There are two ways to reap the benefits of the
Christmasville Flower Patch, a unique flower and
vegetable establishment owned and operated by Tommy
and Martha Bobo. They harvest three times a week to
provide in bountiful measure flowers, herbs - whatever
is in season - at the flea market in Huntingdon on
Tuesdays and at Jackson's farmers' market Thursdays
and Saturdays.
But perhaps the best experience is strolling
first-hand through the grass-carpeted medians of
colorful flowerbeds through which butterflies meander
in pursuit of sweet nectar. It's a journey unlike that
encountered in most greenhouse and gardening
enterprises. Cultivated almost completely without the
aid of chemicals (only post-emergence herbicide was
used on non-edibles) the gardens are fertilized for
the most part with barnyard manure and compost
accumulated onsite in bins that serve as catch basins
for table scraps, old straw, grass clippings...
"Anything we can get," say the Bobos.
Instead of pesticides, the Flower Patch boasts chicken
and guineas that prowl the grounds, leisurely pecking
through the grass for unseen bug treats. The birds,
new this year, have created a tick-free environment in
contrast with last year. And most recently, Tommy
added ducklings to the mixture, raising them in a
recycled baby crib reinforced with chicken wire.
"I knew we were going to come home with ducks when we
went to market; there was no doubt in my mind,"
declares Martha, smiling. The week before Tommy,
relaxing at the end of the day in peaceful
contemplation of the birds foraging at the edge of the
woods, had mused, "I think we need two or three little
ducklings to go with them chickens and guineas."
In its second year, the Bobos refer to the gardens
variously as "an experiment" and "a work in progress."
In addition to the main garden, a smaller garden of
perennials lies across the gently rolling fields, and
an herb garden, edged and terraced in wood with thyme
slowly creeping to create ground cover around its
periphery, sits atop the next hill, below which,
circling back toward the main area of garden and barn,
another garden produces more herbs, melons and florals.
Perhaps unable to resist, nature supplies its own
additions to the project with wild mountain mint and
black-eyed susans growing along a path through the
woods where an experiment in raising shitake mushrooms
in rows of upright post-sized logs has ended for the
year.
Back at the barn, Tommy and Martha take pride in
revealing the "Green Acres" aspect of the operation
that is without electricity or running water. At the
rear of the structure a gutter collects runoff from
the roof, filling barrels and buckets and tubs in a
plentiful supply of water for irrigation.
And there one can see as well the "contraption" Tommy
devised to lay out the four-feet beds the couple says
"makes it easy to harvest and a pain to weed": The
long wooden tool features a "T" at the bottom into
which four cotton picker spindles set a foot apart
drag through plowed earth to mark the rows for
planting. Needless to say, the willing mules pulling
the double-handled contraption are none other than
Tommy and Martha, who agree that, this year, their
efforts at expanding the operation may have exceeded
what they alone can handle.
Yet the land itself is in their blood, adjoining the
farm that has been in the Ford family - Martha's
ancestors - for over 100 years. It's just one more
adventure for the family that was, in essence, founded
on adventure.
Martha was a student in junior high the first time she
saw Gibson County born-and-raised Tommy in 1967. Home
from the Peace Corps, he was in Trezevant at the home
of his first cousin, Danny Bobo, who was married to
Martha's sister, Janice. Clean-cut but wearing
sandals, Tommy's appearance left Martha aghast. He was
a "hippie", she decided, writing him off as too
otherworldly.
But in fact, small town values had proved valuable to
the youthful idealist intent on making a difference.
"I was 19 when I joined the Peace Corps, young and
fancy-free. I thought I could change the world and I
did the best I could to do that," he says.
After two years in India, living in the countryside
among the people he taught modern methods of poultry
production, 22-year-old Tommy had been accepted to the
University of Alaska. The draft board had other ideas,
however, and the prospect of being drafted took Tommy
to his nearest recruiter. After almost a year of
training as a helicopter pilot, Tommy was on his way
to Vietnam where, as a warrant officer, he piloted
helicopters that provided cover for gunships.
By the time he returned in 1971, Martha had grown up,
graduated from Trezevant High School, and, after
attending West Tennessee Business College, was working
as a secretary for Roy Towater at the Farm Bureau
office. Tommy was staying with Danny and Janice while
getting his bearings.
"I blame all this on Danny," Tommy laughs.
He called Martha, ostensibly to talk about Farm Bureau
insurance, when she advised him she didn't discuss
business after hours.
"Well, maybe we could go to a movie or something," he
countered. That worked.
"After I got her interested I loaded up everything in
the world I owned and went to Alaska," he said,
admitting soon enough that he returned eight months
later simply because he missed her.
This time when he returned, he wasn't the clean-cut,
sandaled hippie she had abhorred in her younger years.
It was a longhaired, full-bearded wild man that
greeted her on the evening of October 31, 1972, and
she welcomed him with open arms.
The couple married May 5 and moved to Jackson where he
worked as an insurance adjuster for Farm Bureau for 15
years, turning down a chance to work as a pilot in
Alaska.
Always interested in nature and science, he realized
there was neither nature nor science in his career.
With two years of college under his belt when he'd
joined the Peace Corps, he returned to the University
of Tennessee at Martin and, 25 years after he'd begun,
earned his degree in geology. He later received his
master's degree from Idaho State University in
Pocatello.
Martha worked at the university as a transcript
evaluator and Tommy worked first in a nuclear
engineering lab in the oversight of processing spent
nuclear fuel from submarines and then as an
environmentalist with the Shoshone-Bannock Native
American tribes overseeing Department of Energy
nuclear programs impacting their lands.
The couple's plans in 1999 were to spend their
retirement traveling. With oldest son Alan a
successful businessman in Pullman, Washington and Ryan
a teacher and coach in Napa, Idaho, Tommy and Martha
took their travel trailer and headed north through
Canada to Alaska, where they wintered in a rented
chalet.
"We enjoyed living in Seward," says Martha, recalling
good libraries, moose and bear wandering around, and
picking blueberries by the bucket full while Tommy
harvested wild mushrooms. "We got to know the people
in town when tourists left and cruise ships stopped
coming in."
Nine months into their adventure they came back to
West Tennessee and, a year later, The Christmasville
Flower Patch took form.
In addition to well-known varieties of flowers and
vegetables, the Bobos enjoy presenting the public with
unique items like pink-eyed purple hull peas, red
okra, Mexican sunflowers, and green zinnias, gladiolus
(when available) and bells of Ireland. Among their
herbs are chocolate mint and stevia, its leaves 300
times sweeter than sugar. In the fall, broom straw and
Indian corn will provide new options for decorating
and bouquets.
Bin after bin of fresh cut flowers and more await
shoppers at Huntingdon and Jackson's establishments.
But for a really good time, call the Christmasville
Flower Patch at 731-352-2679.
Martha readies flowers for market.
