Rows of purple glazer garlic (above) grow happy at Honey Bear Farm. (Right) A variety of herbs are available for sale at Honey Bear Farm. Visitors also enjoy the farm’s herb garden, where they can see mature plants and better visualize how to use them in their
landscape.PHOTOS/JENNIFER BOLING, CEC.
Honey Bear Farm Takes Root F
A preference for fresh food blossoms into a business
irst they fell in love and got married, and then they fell in love with southeast Oklahoma. It’s the perfect beginning for a local business that specializes in raising and selling tasty vegetables, sweet smelling flowers and hardy trees, shrubs and fruit trees all raised free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.
Honey Bear Farm, located outside Broken Bow is the accidental dream of Phil and Sandy Harris. The couple came to the area in 2006 to retire and pursue their mutual passion for growing things for their personal enjoyment on their newly purchased 16 acres.
At least, that was their intention. As Sandy tells it, they tilled their plot but were not satisfied with the variety of plants available locally. Instead, the couple located sources for heirloom vegetable seeds, which they nurtured into healthy producing plants. Friends and neighbors
8 | july 2013
began to notice their unique plants and asked where they could get them. “We gave some away, then sold a few, and then word just spread,” said Sandy.
Soon they were in the gardening business, propagating seeds, and raising heirloom vegetables and produce to sell locally. “Next we started selling flowers and perennials, and then we added herbs and trees,” she said. “Every year we started offering something else.”
The couple are adamant about raising plants and produce without chemicals. Their philosophy extends to their livestock, which includes a few pigs, horses and chickens, a small herd of Barbados Blackbelly sheep, and one tame deer “We shy away from anything that could be harmful to the soil, plants, animals or humans,” Sandy said.
Their chemical-free commitment plus the farm’s expansive variety of heirloom tomatoes and other vegetables is attracting customers. Some drive from Texas, Arkansas and
Louisiana to buy plants and produce.
“We raise over 45 varieties of heirloom tomatoes. That’s our specialty,” Sandy said, adding that 75 to 80 percent of what they sell are heirloom plants or seeds. All of their plants and trees are adapted to the local climate and selected for strength and hardiness.
The farm also offers a free community garden, with plots available to the public at no charge. They also host educational seminars on various gardening topics throughout the year.
It’s a lot to keep up with, but they love it, Sandy says. Will they ever retire? “Maybe when we quit breathing,” Sandy says, laughing. “Neither one of us are very good at sitting down.” ■
To contact Honey Bear Farm, call 580-306-6020 or 580-584-6022, or visit
www.honeybear-ranch.com. To find it, take Highway 3 west from Broken Bow for 2.5 miles. Turn north at the Fina Gas Station and travel 0.9 miles. Look for their sign on the left.
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