GARDEN SPOTS: Williamson County mayor’s outdoor hobby is a true ‘labor of love’

By day, Williamson County Mayor Rogers Anderson is all about fiscal management, committee meetings and plenty of public appearances.

By day’s end, his focus turns to okra, tomatoes and purple hull peas.

“My day at the office is nonstop from early morning to late afternoon, so coming home and working in my garden is how I balance things,” Anderson said. “Not only do I get delicious produce from this, but it’s also very therapeutic.”

Anderson has been full-on gardening since he planted one in a field across from the Whitehall Farms home he and his late wife bought about 19 years ago. He has watched it grow over time, both in size and in the amount of produce it brings forth.

“Each year that garden gets a little bigger,” Anderson said. “My garden is a product of a lot of experience and age and mistakes and trials that go along with gardening.”

Anderson, who has been Williamson County mayor since 2002 and before that served as a county commissioner for 16 years, grew up in a rural area just outside of Knoxville. Like many families in the post-World War II era, Anderson’s parents were ardent gardeners, and that meant he and his sister were expected to help.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of democracy when Mom spoke and said get out and hoe the corn or hoe the beans,” Anderson said. “And then when the beans came in, the okra came in, the corn came in, it was all hands on deck, and you stopped whatever you were doing and worked the garden.”

As much as he looks back at his childhood for instilling in him his passion for gardening today, Anderson thought he had wiped his hands clean of it once he reached adulthood. He would seek greener pastures, so to speak, in pursuit of pastimes. 

“I often said when I got older I wasn’t going to do this,” Anderson said. “This is hard work and I’m just going to get me a job and I’m not going to raise a garden. There’s just too much work in it.”

That attitude changed not long after Anderson moved to Williamson County, settling in the Grassland area and raising two sons and a daughter. When his children were old enough to eat solid food, Anderson rediscovered the value of fresh produce.

“As soon as the kids were old enough to start eating ‘real food,’ I thought they needed some real green beans, real potatoes, whatever. So I got back into gardening.”

All three of his children and nine grandchildren live in Williamson County, so Anderson has no distribution concerns when it comes time to harvest.

“I cook a lot of vegetables here, and love to share them with my family.”

Sharing the produce has broadened this year, as Anderson heads up a community garden at Berry’s Chapel Church of Christ. He led a team of other members who tilled a plot of ground, planted seeds, and are now harvesting a variety of summer vegetables. The church’s mission this year is Love Your Neighbor, Anderson explained, and what better way to spread the love than to share fresh food.

“Somebody came up with the idea to have a community garden,” he said. “They called me to see if I could head that up. Four or five other people did the planning and picking and seeing that it gets to the neighborhoods. You can never have enough fruit and vegetables for people to eat. I’m glad to be a part of that.”

In the meantime, it’s also harvest time at Whitehall Farms. In addition to his family, Anderson is sharing produce with his neighbors, friends and staff at the Williamson County Administrative Complex.

“Really, a garden is pretty simple,” the mayor said. “You turn the soil, put the seeds in and then let God take over and grow it, and then we can pick and eat it. it’s not complicated."

“It’s my hobby. It’s a labor of love, and it gives me good exercise that I don’t normally get being mayor of Williamson County.”