Family-Owned Orchard

In 1967, Robert (Bob) Myers moved to Louisiana to work for Western Electric and pursue his passion for farming. Together with his wife, Annie Charlene, he established M-4 Farms, bringing strawberry plants from Michigan as part of their new beginning. Alongside their two sons, Paul and John, they raised cattle from 1967 until 2012.

In 1973, Bob purchased six peach trees from Linwood Avenue Nursery, planting them beside Donald Scott’s fence. Around the same time, he added four apple trees from Charlene’s family farm in Spring Hill. Encouraged by the success of these fruit trees, Bob and his son John planted 125 peach trees in 1998. This venture led John and his wife, Nancy, to establish Kingston Orchards, where they expanded the orchard under Bob’s guidance.

While Charlene continued to tend a small strawberry patch at home, her experience picking strawberries in 1982 at Curtis Winfrey’s farm in Mansfield sparked a new idea. After Mr. Winfrey stopped producing strawberries, Bob and John saw the opportunity to fill the gap. In 2000, they planted their first commercial strawberry patch of 1,000 plants, marking the start of a new chapter. They went on to cultivate strawberries for several years, further diversifying the family’s farming legacy.