By Mason W. Canales
Killeen Daily Herald
COPPERAS COVE — Every Saturday and Monday since Rabbit Fest in May, some local growers have set up baskets of fresh vegetables, fruits and herbs at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8577, 1506 Veterans Ave.
“We have been at the VFW for five years or more,” said Copperas Cove resident Curtis Holman, secretary of the Copperas Cove Farmers Market. “We are in the parking lot, and it is an open air market.”
From four to six people sell their fresh vegetables at the market. Holman said he started growing and selling his own vegetables after he retired from the military in 1989.
“It is a good hobby,” he said, noting that the best hobbies are ones that are free and make a profit.
Ferrell Davis, another grower who frequents the Copperas Cove Farmers Market, has a similar philosophy.
“Before I was out here selling, I was just giving it away,” Davis said.
Davis purchased about 4½ acres in Killeen after he retired from the military because he wanted to grow vegetables, fruits and herbs.
“I have all kinds of stuff,” he said. “I have some apple trees, some pear trees, peach trees and more.”
Davis’ table Friday at the Killeen Farmers Market, where he also sells his produce, contained figs, peppers, egg plants, onions, basil, oregano, potatoes and okra.
Holman, who also sells at the Killeen Farmers Market, offered similar items — potatoes, green tomatoes, yellow onions, red onions, squash, cucumbers and okra.
What they bring to the market is always changing, Holman said.
“I grow whatever Mother Nature says it is OK to grow,” Holman said, adding this year has been bad for green beans.
Growing vegetables in his garden keeps him active as does selling his produce, he said.
“For me it is a lot of fun,” Holman said. “I do it because it is a pleasurable thing for me to do, and I love to see the way Mother Nature works.”