Round MeadowFarm​

  Harlie Hubbard and his "Boss."

 

     Harlie Hubbard started and ran a cabbage route for nearly as far back as his wife, Ruth, can remember.

     "He was hauling cabbage before we got married" in 1949, she said. At the time, Harlie didn't raise the cabbage, but bought it from local producers to resell to the grocery stores and restaurants along his route that stretched 75 miles one way, from Meadows of Dan, Stuart and Martinsville to Danville.

     In 1950, the newlyweds moved into a house owned by -- and located next door to -- Harlie's parents. In 1955, they decided to raise their own produce and bought 40 acres of land.

     "The next spring, we set out cabbage," said Ruth, who is known affectionately by her husband of now more than 60 years as simply "The Boss."

     In those early years, Ruth raised their six kids and tended the crops while Harlie worked in a factory. A self-described "wheel horse," Ruth recalls carrying 100-pound bags of dairy feed to the barn "bear-hug" style, and lifting 100-pound bags of fertilizer up from off of the ground onto a truck bed.

     The farm and Harlie's factory job helped the couple build a two room block house that still stands today.

     They expanded farm operations and started a dairy, which began with Gurnsey cows; Holsteins were then added, and in 1962 or 1963, Ruth's parents, Irby and Nellie Conner, migrated to a nearby farm. Ruth and Harlie helped to run electricity to her parent's barn, install electric milking machines and coolers, and between the two generations, milked about 32 cows twice a day; every day, and in all kinds or weather.

     Ruth suffered frostbite during the winter of 1960 after losing one of her gloves on the way to tend the cows in the historic snowfall and bitter cold temperature. In 1973,  "we finally quit milking" coes, but Ruth said the cabbage crop and route continued. The couple invested in Herefords, and later, Polled Herefords, and started producing beef. 

     With the kids in school, Ruth also took a job in a local factory. In 1982, and using one of her paychecks as partial payment, Harlie and Ruth bought their first purebred, registered Simmental bull. When the registration papers came in the mail, Ruth chuckled to read the bull's name: "Paycheck." The bull went on to win blue ribbons at the county fair, and was used to cross breed the cows. It's fair to say that Paycheck helped turn the farm in a new direction, as Harlie and Ruth sold off their Herefords and Polled Herefords and invested in Simmentals.

     Now, their house overlooks some of their first cabbage fields -- fields that are fenced and cross-fenced for the herd of registered Simmental cows, some of which can be traced back to Paycheck. Others are from Virginia Tech's registered cow herd, and still others are registered black Angus cows in the family operation.

     Numbers are used to identify the large herd of beef cattle. "But our dairy cows all had names," Ruth said.

     Health issues prompted Harlie to give up his cherished cabbage route in 2010, but family continued the route for two more years. It ended in 2013.

     "Harlie hauled cabbage for a long time," Ruth said of the hard working man who now spends a lot of time sitting on the front porch or in his recliner snoozing. He claims "I'm only resting my eyes."

     Unfortunately, continued ill-health keeps Harlie from working in the vegetable fields or tending the cows, but     Ruth, who now in her early 80s, remains spry, alert, and yes, still a wheel horse.

     "We had a time, I can tell you," she says, recalling memories of more than 65 years farming.

     Harlie and Ruth passed their love of the land and their passion for providing the freshest produce along to some of their children and grandchildren. Their only son, David, bought his grandparents' property, and in 2006, named his operation 'Round Meadow Farm.'

     In addition to registered Angus and Simmental beef cows, registered paint/quarter horses and a menagerie of other assorted animals, David continues to raise cabbage and other vegetable crops; with help from his children -- Stacey, Jacob and Cortney -- and grandchildren; his fiancee, Debbie, and her children -- Jamie and Ali -- and grandchildren. 

     Harlie and Ruth built the farm on the ideals of dedication to the land, animals and crops, and a timeless commitment to providing the best quality, best value, and freshest beef and produce to their customers.

     Their legacy will remain intact throughout Round Meadow Farm's future generations. 

     Just ask Harlie Hubbard ... or his "Boss."

 

 

 

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