Covington, GA

Typically, this time of year, these bushes at Deer Creek Farm would be chalked full of blueberries. However, with a late freeze destroying the majority of their signature item, owners Joe and Merlon Harper had to rely on their ever-expanding vegetable gardens.

“Oh, it’s been a game changer. You know, I guess being a farmer, you always have to have a plan B, at least plan B, sometimes plan C as well. So, we were able to pivot from the blueberries. We still use the blueberries to make our tea and our other value-added products but being able to grow these unique vegetables and take them to the market and sell them to customers has really been a life saver for us in keeping us sustained,” says Merlon.

“We’ve got quite a few tomatoes, but we’ve gotten quite a few squash and zucchini. This Fall, the lettuce did very well,” says Joe.

It’s not just the staple items that keep customers coming back, but also the exotic collection of produce like black tomatoes and lemon cucumbers that keep things interesting for both the consumer and the farmer.

“Each year I go through a catalogue, and I see what’s different, and I read and I see what people are trying and enjoying. Then, I can put together a crop plan. I enjoy trying different things and seeing what I can grow and seeing how things work. So, I love being outside and I just love being a part of what nature brings,” says Marlon.

“She likes to be a little different,” says Joe. So, she gets the catalogues, and she sees these unique items and she says, ‘let’s try this, let’s try that.’ So far, it’s been a hit.”

Their value-added products have also been a big hit with customers from salsa to pepper jelly. However, it’s one item in particular that’s received most of the attention.

“People love out tea. It’s so unique. We’ve gotten so many different reactions. Sometimes we’ve even had a customers tell us that, how the tea made them feel. They said, ‘when I drink that tea, it makes me feels like I was on the back porch of my grandmother’s house sipping tea agin,'” says Merlon.

For that reason, it was recently named a finalist for the Flavor of Georgia contest. And with each step of the production process being monitored, it’s no wonder the quality and consistency remains high.

“It’s our special herbs and spices that brings out the blueberry flavor because blueberries are subtle. They’re great but they need something to help them to pop I would say. That flavor needs to be brought out. So, we add different ingredients to it to make them shine get that blueberry burst,” says Marlon.

Despite the setback this year with their blueberry crop, the Harpers have been anything but detoured. In fact, they are even hoping to expand their operation.

“We would love to get more farmland. This is more rolling hills, Georgia red clay, and rock. We would like to get something a little flatter; something that’s been tilled up before and used for farming and grow the blueberries out there,” says Joe.

By: Damon Jones