Behind a table filled with cabbages, peppers, onions, sweet potatoes and squash on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 18, sat Pembroke Township produce farmer John Thurman.

Thurman and several members of his family were selling the fruits and vegetables of their labor at the Kankakee Farmers’ Market.

One of the original farmers at the inaugural Kankakee market 27 years ago, Thurman and his family, who operate Roy Thurman & Son’s Family Farm based in Pembroke Township, had returned for some markets this season.

The lifelong Pembroke resident began by starting a market with fellow area farmers in Pembroke before helping to start Kankakee’s market and also traveling to Chicago for some years to bring food to Black neighborhoods in need of food, Thurman said.

“The next thing I know, it’s been 27 years,” Thurman said with a laugh. “It’s all I need. It’s my ministry.”

A steady flow of customers visited the stand, many asking about sweet corn and watermelon, only several of which remained in the truck bed.

Thurman greeted all with a smile.

“It makes your day,” Thurman said of providing fresh food to customers. “I mean, it’s hard work in the field. This is the good part.”

Four generations currently help on the farm, he said. His son, Jacob, and several grandchildren were in tow to help at the market.

Thurman is well-known in Pembroke for his daily farm stand on the corner of Main Street and Central Avenue, commonly known as the four-way stop in the heart of Hopkins Park.

He’s also known as “Waving Farmer John,” as he waves to children from the stand as they pass by on school buses.

The Pembroke stand is open from 10 a.m. until dark every day of the week until the “good Lord runs me in,” Thurman said.

Thurman also will be on-site as a vendor for the last Kankakee Farmers’ Market of the 27th season on Saturday, Oct. 25, in downtown Kankakee.

Pembroke farming history

The Kankakee Sands ecoregion, which includes the Pembroke Township area, is home to the largest concentration of high-quality black oak sand savannas surviving in the Midwest.

The sandy soil was seen as poor in quality by outsiders, but Pembroke farmers found it to be an asset.

“On small parcels with a mix of soil types, farmers produce a wide variety of crops that provide healthy food locally and to regional markets,” according to the Field Museum’s exhibit, "Rooted! The Richness of Land and Culture," which opened in December 2015 at the Pembroke Public Library.

The exhibit was a collaboration between Field Museum staff and a group of community co-curators that tells the story of Pembroke’s rich natural and cultural heritage.

The Thurman family, quoted in the exhibit, has been part of that heritage for decades.

Visit Roy Thurman & Son’s Family Farm on Facebook for more information and produce availability updates.