Tanya's Garden

Owners: Tanya and Harold Thurman
Started: about 2002
Address: State 77, Farmer’s Market
Hours: 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Telephone: 785-5621
E-mail: yellobeetlebug@yahoo.com



Tanya’s Garden offers an enclave to the hubbub of city life and offers farmfresh produce.

“It’s just a little country store,” said owner Harold Thurman, a life-long farmer who always wanted to own his own fruit or vegetable stand.

Thurman farms his own 40 acres and then travels to other farms, collecting produce for the store near Lynn Haven. He has never known any other life outside of farming.

Customers come to Tanya’s searching for raw milk, fresh home-styled greens or specialty meats smoked the old-fashioned way. An elderly lady brought in pecan and peanut brittle to sell Wednesday. In a chest cooler, owner Tanya Thurman shows off homemade seven-layer cakes. On afternoons, the store gets its busiest, she said.

The store is open to the outside with fruit stacked outside. People stop by to chat and talk about the proper way to prepare foods. Shoppers come looking for Amish butter or free-range eggs.

“I always get fresh produce here,” said Charlotte Strickland, a Lynn Haven resident who stopped by for eggs.

The News Herald: What makes your store unique?

Tanya Thurman: My husband is the only full-time farmer in Bay county. We don’t sell much commercial.

Harold Thurman: We sell the organic milk. We sell the real, real butter. It’s just an old fashioned store in the middle of town. We’ve got peas. We clean and bag greens the old-fashioned way.

NH: What’s the best part of owning this business?

TT: The people. You don’t get rich farming.

Read more: http://www.newsherald.com/articles/tanya-79130-talk-let.html#ixzz1eHxs4tHd