Company taking Virginia produce from farm to table

By Darrell Laurant

Published: June 29, 2008

Circumstances took Brett Wilson out of the farm, but … well, you know the old saying.

In the end, the call of the soil proved stronger than a Yale education, and the former Oregon sheep farmer wound up following the lead of Elton John’s defiant “Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road” proclamation: “You can’t plant me in your penthouse — I’m going back to my plough.”

In the metaphorical sense, at least. Wilson wasn’t actually in a penthouse, but a cubicle, working his way up in the financial business. Then, drawing on his experience as a member of the Yale rowing team, he coached that sport at a succession of private schools and ran a rowing camp in Charlottesville.

“I guess it started with gleaning apples at an orchard near Charlottesville,” said Wilson, founder of Horse & Buggy Produce. “It was just killing me to see those apples rotting on the ground.”
Later, he started growing tomatoes for several local restaurants.

“Somebody said, ‘You should make those available for everyone,’” Wilson recalled.

The call of his youth was growing stronger. Moreover, Wilson was sensing the turning of a tide.

“I’d go in grocery stores and look at the produce, and everything was from California or Chile, or someplace else far away,” he said.

“Even the produce labeled as organic had to be shipped in. It wasn’t fresh, and it just didn’t taste the same as fruits and vegetables that are fresh.”

So Wilson began talking with local farmers about the possibility of delivering fresh produce locally.

“Some of the Mennonites up in the Shenandoah Valley already had a co-op going,” Wilson said, “but they needed help with expanding their markets, which was exactly what I wanted to help them with.”

The name “Horse & Buggy produce” is a tribute to those farmers and their way of life. But Wilson’s association with the Mennonites was only a start. He also made contact with other growers in Central Virginia and created a network of products ranging from vegetables and fruits to flowers, honey, beef and even trout.

“I started working out of my apartment two years ago,” Wilson said, “and in no time I had 100 subscribers in the Charlottesville area.”

Horse & Buggy reached Lynchburg last year, thanks to a local woman named Nancy Allen.

“She practically begged me to come to Lynchburg,” he said. “I told her if she could come up with 150 subscribers, we’d do it. She got 147, and I told her, ‘That’s close enough.’”

Wilson now makes a run to Lynchburg every Thursday (3:30 to 6:30 p.m.), delivering the fruits of 106 small farms to First Christian Church, where customers pick up whatever happens to be in season. Subscribers sign up for a year, according to single, couple or family rates.

“I thought it might be complicated,” said Terri Miller, a Lynchburg customer, “but it has been the easiest and nicest experience so far. You meet the nicest people, fellow customers. My husband and I like going to the Market on Saturdays but this assures me produce that is from Virginia and for the most part naturally grown and spray free.”

The fish, chicken and beef are a bit pricier than the fruits and vegetables and are marketed separately.

Of course, Wilson and business partner April Muniz (a former customer who asked him if he needed help) still have to contend with the vagaries of agriculture.

“We offered rhubarb this spring,” Wilson said, “and it just got cooked during that hot spell. Early on, we provide a lot of Swiss chard and collards and other greens. Later, we’ll get into other things.”
One of the reasons Wilson relates well to farmers is that he is a realist.

“Generally, our farmers don’t use pesticides,” he said, “but Virginia can be a hot and muggy place in late summer, and that often means bug problems. So sometimes, they have to spray a mild synthetic. We just try to keep it to a minimum.

“So is our produce completely organic? I’d have to say no. Is it the best looking? Probably not. But it’s fresh.

“Fresh food does taste different. I’ve had people say, ‘Are you sure that was spinach I picked up? It tastes sweet.’”

The company now has an actual building and a warehouse, Wilson said.

“We keep growing.”

Just like Swiss chard. And on occasion, he even gets to dip his hands into dirt.

Customers look over baskets of potatoes and squash at First Christian Church in Lynchburg on Thursday.