About the Farmer

At the L & B Produce booth at the Abingdon Farmers Market, there’s not an inch to spare on the three tables wrapping around Lionel Osborne in a U-shaped display.  Lionel is surrounded by produce: this week, it’s three kinds of green beans—blue lakes, half runners, and tenderettes—plus squash, zucchini, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage, and eggs.  

                To Lionel’s left, one arm of the U is covered with baked goods, courtesy of his sister, Brenda Thompson.  Brenda stands on the other side of the table, gloved hands doling out cinnamon rolls, sugared scones, preacher cookies, blueberry muffins, and old-fashioned oatmeal cake. 

                Lionel and Brenda also serve coffee, and that’s a good thing.  “I get up Friday at 5 o’clock in the morning,” said Brenda.  “I bake all day and stay up all night Friday baking, then come to the market Saturday.”  She smiled, and added, “I go to sleep Saturday night.” 

                The siblings have been familiar faces at the Abingdon market ever since the market’s permanent structure opened four years ago; before that, Lionel sold produce out of the market’s old location in a town parking lot for two years on his own. 

                “We’ve always lived on a farm, always grew what we ate,” said Lionel.  He and Brenda both still live on the land where they and three other brothers were raised.  “We sold milk,” Lionel said.  “That’s when we were just little tots.”

                “And I’ve been cooking my whole life,” said Brenda.  She held her hand at the height of the tabletop.  “Since I was this small, my mom used to stand me on a stool to reach the stove.”

                “We raised some tobacco,” Lionel said.  “And we raised cane and sold molasses.”

                Brenda broke in with a laugh.  “And we raised cane and didn’t sell it.”

                “That’s basically all I know, just farm life,” said Lionel.

                Lionel keeps a brutal schedule, working alone in the three acres of vegetable gardens scattered across his own land and Brenda’s.  “He’s out in the crops before daylight seven days a week,” said Brenda.  “And most nights when it gets dark I still see him out there.”

                Only a full-time venture since his retirement several years ago, farm work suits Lionel.   “You’re your own boss,” he said.  “And being out there working, it keeps your mind off other stuff.”  But the best part, he said, is the satisfaction at the end of a day’s work.  “If you’re out there hoeing weeds all day, when you get through the day, you can look back at what you done and know you worked hard,” he said.

                This year, Lionel faced some serious setbacks due to extreme weather.  “A lot of what I’ve grown got beat up twice by the hail,” he said.  “I had some squash, some cucumbers, some ‘maters that never did come back.  The hail just cut them ‘mater plants plumb in two.”  For the most part, though, the season has been a successful one, and Lionel has seen his customer base grow. 

                For Brenda, the biggest challenge of the business is the recent rise in prices on many of her staple ingredients.  To minimize the impact of those increases, she uses home-grown ingredients as much as possible.   When in season, fresh berries, apples, and other fruits make their way into her treats.

                “And I always use farm-fresh eggs from our own hens,” she said.  “If I don’t have enough fresh eggs, I don’t make it.  The texture and the flavor of store-bought eggs is just not the same.”  This is a crucial distinction for a business that can easily use over 10 dozen eggs in preparation for one Saturday at the market. 

                Lionel also enjoys the chance to connect with the community on market days.  “Other than this, I don’t get off the farm too much,” he said.  “And I’ve not had one customer complain about what they got here in seven years.”  He has enjoyed keeping in touch with regular customers, featuring new favorites with each change in the seasons.

                “In the fall, I’ll have some pumpkins, and apple butter,” he said.  “The apple butter’s homemade—I make it myself, and raise my own apples.”

                The pair’s other siblings still live nearby, along with Brenda’s four children and seven grandchildren, and Lionel’s two sons and three grandchildren.  “I can’t imagine any of them not being here,” said Brenda.  “We see each other every day.  And we feed ‘em a lot!”

                Considering the colorful bounty of fresh food that Lionel and Brenda have on display, the family can count themselves lucky. 

Article and photo by Paige Campbell