Who says you have to give up farm life if you move to a subdivision?

Not Homer Johnson. Born in Union County and now living in the Cedar Chase subdivision in Halls, Johnson has kept farming and selling his produce. Just this year, he sold 1,500 ears of peaches and cream corn, along with sweet potatoes, okra, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon and cantaloupe. All this is thanks to a lot of just over two acres he bought from Knox County. It sits in the floodplain and has a TVA easement running through it, so a vegetable garden is just about all he could do with it.

It's a lot of work, but as Johnson says, "It beats sitting on the couch watching 'Gunsmoke.'"

Johnson grew up near Loyston Road and attended Burkhart School. He has fond memories of growing up in Union County with 19 brothers and sisters. Only two of them are left: Johnson and one sister. He remembers neighborhood young people rigging an old Model A Ford to a saw to cut wood to see four families through the winter.

"The idea was all the kids got together, and we made a lot of fun out of it," he said. "I wouldn't take nothing for those memories."

After he got out of school, Johnson went into the U.S. Army and served in Korea, then worked in Standard Knitting Mill before moving to Florida to work for Chris Craft Boat Company as a carpenter. Soon, he was promoted to plant supervisor and oversaw 420 workers for close to 12 years. He moved back to the Knoxville area in 1964 so his daughter could attend Tennessee School for the Deaf. In Florida, the closest school of its kind was 350 miles away. He kept carpentry as his trade, working for local boat and construction companies before going into business for himself as Johnson's Door Hanging and later National Doors and Millwork. His work can be seen in the City-County Building and First Tennessee Bank Building in downtown Knoxville.

"There's not many schools and hospitals in East Tennessee that I haven't worked on," he said.

Now, he concentrates on his farm plot, growing flowers, fishing, and helping others. The mustard greens at the front of his farm plot are free to whoever wants to pick them, he said.

When he has produce in season, you can most often see him set up at the Halls Crossroads Women's League Clothes Closet at the corner of Cunningham Road and Maynardville Highway in Halls. A friend who owns farm equipment helps out with plowing and other tasks for a share in the profits. Johnson teaches kids how to grow vegetables and even provides produce for them to sell themselves. He says he hopes more people will take the time to learn to farm.

The farm, he said, is good for his health and gives him something to do. Folks come from miles around and even states away for his produce, including a family from Pennsylvania that loves Johnson's sweet potatoes. But still, he remains humble.

"It's just something to do," he said. "The less they know about me, the better."