Dawsonville, Ga. -- Bradley Weaver was never much for sports. Aside from the soccer he played through middle school, athletics just didn't interest him, he said. The only field that really occupies his mind is four acres filled with pumpkins.
Weaver, 18, has been growing pumpkins since he was 5, a business he developed and runs with the help of his two favorite farmhands: his mom and dad, former teachers Karen and Tony Weaver. In his first year, Bradley helped his dad harvest a small crop and sold them roadside.
“He made $50 or $60 that year and he thought that was pretty cool,” Tony Weaver said.
As Bradley grew, so did the pumpkin business. What was a roadside stand has become a real farm dubbed Bradley's Pumpkin Patch. In the weeks before Halloween, families, church groups and school children tour his family's farm, buying heirloom pumpkins, home-made goods and toys. His father takes the groups on hayrides across the family's 70-acre property.
Located not far from famed pumpkin dealer Burt's Farm, Bradley's Pumpkin Patch has garnered a small following during the past decade and brought the teen major attention. In October, he won a national award from the National FFA Organization, formerly the Future Farmers of America. A 2009 graduate of Dawson County High School, Weaver competed against people from across his local area, state and country to win the top prize in the agricultural sales category.
Winning wasn't about how much money his operation yielded (about $80,000 during his four high school years) or the breadth of his offerings; it also came down to authenticity, said Weaver's FFA adviser, Reggie Stowers.
"When he answered the questions, you knew he had been in the field. It was believable it was his," Stowers said. "In other cases, it may be that Daddy has a hay business, but he let Junior run it for a year."
Stowers first met Bradley when he was in eighth grade and looking for a reputable high school agriculture program from which he could learn and grow. Stowers, a former student of Weaver's dad, already knew of Bradley's Pumpkin Patch.
“I told him that day – I know your business can win some awards," Stowers recalled. "I didn’t really think it would take until his senior year to get there, but it was all in God’s plan.”
And God's plan is what Bradley says he is following. A member of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Bradley said he prays about all of his decisions before taking action.
Some of those decisions were risky, but his parents say they let Bradley make and learn from his own mistakes. Take, for instance, the year he tried to sell tabletop Christmas trees, which he discovered was a decorating no-no for the Dawson County area. Other decisions, such as opening a gift shop on-site in his grandfather's barn, have been successes. This year, they relocated the store to the Palmour House, a historic home given to him two years ago by Cliff and Irene McClure. Bradley moved the home piece by piece from downtown Dawsonville to his family's farm. The Weavers also sell Christmas trees, daffodils and day lilies.
Teresa Stanton goes to Bradley's Pumpkin Patch each October with the Alpharetta Inclusive Homeschoolers group.
“At first [we came] because of Bradley, because he is such a good influence on kids. Then because his dad tells such great stories and the kids love the hayrides,” Stanton said on a recent visit.
Weaver said he feels God called him to pursue agriculture and land preservation. Now a student at North Georgia College & State University in Dahlonega, he plans to transfer to the University of Georgia to become an arborist. But for now, he goes to school two-and-a-half days a week, maintains the farm and manages a landscaping company he began in high school. "Busy" is an understatement, a sacrifice Bradley is willing to make while many of his friends are hanging out without him.
“[It’s hard] when your friends are all going out on the weekend," he said. "But a lot of them work for me now anyway."
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
