"Joy" Is A Fruit Farm
In Hopkins County

 

by: Bobby McDonald

 

In his book "No Matter What," Hopkins County native and author, Steve Jarvis, encourages his readers to focus on "joy" and the things that matter most in one's life. He carries you on a 40 day devotional journey to bringing joy into you life and learning to live at peace with God. And, peace for Steve and his family seems to be producing fruit on a rural Hopkins County farm, located on FM-69, south of Como.

Steve and his wife, Lynn, along with three children, Levi, Zechariah, and Hannah, call the sixty-five acre farm, home and spend their days raising peaches, blackberries, figs, and other fruits to sell to the public.  "We find the work both rewarding and offering a chance to do something that we can rear our children, along beside us," acknowledges Steve. "It's a chance to instill the important pricipals of life in our children, as we earn a living."

Steve and Lynn Jarvis stand behind their three children, Levi, Zechariah, and Hannah,
who serve as the focus of their lives.

 

 

Steve and Lynn purchased the farm some 13 years ago, and it was in 2002 that they decided to convert the acreage to fruit production. Since that time, they have planted peach trees, blackberry vines, and fig trees to commercially raise fruit. Steve is quick to point-out that fruit production was once one of the "mainstays" in Hopkins County. "I'm told that fruit production was one of the major economic cornerstones of Hopkins County, long before the dairy industry brought notariety to the area," states Jarvis. "Carloads of commercial fruit were shipped from Como, Pickton, and Sulphur Springs, and canning facilities were located in each of these towns to preserve fruit for sale."

The Jarvis Family is ready to deliver another load of fruit for consumers in Hopkins County.

"Steve and I were looking for a means of rearing our children in an environment where we could make certain that our Christian influence could be fully realized," expresses Lynn, who works beside Steve and serves as a home school teacher for her three children, while managing the household. "Life is all about choices and we chose to make the choice to rear the children that God entrusted us with, in a wholesome environment. We feel the natural environment of the farm helps us to attain our goals!"

Family help........left to right, Hannah, Levi, and Zechariah aid in picking blackberries on the Jarvis
Fruit Farm, south of Como.

"The children get to see nature in its purest form, as they see the many hours of pruning, cultivating, and harvesting of our fruit," inserts Steve. "They become involved and see the labor that is necessary to produce the food that we both eat and sell!"

When asked about his book, Steve suggests, "There really isn't any secrets in the book. It's just designed to take God's word and follow the path and pattern that he has laid down for having joy in our lives. He has a plan for us, if we'll just take the time to listen to what he tells us!"

Steve bases the book on Psalm 16:11, "Learn how to be joyful, no matter what." And, he is quick to acknowledge that it isn't always easy. "Choosing to live a Christian life doesn't exempt one from the plagues of illness, sorrow, financial concerns, and loss of those whom you love, but it gives you a relationship with God that sustains you during those times of suffering!"states Jarvis.

And, speaking of suffering, the current lack of rainfall and current drouth conditions in Hopkins County are having their effects on Steve's fruit production, at First Fruit Farm. Steve is quick to insert that he has developed an irrigation system that he is using extensively in keeping his crop supplied with moisture, but "nothing replaces the natural replinishing of moisture from rainfall."

Steve continues to strive for improving his production and has sought information on fruit production from a variety of sources, even from going back and reading notes, letters, and any available material on the early fruit production in Hopkins County, at the turn of the ninteenth century. "I'm told there were marketing organizations and a system of local farmer's groups that worked together to improve varieties and bring root stock to Hopkins County that would aid in better yields," states Steve. "I see that fruit production may be the future of small farms in the area, that have sold their dairy operations, and find young people wanting to locate their families in a wholesome environment. When I was growing-up, many young families chose the dairy industry to rear their families and provide a fundamental upbringing for their children. This may be an available alternative to mom and dad spending their entire day away from their children, at jobs away from the home!"

Jarvis points to the earliest ripening varieties of peaches, that are ready to
market on his southeastern Hopkins County farm.

Currently, the Jarvis family is actively involved in picking blackberries and marketing them in Sulphur Springs as "fresh picked" fruit. And, the first peaches of the season are ready to market, and will be spaced throughout the summer, as the varieties are planted to offer a continuous marketing of the fruit.

Steve and Lynn can be reached to place an order for their fresh fruit or to obtain a copy of Steve's book on bringing "joy" to your life, at (903)488-0013 or on-line at www.jarvisfreshfruits.com.

And, Lynn spreads her own "joy" by offering these two recipes, utilizing the fruit produced on their farm and sure to be pleasing on your table:

Blackberry Cobbler

4 cups fresh blackberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup butter
2 refrigerated pie crust pastries, cut into strips

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
Melt butter in an oblong dish. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon together, and sprinkle over the washed
blackberries, in the baking dish. Cut pie crust into strips and cover the blackberries (You can also layer the pie
crust in the middle or put it all on top). Dust pie crust with a sprinkling of sugar on top layer. Bake at 375 degrees
for approximately 45 minutes, or until crust is lightly golden brown and berries are "bubbly."



Jarvis Peach Cobbler

3 cups peeled and sliced peaches
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup butter
2 refrigerated pie crust pastries, cut into strips

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
Melt butter in a deep dish pie plate. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and sprinkle over
sliced peaches in the baking dish. Cut pie crust into strips and cover the peaches or layer between the fruit
layers. Dust top crust on top with light sprinkling of sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for approximately 45 minutes,
or until golden brown and fruit is "bubbly."





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