By Carrie Frye – Staff Writer

Remember when you took your first bite of vine-ripened, fresh and juicy tomato? It is probably a fond memory for most, and it also something that inspired Harry Webster, 70, and his wife Sara, of Cameron.

“I wanted to raise tomatoes that taste like they did when I was growing up eating them out in the field,” says Harry, who grew up on a farm in Lee County.

When the couple retired in 2002, they built a new home and rekindled their interest in gardening.

“We wanted a little garden just for us,” Sara says. “Then we went to Pittsboro and took some of the sustainable gardening classes.”

After finishing up a series of classes in 2003, the Websters’ passion for gardening turned into the 40-acre Millstone Farm and Gardens. Their first harvest of fresh vegetables came in 2004, and the growing seasons haven’t stopped yet.

After meeting several people involved with the Carrboro Farmers Market, the Websters were anxious to try their hand at cultivating a Farmers Market in Moore County. And with only a couple of fellow vendors with them at the time, they started a weekly market and have created quite a following for fresh produce.

Among the fertile fields that turn out squash, peas, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupes, kale, broccoli, beets, lettuces, collards, sugar snap peas and of course, plenty of tomatoes, everything begins with a seed. The Websters have a seed house where all their plants start with Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). They also employ hoop houses, old greenhouses with no artificial heat, for their tomatoes, which allows them to extend those weather-dependent growing seasons.

“We are able to start the tomatoes early, setting them out the first week of March and have blossoms by the end of the month,” says Sara.

And there are plenty of varieties of tomatoes to choose from at the Millstone Farm like the golden nuggets and yellow gold cherry tomatoes, Brandywine, heirloom, Cherokee purple, big beef and the infamous mortgage lifter, a tomato developed to be less acidic and less tangy which is said to have paid off the grower’s mortgage.
The Websters and their fresh produce can be found at three Farmers Markets locations weekly in Moore County now through October.

From their humble beginnings, they have grown a market full of vendors all from within a 50-mile radius. The Morganton Road Farmers Market in Southern Pines is open Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Downtown Farmers Market is open Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the corner of Broad Street and New York Avenue in Southern Pines. And the Websters latest hot spot is the FirstHealth Fitness Center lower parking lot near Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst on Mondays from 2 to 6 p.m.

“Our main goal is to keep food safe and locally grown,” Sara says.

And just in time for the celebration of National Salad Month in May, the Websters should have a variety of fresh lettuces and tomatoes at the markets. For more information on the Farmers Market, e-mail hwwebster@embarqmail.com or visit http://www.localharvest.org/farmers-markets/M25234 or www.millstonefarmandgardens.com.