WRITTEN BY MACKENZIE TEWKSBURY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY...

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HOMEGROWN Family produce store only sells the best of the best WRITTEN BY MACKENZIE TEWKSBURY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY At Petals and Produce, tomatoes are grown all year long. They are grown out of a heated green- house in the wintertime. LOCAL PRODUCE

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HOMEGROWNFamily produce store only sells the best of the best

WRITTEN BY MACKENZIE TEWKSBURY | PHOTOGRAPHY BY VAIL STEWART RUMLEY

At Petals and Produce, tomatoes are grown all

year long. They are grown out of a heated green-

house in the wintertime.

LOCAL PRODUCE

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 35

Few things in life are comparable to a homegrown tomato — and perhaps nobody knows that better than Tom Van Staalduinen.

Van Staalduinen, owner of Petals and Produce, walks around his family run business in Pinetown

dressed in a “So God made a farmer” T-shirt, doing what he absolutely loves most: growing produce. More specifically, growing tomatoes.

He seems to have mastered the craft of harvesting the summer fruit. Van Staalduinen described growing tomatoes as his business’ “calling card”, and something that the majority of his customers savor. That’s likely because he doesn’t just sell the fruit in the summer — he grows tomatoes in his heated greenhouses in the wintertime, as well.

“People will do anything for a really good tomato. I almost believe that the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden had to have been a tomato,” Van Staalduinen laughed.

Petals and Produce is the pride of the Van Staalduinen family. At its origin in 2000, it was simply a two-man-show run by him and his father, Bill Van Staalduinen. Today, after almost 17 years, it’s a dream that has slowly manifested itself into reality. It’s a fully staffed, fully functioning flower and produce shop.

The shop has expanded steadily over the years. Van Staalduinen does all the growing at his location in Pinetown; he said it seems they’ve added a greenhouse every year for five years. After about two years, he opened up a shop in Washington for selling produce, plants and salsas.

But, the dream didn’t become a dream for Van Staalduinen until later in life. As a teenager, he worked for his father trailing bulb diggers at Terra Ceia Farms. Van Staalduinen later traveled to Holland for two years after college to work in an Amaryllis greenhouse, and that’s where he learned to have a gardener’s eye — or as they call it — a green thumb.

“Before I went to Holland, I thought I was going to be a hog farmer. I thought that’d be a nice way to go. I learned all my horticulture in Holland. I’ve never thought about myself, before working here, as having a green thumb,” Van Staalduinen said.

When he returned to Beaufort County, he managed Pungo Nursery in Belhaven, and worked at Petals and Produce only as a side job. He only lasted one summer at Pungo Nursery before he was spending all his time at Petals and Produce. At the time, he was purchasing produce from Woolard and Woolard produce, but they wanted out of the produce business. The glove seemed

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36 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

Tom Van Staalduinen grows his produce

out of fi ve greenhouses in Pinetown,

each specifi ed for diff erent uses.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 37

I almost believe that the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden had to have been a tomato.

—TOM VAN STAALDUINEN

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38 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

to fit, and Van Staalduinen bought their business.

Now, the former hog-farmer works six and a half days a week, rarely takes a Sunday off and grows just about everything one could think of.

“Broccoli, cabbage, beets and carrots, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes and pepper and okra, eggplant. You name it,” he said.

Van Staalduinen must produce what he sells, so he’s always thinking about the next season ahead of him. In August, he’s growing spring plants. Day to day, a “typical” routine for him changes constantly. He said there is no normal day, as his hours are spent bouncing between Pinetown and Washington, taking care of whatever issue is at hand. Whether it’s just picking and washing produce, transporting produce from store to store, or irrigating water and planting new produce, Van Staalduinen is always busy.

He said he always gets tired — but the farmer doesn’t see himself calling it quits anytime soon.

“I think I’ve got my dad’s genes. Eighty-four years old and still comes to work every day. He says, ‘I don’t want you working ’til 84.’ But then if I’m not I might be dead,” Van Staalduinen said with a laugh.

One of Van Staalduinen’s many tricks to his trade is that he’s always running back and forth between stores to ensure that only the highest quality produce is available to his customers. He said he will go the extra mile to get the best produce, and he’s quick to throw out an apple or tomato that isn’t up to par.

“We don’t want to appear to be selling junk. Lord willing, I sure hope our customers think we sell nothing but the best,” Van Staalduinen said. “That’s always been our motto. Dad would always say, ‘Sell the best, eat the rest.’”

Van Staalduinen added a wood furnace to heat their greenhouses, making him the first one in the area to have one. The

Petals and Produce is nothing short of a family business. Bill Van Staalduinen, Tom’s father, ran

the shop with Tom when they first started it in 2000.

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SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 | WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE • 39

This wood furnace is unique to Petals and Produce and was the first of it’s

kind in Beaufort County.

Tom Van Staalduinen often spends his time split between helping his store in Washington and growing new produce in Pinetown.

Okra, a southern staple, is just one of the many fresh and local

produce grown at Petals and Produce.

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40 • WASHINGTON THE MAGAZINE | SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017

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1311 Carolina Avenue • Washington(252) 946-4178

300 N. Market Street • Washington(252) 940-4945

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furnace burns wood to heat water that’s circulated in the greenhouses. It can be temperamental, typically acting up in the middle of the night, but Van Staalduinen said it operates at almost 100-percent effi ciency.

“The idea was incredible. It burns wood waste. Instead of heating everything for $100 or more a night, you can do it for $28 a night. It’s pretty impressive when it’s running. It takes a ton of woodchips and reduces it to 2 1/2 gallons of ash. It consumes everything and turns it into energy,” Van Staalduinen explained.

Van Staalduinen is certainly not chasing after riches; rather, he’s chasing after his passion.

“It’s a labor of love. I don’t ever see myself getting rich from it. But you don’t destroy your treasures,” he said with a grin.

Those treasures, just may be the fi rst bite into a fresh, homegrown tomato.

A batch of colorful peppers grows outside of the shop in Pinetown.