Greenville teen starts his own urban farm, invited to set up pop-up shop at Judson Mill
When winter drives the world inside, Jeremiah Eller does something that generations of farmers have done. He plans for spring and summer, deciding what seeds to germinate and what crops will meet the needs of his community. The difference is that Jeremiah is 13 years old.
Jeremiah started his Greenville-based urban farm with a business letter that he wrote to a neighbor who had an empty lot.
“I asked if I could rent it for 25 percent of the produce the plants generate,” he said.
With tasty tomatoes, sweet corn, and watermelon on the table, that would be a tough deal to turn down.
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“I got interested in gardening when we lived in England,” he said. “My early life was in England, we moved there when I was 2, and everyone there had vegetable gardens. They would invite people over, and because I was a little kid, they would sometimes invite me over to pick strawberries or beans and take some home. That was always really fun. We didn't have much of a yard in England, so we couldn't plant or grow anything.”
When the family returned stateside, they lived in Texas, where the hot climate limited Jeremiah’s efforts, but in the Upstate, his hobby and his business are thriving in their fourth year of growth. Jeremiah’s 2022 crop included cherry tomatoes, several types of peppers, potatoes, corn, cucumbers, watermelons, basil, parsley, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli and more. He starts almost all of his plants from seed, and he kicks off his business year by selling plants to other gardeners. He pays his rent in produce, eats plenty, and sells and donates the remaining vegetables.
The business earns Jeremiah “pocket money,” but he probably won’t make farming his career.
“I might just have a hobby farm or a vegetable patch, but right now it is sort of my career,” he said.
The business continues to grow, and Jeremiah has been invited to set up a pop-up shop to sell seedlings next year at the Feed & Seed Co. food hub at Judson Mill.
“I think it's been a great opportunity for him first of all, to reach out to an adult, to put himself out there and risk disappointment,” Kristen Eller, Jeremiah’s mom, said. “It has been great to see him have to care for something that's living because if you don't attend to it properly, it won't make it. And then the other thing is just trying to be flexible. The last two years, his watermelons were amazing, but this year, they're not doing so well, so you have to problem solve.”
Through it all, Jeremiah said he has learned to plan ahead, assess his market – he surveys his neighbors to find out what vegetables they want – and learn firsthand about supply chains, buying in bulk and more. He is passing along his lessons to other budding entrepreneurs as well.
“You have to plan the time for it,” he said. “You can't do an entire business in just five minutes, you have to set it up. And I would also start with the people you know because they're more likely to buy from you than strangers.”
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: After living in England, teen started his own urban farm in Greenville
