Grower Embraces Farm-to-Table Concept - The Ledger
Facts RODGER HOWLAND BILBREY DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: Feb. EDUCATION: Winter Haven High School, Class of 1978. HOBBY: Gardening. DRIVES: A 1999 Ford F-250 diesel. LEAST LIKED VEGETABLE: Asparagus. By May, the new potatoes will be ready for harvest, along with a cornucopia of spring vegetables — lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini and cantaloupes. Bilbrey, who turns 55 on Feb. 20, coaxes from his oversized backyard garden enough food for dozens of Polk County families who buy shares of his bounty through community supported agriculture, a concept gaining traction in the United States with roughly 4,000 farms, according... Shoppers at Lakeland's Saturday morning downtown farmers market also have access to Bilbrey's array of produce from large sprays of dark, green collards to more exotic-sounding products like burgundy okra, blue potatoes and fairy tale eggplant. Bilbrey Family Farm is the only CSA operating in Polk County, though a Fort Meade operation is expected to begin selling memberships in about a year under the direction of Daniel Weisgarber, a 29-year-old from Lakeland who looks to Bilbrey for... "Rodger is one of the more old-school guys" who can talk from experience, said Weisgarber, whose six-acre spread will produce a broad range of vegetables. Unlike the Auburndale CSA, Weisgarber's Radiant Farms will employ volunteer labor in exchange for goods. Source: www.theledger.com
