Volusia County Fairgrounds

Family farm grows on faith

Where are Green Acre's Organics?

The Greens sell their veggies at three area markets. Look for them on Wednesdays from 7 a.m. to noon at the Volusia County Farmers' Market at the Fairgrounds, 3050 E. New York Ave., DeLand; Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Orange City Farmer's Market at Dickinson Park on the corner of U.S. 17-92 and East Graves Ave., and the first and third Saturdays of the month at the Barberville Farm Swap at the corner of State Road 40 and Lemmon Road. To reach the Greens, call 386-627-0326 or 386-627-0315, or e-mail gacrefarm@yahoo.com .

PIERSON -- Bill Green dug the hole just deep enough so the Bible wouldn't get tilled up in the farm field that flooded all too many times.

The act of faith on that hot summer afternoon would begin to change things at Green Acre's Organics, a 2.5-acre family farm deep in the Pierson countryside, off a trench-riddled sandy road.

Prayers poured over the land that day two years ago, and Bill shoveled soil back onto the sacred book, leveling the mound with his hands. His wife and two adult children watched, standing beside him on the property where they once lived in a tent.

Bill's the first to say "It sounds hokey.

"But I'm telling you this is what happened. When I started this farm, I didn't know what to do when the crop failed. And I said 'God what do I do?' " Bill said.

When weather didn't ruin crops, deer did.

"He said, 'Sow,' " Bill said. "So I did it again."

Standing in the field, his voice takes on the sound of a preacher, quickening with tempo.

"I buried a Bible out here because God's word -- I stand on it and he is my foundation. I couldn't have gone through what I did without him," he said, his voice quivering.

Zucchini and yellow squash will soon spring up in that once ill-fated corner where water would sit for weeks and where the Bible now lays. And after years of crop failures and trial and error, the Greens might even be in the black for the first time since dire straits brought them here 11 years ago.

***

Bill's wife, Ellen, will never forget the rains that poured onto their farm field two years ago. A tropical storm lingered over them for almost a week.

Zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes and tomatoes: all mush.

"You could walk through it and be up to your ankles in muck," she said.

Or up to your knees in water, Bill said.

They were counting on their children, Billy and Elizabeth, to take the vegetables to several farmers' markets that week. They would have sold well -- just in time for Memorial Day in May, when families gather round for homemade dishes like potato salad.

Volusia County Fair and Youth Show: Piccadilly Circus returns to ...

Known for providing affordable family fun for 25 years, the Piccadilly Circus has distributed coupons for children 13 and under to attend free. Distribution locations include churches and day-care centers. (Please call Piccadilly Circus for more details.) Buy one, get one free adult tickets are available online until 2 p.m. day of show. Purchase the BOGO adult tickets (or children's tickets, if buyers don't have a children's coupon) by logging onto www.thefuncircus.com an entering code "CIRCUS" in the checkout.

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