Such is life in Matthew Humble’s domain - a heavily organic vegetable garden that flourishes in an acre-large neighborhood plot.
Matthew, 12, began last year cultivating his favorite vegetables and selling his harvest in Cameron at an improvised produce stand set up at dad Mark Humble’s law office across from the U.S. Post Office. Selling for three to four hours averaged about $80 a day.
“This is really something for a kid his age,” his father said.
Matthew’s No. 1 seller last year was homegrown tomatoes, so this year, his patch is growing more of the savory, red fruit than any other produce. His harvest baskets will be running over with several varieties of tomatoes, including cherry, Early Girl, Better Boy, Beefsteak and Celebrity. Matthew also is growing leeks, yellow squash, zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers and several varieties of sweet corn.
“My dad actually got me into this,” Matthew said. “He said it would be a pretty good summer job. I made some money and I really liked it.”
Matthew, who is finishing the seventh grade this week, also enjoys golf, soccer and playing the piano. He is saving money from the produce enterprise toward buying a red and black Mustang when he is old enough to drive.
He earned nearly $800 last year, and hopes to bring in even more money this year with a larger vegetable garden and more tomatoes to meet consumer demands.
“I mostly chose my favorite vegetables,” Matthew said. “For my first garden I picked a wide range of vegetables to see what would sell best, and this year I have a select few vegetables that sold the best.”
Matthew does not shun vegetables. He eats what he grows, and grilled yellow squash is a much-loved entrée at the Humble table.
His sister, Maddy, at age 8, put in an herb garden last year, raising oregano, mint, thyme, flat leaf parsley, curly leaf parsley, fennel, rosemary and sage, and sells at the produce stand alongside her brother, or to the Mercantile Bistro in downtown Cameron. The herbs brought in about $50, Humble said.
Beverly Angell, a cordon bleu chef and owner of the Mercantile Bistro, purchased fresh produce from the Humble children last year, and is “waiting for them again this year.”
“Matthew has the best produce, and I am just kind of counting on him again this year,” Mrs. Angell said. “He had squash, zucchini, eggplant, peppers and tomatoes.”
Matthew’s vegetables went into Bistro specialties: soups, sautés, sandwiches, salads and quiches. Maddy put together attractive bundles of her herbs, Mrs. Angell said.
Lana McDermott, Cameron Junior High vocational agriculture and horticulture teacher, said Matthew enthusiastically tackled gardening at the campus where students cultivate plants in raised beds.
“He is very into horticulture and gardening,” said Mrs. McDermott, who described his home gardening efforts as “awesome.”
Matthew spends 30 minutes to an hour each day working with his plants. Colton Shuffield and other friends assist with the weeding, watering and hoeing of plants.
Originally, the garden site was thick clay, thus, using native soil was not an option. Humble imported mushroom compost and sand, and the mix went into his son’s raised bed plots. The 2008 garden was mostly experimenting with what vegetables worked and what sold.
For the 2009 plot, “We chose the vegetables everyone likes, and that was really tomatoes,” Matthew said.
Matthew does not use pesticides, utilizing the organic method of “picking out all the bugs I find. So far I haven’t had that big of a problem. If the garden gets bugs I will try to spray them down with soap and water. That usually does the trick.”
Why organic? “You can get a lot more money. People don’t like to have chemicals on their vegetables,” Matthew said.
