Medina brothers set up vegetable stand

Brandon Shields
Jackson Sun

MEDINA — Tre and Zane Coltharp have been helping their parents — Craig and Jenny — in their home garden for years.

It started out as an effort by the parents to teach their sons the value of hard work and how to grow their own vegetables.

But this year, after classes were shut down in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they increased the size of their garden and parlayed that into a business venture for themselves.

“We’ve been growing vegetables for a few years now, and we thought, ‘Can we sell these?’ ” Zane, 12, said.

Brothers Tre and Zane Coltharp are running a vegetable stand at the end of their driveway in Medina, Tenn.

From that question, the concept of a vegetable stand at the end of their driveway was born. That effort has sprouted into an opportunity for the parents to teach their children about entrepreneurship and marketing.

“We like to give them the opportunity to think outside the box and give themselves options that maybe we wouldn’t even think of,” Craig said. “So when they started doing this, we also got them started with their own Facebook page for the vegetable stand, and with both of their parents working in sales, it gave us a chance to teach them about marketing and putting themselves out there.”

Their vegetable stand — which consists of a table full of produce under a University of Tennessee orange tent at their home in Medina — has been in operation for three weeks.

Vegetables at the Coltharp brothers' stand have prices, but the prices are only suggested for anyone who may need vegetables but may not be able to pay for them.

While they have prices posted, those prices are only suggested for anyone who may need vegetables but may not be able to pay for them.

“If anyone needs help, we want to help,” Tre said.

Their Facebook page, Coltharp Brothers, became an avenue to spread the word quickly about their stand. It had 271 followers as of Friday morning.

Brothers Tre and Zane Coltharp are running a vegetable stand at the end of their driveway in Medina, Tenn.

“Some of the posts have been seen by 2,500 people,” Jenny said. “So word is getting out about what they’re doing.”

Tre, 14, said: “We’ve had a bunch of people come by, but we’ve also had some local restaurants use our merchandise."

Medina eating establishments CoCo’s and Sip and Brunch have used their produce as well.

Tre Coltharp, 14, and his brother are part of the 4-H Club at South Gibson County Middle School, and they’ve raised chickens for the last three years and made some money selling farm fresh eggs.

The business venture isn’t their first as both boys are part of the 4-H Club at South Gibson County Middle School, and they’ve raised chickens for the last three years and made some money selling farm fresh eggs.

“Zane spends all the money he makes, but I’m saving for a car when I turn 16,” Tre said.

They also plan to expand their business in the fall after garden season with Fall Decor to Your Door, a small business that delivers fall decorations like bales of hay, pumpkins and other items to customers.

Brothers Zane and Tre Coltharp are running a vegetable stand at the end of their driveway in Medina, Tenn.

“They started thinking of ideas to do once gardening is done at the end of the summer, and I told them that I hate the idea of getting hay and bringing it home in my car,” Jenny said. “So this option would eliminate that for a lot of families.”

While the idea of learning about starting a business has been good, Tre said he appreciates the work in the garden being a source of some kind of normalcy during the pandemic.

Zane Coltharp, 12, and his brother are part of the 4-H Club at South Gibson County Middle School, and they’ve raised chickens for the last three years and made some money selling farm fresh eggs.

“Every morning when we wake up, we’re not sure what all we’re going to do,” Tre said. “But we definitely know one thing we’re doing is working in the garden.

“And that’s good to have that, and we’re glad to help other people get vegetables too when they might not be able to get them at the supermarket.”

Reach Brandon Shields at bjshields@jacksonsun.com or at 731-425-9751. Follow him on Twitter @JSEditorBrandon or on Instagram at editorbrandon.