Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Mike Barnhardt
Enterprise Record

FARMINGTON – Asher Randolph spent a recent morning in his vegetable patch.
The cucumbers and peppers are growing just about as fast as he can pick them.
“It’s amazing how fast these cucumbers grow,” the 9-year-old said.
Nearby, the squash continue to produce, and tomatoes are green and ready to ripen. In a garden beside that one, sweet corn reaches toward the sky while watermelon and cantaloupe vines line the ground.
And it’s all Fresh from Farmington.
It’s sort of a side business started by Asher, after the fruits of his labor proved to be more than the family could eat or preserve. Posted on Facebook, he takes fresh veggies to those who sign up for the program. He’s happy with the results so far this year.
Asher’s love for gardening came from his grandfather, Willie “Pop Pop” Smith, whom he stayed with during summers when he was younger. In fact, most of what he plants in his garden are the same varieties grown by his grandfather.
“I don’t know why, I just liked it,” Asher said. “I just planted what Pop Pop had.”
He is the son of Ted and Somer Randolph, and has two sisters, Aubryn and Aniston.
“He’s always been into outdoor stuff,” said his father. Asher likes to hunt, and is usually in his garden doing the daily chores early every morning.
It’s all fun, until he has to drag a garden hose from the house because of a lack of rain.
Asher checks the veggies every day, picking the ripe ones. “Every other day I work in it, keep the weeds out and stuff.”
Now that he has a business, the customers are the No. 1 priority, and the family gets what’s left. Asher likes the vegetables, and also helps the family preserve them for later use. “He’s pretty involved from start to finish,” said his mother, Somer. That includes making Asher’s favorite, deer salami.
“We just enjoy the fruits of his labor,” Ted said.
His father tills the garden, and Asher does the rest of the work. Of course, he has help making the deliveries of fresh veggies.
The family cleared some trees to make room for the garden, and is considering an expansion. They’ve already added chickens, hopefully offering fresh eggs in the near future. “We worked some topsoil into one garden, the other is just the ground,” Asher said. “There used to be some trees there.”
His sisters like to help in the garden, but Asher keeps his eyes on them. “I try to have something ready for them to pick,” he said. “But as far as helping me … they don’t really help.”
To learn how to get involved, visit his Facebook page, Fresh from Farmington.