Kentucky Department of Agriculture

GEORGETOWN, Ky. - Garrison Thompson may be only 16 years old, but he’s done something that would make many of his fellow Kentucky Proud members envious.

The Scott County High School sophomore sold his vegetables at his hometown Kroger store in Georgetown this past summer. As if that wasn’t remarkable enough, Kroger couldn’t keep his Kentucky Proud produce on the shelves.

“Kentucky Proud – people are crazy for that,” Garrison said. “I took them [Kroger] 200 dozen ears of sweet corn, and they sold it in less than a day.”

The same thing happened when he delivered two bins of watermelons to Kroger. One hundred Kentucky Proud melons disappeared in less than 24 hours.

“That’s just because of Kentucky Proud,” Garrison noted. “They [consumers] love it.”

Garrison grossed more than $20,000 from sales of his vegetables. After paying back some “seed money” to his dad, Chris, and other expenses, he cleared $8,000. Not bad for a teenager’s summer job.

Chris Thompson went to high school in Tennessee with a person who worked at Kroger’s distribution center in Chattanooga. She put him in contact with Cynthia Logan, Kroger’s mid-South produce sales manager.

The Georgetown store sells the most produce in its district, close to $1,500 worth per day, Chris said.

“They’ve asked me to [supply vegetables again next year] since it was such a success,” Garrison said. “They were pleased. They want more Kentucky Proud. People see that [brand], and it sells.

“The produce manager said she could sit the same tomato grown in Arkansas next to one of mine, and even when my Kentucky Proud tomato is [priced] higher, it would sell. It’s wild!”

Perhaps Garrison’s greatest thrill last summer was taking friends into the Kroger produce section and pointing to his vegetables. “That’s pretty cool to walk into Kroger and say, ‘That’s mine. I grew that,’” he said.

After helping his family plant gardens in the past, this year he planted his own 3½-acre plot on his grandparents’ five acres near Stamping Ground. This time, he had the help of his family – his dad and mom, Janice, and 7-year-old brother, Jonathon – along with five friends, whom he paid.

“In the summer, we worked from 6 to 11 in the morning and 6 [p.m.] to dark,” he said of the eight-hour work schedule to avoid the hottest part of the day.

“Ever since he’s been little, he’s been out there in the garden,” said his aunt, Donna Brown. “He’s one of these kids that wants to be outside all the time. He’ll be outside in the garden before school.”

Garrison and his dad painstakingly restored a 1948 International Harvester Farmall tractor last winter for his Supervised Agricultural Experience project in FFA. Garrison used the tractor, which his dad once used to cultivate tobacco, to clear weeds and aerate the plants in his garden.

“It sat there probably 10 years,” Garrison said of the 63-year-old machine, which was repainted to its original bright red.

After starting his plants in a greenhouse, Garrison and his family set 4,000 tomato and 1,000 bell pepper plants in May and planted nearly an acre of sweet corn. They also planted cantaloupes, cucumbers, green beans, okra, onions, potatoes, pumpkins, squash, and watermelon. One of the watermelons placed second at the Kentucky State Fair.

Using his tomatoes, peppers, and onions, Garrison and his mom concocted a homemade salsa that was such a hit among family and friends that he plans to sell jars of it next year at Kroger. The only thing that stopped them this year was the lack of a bar code.

With a willing customer in Kroger, Garrison wants to double the size of his garden next year. His dad is looking at leasing a six-acre plot.

“I want to do seven acres next year,” he said. “Kroger is going to give me [stores in] Versailles and Georgetown next year.”

Garrison also sells his vegetables at Bradley’s IGA in Stamping Ground, Ken’s Market in Paris, Ky., and Evans Orchard in Georgetown.

Garrison’s decision to join Kentucky Proud in February paid off. He got an advertising and marketing grant of $1,245, which paid for, among other things, a Kentucky Proud banner and tomato boxes.

“I thought maybe it’ll help,” Garrison said of his Kentucky Proud membership. “It surprised me how much it did. It pushed it [sales] a lot.”

Garrison is planning on attending college in three years, but he still hasn’t decided whether to major in agriculture or engineering. Chris is an electrical engineer.

But while he’s still in school, Garrison plans to keep gardening every summer.

“He [Dad] taught me to do something all the way or nothing at all,” Garrison said. “I’m not going to settle for OK. I’m only going to sell them [Kroger] the best, especially since it’s being sold under Kentucky Proud.”

Top left: Garrison Thompson with a sampling of the vegetables he sold at the Georgetown Kroger and other stores. A Kentucky Proud grant helped pay for the banner. (Photo by Chris Aldridge)

Bottom Right: Garrison Thompson sits behind the wheel of the 1948 International Harvester Farmall tractor he and his father, Chris, restored. (Photo submitted)