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A MAGAZINE DEDICATED TO OZARKS

Harvick Farms

Gardening Education Blooms at Harvick Farms


Story and photos by Sheila Harris

Raised gardening beds contain one of each variety of vegetable plant sold at Harvick Farms, near Cassville, Missouri. 



Lincoln University extension agent, Angela Brattin (center), chats with Harvick Farms owner, Lainey Harvick (right), prior to a seed-starting class on April 30. 


To learn more about what Harvick Farms offers, stop by:

16062 Mo. Highway 76, Cassville, Mo.,

Tuesday – Saturday, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.


They may be reached by telephone at 417-279-5535.


Visit their Facebook page at Harvick Farms, their website at harvickfarms.com or email info@harvickfarms.com.

“We needed another greenhouse for our garden at home, where we grow some lavender,” said Lainey Harvick. “We passed by the vacant greenhouses south of (the former home of ‘For the Birds’ Garden Center), and, on impulse, we stopped by and asked the owner if he’d be willing to sell us one of them. He told us no, but that he would sell us the entire garden center (which included six greenhouses).

The Harvicks thought about it for a bit, but not for long.

“We signed a contract in January and moved forward full steam ahead in order to get ready for our March 26 grand opening,” Lainey said.


The Harvicks - who moved to the area with sons Samuel (now eight) and Alex (now four) from Fort Worth, Texas, four years ago - are passionate about community education.

“We envision Harvick Farms as a place where people can gather to learn about different aspects of gardening and related activities,” Lainey said.


They are making that vision a reality.Classes taught by local gardeners, business owners and extension agents began in April with Landscaping 101. The community’s response has been overwhelming.


“We only had four people show up for the first class,” Lainey said, “but two days later – on a Saturday - attendance jumped to 19.”


Bee-keeping, seed-starting and vegetable gardening classes followed in April and May.


A composting class will be offered June 23 and 25, followed by a “Tool Talk” class on July 21 and 23.


The Harvicks are listening to feedback from the community.

“We have people asking for classes on skills related to homesteading, so we’re going to plan a canning class and one about the disease process in crops,” Lainey said. “Later, we hope to offer classes in trellis-making and growing lavender.”


The future class schedule is still evolving, and the Harvicks are open to suggestions for topics. A class recently added to the schedule for Thursday, June 16 at 5 p.m. will cover the fundamentals of preserving foods by fermenting them.

“The nice thing about community education,” Lainey said, “is that when we have local business owners come in and teach a class, we can promote other local businesses along with our own.”


That spirit of community is what the Harvicks have in mind for Harvick Farms.


“We participated in the City of Exeter’s annual Arbor Day tree-planting event,” Lainey said, “and we plan to work with the Cassville FFA chapter for their annual fall mum sale.”

In addition to classes, Harvick Farms offers trees, shrubs, veggie and flower plants, custom hanging baskets, decorative pots, potting soil and mulch.


“For the 4th of July, we’ll have red, white and blue hanging baskets available,” Joseph Harvick said.


The Harvicks are not only selling plants, they’re growing them.


Raised garden beds have been constructed in one greenhouse where one of each variety of vegetable plant they sell will be planted in a type of test garden.

“We’ll see what varieties we like best and decide what we want to offer next year,” Lainey said.



They also hope to be able to offer fresh produce for sale throughout the growing season.

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