When Brian and Emily Geary moved to North Alabama from Kentucky in 2008, the couple knew they wanted to grow a garden.

The Gearys were renting at the time, so they decided to plant a small garden on the edge of one of his uncle’s family’s row crop fields in the Greenbrier community in southeastern Limestone County.

Before long, the couple bought a house in West Limestone with enough land for a garden and more.

For a couple of years, the Gearys leased about 15 acres of their land to others, but they eventually started working the farm all on their own.

Fast forward to today, and Geary Farms has a large garden that produces a variety of crops throughout the Alabama growing season, 32 goats and 50 to 200 chicken, depending on the time of year.

Brian and Emily Geary sell some of their produce at Athens Saturday Market. They also have a produce stand in front of their home on Baker Hill Road.

The Gearys’ focus on providing affordable, fresh produce daily while it’s in season. They especially want to provide produce to seniors and lower-income families.

“The roadside stand is our primary focus,” Brian said.

Brian said he likes having the roadside stand as a way to make sure buyers can pick up what they need when they need it and have time to use it.

He said he doesn’t get to interact with customers every day at the produce stand, but when he does, he’s found his most appreciative customers are seniors who once had gardens of their own.

Brian said the seniors don’t get to do it now, but it always puts a smile on his face when he gets to talk to someone and they appreciate the work he does because they remember what it was like.

Some of the produce grown on the farm includes squash, zucchini and cucumbers in early summer and tomatoes, peppers and okra during this time of year. Pumpkins are planted when the early summer crops dry up and the pumpkins are typically ready by fall. There are also peach and pear trees, and there are muscadines.

All produce grown on Geary Farms is free of insecticides and herbicides.

“We don’t spray (chemicals) because the animals are in close contact with everything,” Brian said, adding the leftover produce is usually eaten by the animals.

“I enjoy farming,” Brian said. “I enjoy the animals.” Though, he admits he doesn’t exactly enjoy picking and selling.

His favorite part of the job is watching something grow from seed.

The Gearys are in the process of figuring out their long-term plans for the farm. Brian’s goal is to put the resources in place to make the farm run as efficient as possible.

This is particularly necessary, as the Gearys each have to balance farming with their nonfarming careers. Brian is a software engineer, while Emily recently passed the bar exam and is beginning a law career.

Still, farming is something they enjoy, and it is a part of Brian’s family history. He said he watched his dad garden when he was growing up.

“He used to have a pretty good-sized garden,” Brian said. “He would grow it and give it away.”

Farming will also remain a big part of the Gearys’ future, because even if certain parts are more time-consuming than others and the work is hard, it’s work they enjoy.

 — Athens Main Street Intern Anna Marbutt contributed to this article.