ShawneeDispatch.com

The recent weather has frustrated Charlie Clarke -- though it's not the first time he's been called a frustrated farmer.

In the 35 or so years the Shawnee resident has been gardening on his three acres, he's faced several challenges. Over the past few years, the biggest challenge had been the deer that forced him to put up a fence for the first time. But this year, his enemy is something he has even less control over: frost.

With a work light at his feet, Charlie Clarke toils in his Shawnee garden well after the sun has set. The light was a gift from a friend who knew of Clarke's habit of working in the dark with only a handheld flashlight.

The frost earlier this week took out most of the 30 tomato plants he had planted, and his asparagus are struggling. The strawberries and potatoes don't seem to mind the sudden drops in temperatures, though.

Mostly he is frustrated because he gets such joy out of working the land and seeing things grow, something he learned growing up on a farm in Texas. But he's also a little frustrated because it means he won't have quite as much to bring to the first day of the Shawnee Farmer's Market, which begins this Saturday and will run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. each Saturday through Oct. 29.

Though they've been going to the market for about six years, gardening is something Clarke, his wife Judy and his six children have enjoyed for longer than they can remember.

"I don't think I've ever been without something growing," Charlie says. "Have I?" He looks at Judy for confirmation.

"No, I don't think so," she replies.

Now that the couple has just 9-year-old Micah at home to help out every now and then, Charlie spends a lot of time in his garden. He's even set up some lights so his gardening is not limited by the hours of daylight.

He tried to estimate the hours he spends each day working in the garden with not much more than a hoe, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, now that he's retired from his roofing business.

"Sometimes I spend five to six hours at one whack," Charlie said. "Being as I have no equipment, probably too long."

The couple grows all of their plants from seeds, and they don't use any chemical pesticides -- Charlie makes his own pesticide, which has canola oil and skim milk as two of its main ingredients. They also have developed their own method of rotating the plants each year to make the most of the soil.

"We used to make a little map of everything, but you find that after you work in it so much all summer, you remember," Judy said.

The Clarkes used to garden only for their own enjoyment, selling a few things at a table along the road in front of their house. But Judy said the garden just kept growing and growing, and about six years ago, Charlie got really ambitious and announced that he would set out 100 tomato plants.

"I said, ‘If you do, you're taking it up to the market like (family friend) Jim Hayes does, because we can't eat that many," Judy said.

Since then, the Clarkes have had a fairly regular booth at the Shawnee market, where farmers can pay $5 each Saturday they wish to reserve a space to sell their wares, which must be either locally grown or hand-made.

Over the years, Charlie has made full use of the several seed catalogues he orders from, trying out something new almost every year. But the shoppers at the market are the biggest determining factor: whatever sells, he grows.

"The customers teach you what to bring," Charlie said.

At the request of customers, the Clarkes have tried their hand at okra and jalapeños. Broccoli was a popular item that became part of the yearly garden, along with corn and the now 300 or so tomato plants. Freshness is also an important element for the Clarkes; it's something their loyal customers know them for.

"If we are going to the market, we try to pick (the plants) the day before," Judy said.

This caused some problems the summer they grew 19 different varieties of tomatoes, the summer people at the market started calling Charlie the "tomato king."

"When we picked them, we had to keep them all separate, and that was a job in itself," Judy said.

When fall comes around, the pumpkins are the Clarkes' most popular item. They both make sure the pumpkins grow nice and large -- one was about 100 pounds a couple of years ago -- and then Judy adds a special touch, painting them with popular cartoon characters, local sports team logos and, of course, the usual Halloween skeletons and jack-o'-lanterns.

Judy attracted a lot of attention in 2001, after the Sept. 11 attacks, when she painted patriotic images of the flag, the Liberty Bell and the Statue of Liberty and quickly sold out. She said she might not have started painting the pumpkins had Charlie not insisted.

"I got started, got into it and started having fun with it," she said.

Though they are well known for their quality products at the market these days, the Clarkes still sell items from the table in front of their house. Sometimes things sell so well, they don't even have enough to take to the Saturday market.

Remarkably, they don't "staff" their table at all times. They just set out a box in which people leave their money for the items they take.

"It's the honor system; they just leave their money here," Judy said. "We've never had any problems."

The Clarkes said they love to see the market regulars, both customers and fellow gardeners, and the regulars at the table in front of their house. But even if they made no money at all, it's likely the Clarkes would still grow things in the garden, for the love of working the earth.

"It's kind of neat to see all that stuff grow," Judy said. "It's neat to come down and find all the different shapes and colors growing."