Evan Boone, Air Force Veteran, is the proud owner of Three Springs Farm, located in the small town of Aroda in Madison County, Virginia. Three Springs Farm sells grass-fed beef, non-GMO pastured pork, lamb, and chicken. Evan and Karen, his wife, own a little farm store that is open twice a week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They also sell at the Culpeper Downtown Farmers Market.
BEGINNING OF A JOURNEY
Evan served in the Air Force for four years as a mechanic. Originally from West Virginia, he traveled all over before settling down in central Virginia with his wife. Evan had family members who owned a farm, but he didn’t have much experience with agriculture when he decided to start his own. His experience as a mechanic did help, however. It’s been a slow but steady process for Evan. Starting with just five acres to now owning over 25 acres, a shop and selling his products online.
JOINING THE FARMER VETERAN COALITION
Evan learned about Farmer Veteran Coalition the same way many of our members learn about us, through word-of-mouth. A friend of his recommended Evan to check out FVC. In 2019, he was one of the awardees for the Fellowship Fund. Those funds helped him to purchase a freezer for his store, which was a real game-changer. Being able to display the meat with his glass-door freezer at his shop really gave it a grocery store vibe to it. Evan has been Homegrown by Heroes certified since 2018.
Evan has learned a lot about marketing his business and it’s easy to see through his farm’s Facebook page, Instagram page, and his website. You can also find his farm on the MarketMaker plug-in on our website, where it displays their contact information, products, and links to their website and social media.
GIVING BACK
Evan is all about spreadsheets, finding data, and loves to market his business. He also extends his experience to other fellow farmers in his area and helps them with their marketing efforts. “Just get out there and talk to people, get involved,” said Evan, “Reaping what you sow.” Getting involved with his community, doing everything he can to learn from fellow farmers and getting the experience he needed is what has helped him get to where he is today. Evan also recommends taking it one small step at a time.
Three Springs Farm has come a long way
From owning just 5 acres to having a store and having a couple of employees, Three Springs Farm has come a long way. Despite the challenges that come with starting a small business, such as managing cash flow, it’s still something that he says he is blessed to be a part of. The connections he has made along the way has been his favorite part of it all. Getting to know his customers and getting the satisfaction when someone tells him that they really enjoyed his products is something that he is grateful for.
For more information about Evan and his farm Three Springs Farm, you can follow them on Facebook here and on Instagram here. The link to their website is here.
To find veteran producers near you, you can check out our MarketMaker plug-in on our website here: https://farmvetco.org/locator/. For other HBH-certified members who would like to enter their farm onto MarketMaker, contact hbh@farmvetco.org for more information.
