to continue to do so as long as they have produce to sell.

"If the big umbrella is up, I'm here," Sue said.

News, Pages 2 on 07/27/2009

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