Cassville Community Garden taking shape near Bill Hailey Arena

By Kyle Troutman ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com

Literally in their business and figuratively in the community, Lainey and Joseph Harvick are planting roots in Cassville.

The husband-wife team opened Harvick Farms in March 2022, reinvigorating the nursery at 16062 State Hwy. 76. They moved to Cassville by way of Forth Worth, Texas, where Lainey was an emergency room nurse and Joseph was a police officer.

“It was a reprieve to work in the garden and farm,” she said. “We moved here five years ago to give our kids a the life we wanted for them. One day, I stopped at the neighbor’s house and asked them for one of the greenhouses here, and he said I could have one if I took the whole place. He didn’t know who he was talking to.”

In the last 14 months, the building and greenhouses have gone from empty and abandoned to full of plant life and bustling with patrons not only looking to buy plants, vegetables or flowers, but also looking to learn.

The Harvicks host gardening and homesteading classes twice per week, they planted an orchard in the fall with the intent of opening a produce stand, and they have spearheaded the Barry County Community Garden on the north end of Cassville near Bill Hailey Arena and Crowder Cassville.

“We had 10 classes in 2022 and want to do 40 this year,” Lainey said. “We’ve already done 12. We want to build relationships with the schools, like Crowder and Cassville, and the FFAs. We have classes on mushrooms, beekeeping, sourdough baking, composting, ‘What’s Bugging My Plants,’ permaculture and more. We take the approach of engaging not just one group of people but a larger group. We took our surveys and polls from last year and cater classes to what people want.”

Classes at Harvick Farms are on Thursdays and Saturdays, and all are free.

“We have 15-25 people per class on Thursdays and Saturdays during the peak of the season,” Lainey said.

On the north end of the property, the Harvicks have a budding orchard that will help fill out a fruit and vegetable stand soon.

“We are also working with the Cassville Pantry for food security and sustainability,” Lainey said. “People have a need, and we want to help.”

Through the feedback from the classes, Lainey said the Community Garden went from an idea to a reality.

“We reached out at an Extension meeting and determined it would be sustainable,” she said. “We just needed a place. David Samuel offered to lease some land to the Extension, and offered free water. From there, they said, “Go forth.” We have a great team, and the Extension gave us $500 to make it all happen. A handful of people have been working as a group to get it going.”

Lainey said other donations have come in, realizing the goal of making the Community Garden a community endeavor.

“It’s truly a community project because Barry Electric gave us mulch, Corky Stehlik donated the structures for the raised beds, and the city and Flat Creek have donated dirt,” she said. “Cassville FFA studens also made some raised beds, which helped add plots and options. It’s a very strong group of people helping us figure things out and get going. Nine plots are accounted for, and we have 33 total. People can apply for a plot on our website or on Facebook, there is a Barry County Community Garden Group and the application is there.”

The Harvicks hope the project will serve many purposes, including offering a space to people who may not have it.

“So many people do not have the space or are in apartments or can’t afford the water,” Lainey said. “There’s a social aspect to it, too, for people to garden together. It also is a way to get the kids out. We’ve had lots of moms sign up to be able to garden with their kids. We’ll also do tours for Crowder, 4-H and the Scouts, and the Barry County Master Gardeners will have classes there too.”

Plots are $25 for the season and are 4×20 feet. People can find the application at www.harvickfarms. com.

Lainey said over the past year in business, the Harvicks have continued to learn and hope to continue to expand.

“We have a constant need to learn and ask questions all day, and we don’t have all the answers” she said. “But, we work with the MU Extension and the community and get them. We use our resources and like to build partnerships. Looking at the wholistic, big picture is helping us thrive.”

Also helping the project thrive are a number of individual volunteers and business sponsors. Individuals involved include: Melissa Hamilton, Charlie Phaneuf, Emily Kaufman, Jay Butler, Rusty Arnold, Robert Balek, Noelle Harmon, Jordan Ellis, Shaun Kahler and Jessica Chisamore.

Businesses that have donated to the project so far include: MU Extension, Barry Electric, Barry County Ready Mix LLC, city of Cassville, AireServ, Flat Creek Excavation, 7 Valleys Vineyard LLC and Harvick Farms.