Ron Holdren grew up watching his father and grandfather farm, and in 1991 he and his wife Lisa established their nursery, Green Market Farms, and began growing an assortment of bedding plants. In 2000 they added two gardens, one in Pembroke and the other in Newport on Ron’s mother’s land, to grow vegetables that they could sell at local farmers markets.

Ron finds a lot of joy selling at the farmers market as he is a storyteller at heart, but he equally enjoys hearing about others’ adventures. He says, “I learn a lot from the customers because we have international travelers visiting Blacksburg every week. I get to take an imaginary trip to Spain or hear about someone’s trip to Prague for a music concert. You feel like you’ve been on a trip after a conversation at the market. Also, one minute I am selling coriander to someone from Southeast Asia, and the next minute I am selling someone a jar of homemade plum preserves. The mixture of people gives you a sense of being involved with a world community even though I haven’t left my home.”

Though he no longer attends the Blacksburg Farmer’s Market in person, Ron is in the greenhouses every day. He spends his time caring for the plants and running the GMF Farm Stand.