By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

MIDDLETOWN, Ohio — Garver Family Farm Market near Monroe is one of southwestern Ohio’s hot spots for fresh produce. Most senior citizens can recall how this 1,200-acre farm has evolved over the years.

Bob Garver Sr. purchased the farm in 1926. Calvin Coolidge was president that year and there was no population sprawl in the area, as there is today. Ayrshires dotted the landscape from 1930 to the 1960s; dairy farming paid this family’s bills.

A transformation took place in the early 1970s. “My father (Bob Jr.) decided to get into the hog business,” said Mike Garver, who now owns and operates the farm.

After college, in 1991, Garver purchased the farm from his grandfather. Dairy cows and hogs still dotted the premises, but he, his dad and his brother, Mark, took the family’s operation in a different direction. Selling produce was the way to go, and sweet corn and tomatoes made their appearance that year.
“We made subtle changes, not drastic changes,” Garver said.

In 1991 they decided to experiment. “I also started out with one-eighth acre of pumpkins. Last year we had 40 acres of pumpkins,” he said. “We’ve gone from selling produce on a 4-by-4 (foot) card table to as much that I can’t stand it. Today we offer 22 varieties of fruits and vegetables, including flowers and handing baskets.”

Nowadays visitors can buy fresh bread, baked goods and ice cream. The fall product line includes pumpkins, cornshocks, apple cider and homegrown chrysanthemums.

The Garver family is used to change. The crops and animals on this farm are different than they were in 1926 but many odd structures and farm implements dot the landscape. There are several barns; hanging in one are antique harnesses and bridles. Many farm implements dating back to the days when Coolidge was in office hang from the walls.

One barn that today serves as the general store once housed the family’s steam engine. That engine is gone but a 1942 John Deere tractor is there. It’s the very same Garver’s grandfather drove.

“We still use it,” he said. “We had it restored in 1993. We left the old, deteriorating steering wheel on it because it’d was the one my grandfather used.”

The Garvers changed with the times. They were pioneers, as well. “My father was one of the first in Ohio to adapt to no-till farming in 1978,” Garver said. “People thought he was crazy.

“The truth is, we’re slow to change. Maybe in 10 years we’ll have a $2 million greenhouse. We’ll always be testing the waters.”

The Garvers give credit for their success to the good soil and the good Lord.
“We’re in a small valley with very good soil,” Garver said. “Just up the hill is the new high school, and there’s nothing but rocks.”

“We’ve been blessed,” added Suze, Garver’s wife.

Garver Family Farm Market employs 30 workers annually, and most of them are part-timers. With such a large farm market, good help is needed. But in addition, there are hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans to tend.
“We still do conventional farming,” Garver said. “Truth is, I can’t wait for October 31. That’s because we can close up the store, I can get up on the combine and get the crops in. That, to me, is relaxing.”