William Fletcher of Fletcher Farms. Photos by Collin Richie
For most of the years the Red Stick Farmers Market has been in existence, the Fletcher Farms booth has been set up at the market’s south end. William Fletcher, a personable father of three with the gift of gab, holds court with regulars who approach him for signature scarlet strawberries and fresh seasonal vegetables.
“I’m a fifth-generation strawberry farmer,” says Fletcher, who farms on 12 acres of family land in Ponchatoula with his wife and their sons.
Fletcher might have grown up among tractors and plowed earth, but the path to farming was anything but seamless.
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“My father didn’t want me to get into it, and really, his father didn’t want him to farm,” says Fletcher, who pursued a career in mortgage banking after graduating from LSU in 1986.
He worked in Tallahassee, Florida, before returning home, and he might have remained in the mortgage banking industry had he not heard about a new movement in which family farmers could sell directly to consumers. The Red Stick Farmers Market was then a new venture, and its founder, an LSU graduate student named Chris Campany, was attempting to recruit farmers who might embrace a different business model. It wasn’t based on growing commodity crops, but on smaller amounts of specialty crops raised to be sold directly to consumers by way of the farmers market.
Ultimately, Fletcher was convinced to get in the game and continue the family farm. He renewed its focus on cultivating strawberries and added other fresh produce, too. The farmers market has been the perfect outlet for profitable and satisfying sales to consumers. It’s also been a springboard to other ventures, including selling through the New Orleans area delivery service Good Eggs (goodeggs.com/nola), which operates like Country Table and Indie Plate in Baton Rouge. There are Good Eggs branches in the Bay Area, Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
This month, Fletcher—a former Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival King—will likely still have his signature strawberries at the Red Stick Farmers Market. He usually has them until around Mother’s Day. He’ll also have the beginnings of summer produce, including yellow summer squash, green and gold zucchini, cucumbers and snap beans.
Later in the month, look for the first of Fletcher’s summer tomatoes. This year, he’ll feature the heirloom variety Cherokee Purple, as well as Bella Rosa, a variety of Creole tomato that has won taste tests at the LSU Burden Center’s research station, Fletcher says. As the summer progresses, Fletcher will have sweet white corn, cantaloupe and other succulent fresh produce.
“The concept of having direct-to-consumer sales wasn’t an option for my dad and granddad,” Fletcher says. “For me, it’s been so rewarding. I’m literally selling them their supper.”
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ONLINE:
• Find out more about Fletcher Farms at fletcherstrawberryfarm.com.
• The Red Stick Farmers Market is held every Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon, on North Fifth Street between Main and North streets. Find out more at breada.org.
WHAT’S FRESH NOW
Find these at the farmers market this month:
Artichokes
Asparagus
Beets
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Greens
Parsley
Strawberries
Tomatoes