Van Cheeseman at Bluebird Farm

Butterflies flutter along the rows of flowers on Van Cheeseman’s 39 acres in rural Holly Springs, Mississippi. For the last year, Van has farmed and lived on his new spread, surrounded by his roosters, hens, ducks and five dogs. His wife Marilyn is the assistant director at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. She commutes to work in Memphis each day, but Van stays behind contentedly farming their land. Formerly a landscaper and garden designer for 20 years, he enjoyed gardening, but never grew flowers or food crops for a living. Now he works full time on the 1/4 acre he has in cultivation. He focuses primarily on flowers such larkspur, tuberoses, sunflowers, marigolds, cockscomb, ornamental grasses, amaranth (traditionally a grain) and zinnias. Van also experiments with different food crops to see which ones grow best in the Mississippi summer heat. At the moment, peppers, purple okra, tomatoes, gourds, asparagus, squash, greens and edamame (edible soybeans) are under cultivation. Next season he hopes to harvest the yellow and pink raspberries he planted this year along with other kinds of berries he grows.

Since his landscaping days have ended, Van’s outlook on life has changed. According to Van, “I want to expand my cut flower production by cultivating four or five additional acres on my farm. To do this, I want to hire the local underserved population of Benton County, a poor county with many living at the poverty level,” he says. “I was in a rat race for many years. I really enjoy working for myself now, setting my own schedule and goals.”

You can find Van every Saturday at the Memphis Farmers Market, apron around his waist, sitting behind his green-checked covered table at stall # 30.