Summer is here and so is fresh produce: Meet this Cardinals fan who owns two produce stands

By Sally Tippett Rains

Many fruit and vegetables are ripening and there is nothing better on a summer evening than fresh grown fruit and vegetables with your dinner. Our favorite “farmer’s market” is Roger’s Produce in Webster Groves. We stopped off with our grandson Nelson and a friendly gentleman came up and started talking to us. We asked if he owned the stand and he said, “I’m Roger.” So now you know Roger and you see he’s a Cardinals fan. He posed with Nelson for the photo above.

Roger Krull works at his two farmer’s markets every day and in fact he goes down to Produce Row downtown before the sun comes up every morning.

Krull is the typical Cardinals fan for those of a certain age.

“I loved baseball as a kid,” he said. “I listened to every game on the radio as there was not too much TV back then.”

He loved listening to Harry Caray and Jack Buck when he was young and then Buck and Mike Shannon became the backdrop of his life as it was for many St. Louisans.

“I would sneak my transistor radio to bed and listen to the games,” he said. “I still watch almost every game on TV now.”

That’s a lot of effort for a guy who keeps the schedule he keeps. In order to have the fresh produce ready for morning customers at 9 a.m. when they open, he goes to Produce Row at 3 a.m. so a late night Cardinals game would make for a very tired produce manager.

“I go to about 12 games a year with my wife,” said Krull. His wife, Julie is also a big Cardinals fan, and she often goes to the games without him.

“She usually makes about 40 games a year,” he said. “I get up too early to go to a lot of games with her but I do like going when I can.”

He often has his Cardinals hat on and the birds on the bat shirt. Working at (and owning) a produce stand gives him the opportunity to meet and chat with customers.

St. Louisans like to think the city was built on all the corner bars and churches, but other important venues are the many farmers markets and produce stands around the city.  There is something about being outside perusing the produce and knowing that it is as fresh as can be.  It is a taste of Americana.

With summer starting yesterday, the fresh produce season is going in full force.

Soulard Farmers Market has always been known as the oldest operating farmer’s market in St. Louis, Missouri.  It might even be the oldest outdoor market in the United States west of the Mississippi River. It was said to have been started in 1779. It’s still going and 200 years later Roger Krull came along .

“I started Roger’s Produce in 1978,” said Krull.

In Cardinals history 1978 was a year with Keith Hernandez, Ken Reitz, Ted Simmons, Lou Brock and Garry Templeton to name a few recognizable names and Bob Forsch was among the pitchers. Krull has been mixing Cardinal baseball with his job as owner of Roger’s Produce during all those years.

He and his wife Julie have gone to Spring Training and have even been able to get down to the field both in Jupiter, Florida and St. Louis to see the Cardinals close up and personal. The photo, left shows a 2018 visit to Roger Dean Cheverolet Stadium.

In 2018, when the family  was celebrating 40^th year in business, The Webster-Kirkwood Times did an article on him, and he told them he (https://www.timesnewspapers.com/webster-kirkwoodtimes/community/business_notes/rogers-produce-celebrates-40-years/article_3b93ed28-234f-56dd-999e-e8066388d48c.html) gives a lot of credit to Julia and  “all the young men and women who have worked at Roger’s Produce who have helped to make it what it is today.”

Their four daughters – Michelle, Jessica, Tori, and Cacey – have  worked at the market at various times over the years. Roger’s Produce in Old Orchard is open 12 months a year, seven days a week. Hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

The area where he gets his produce is known as “Produce Row” in Downtown St. Louis; and is 71 years old. According to Produce News, (https://theproducenews.com/st-louis-produce-market-turns-60-years-old-2013 ) “When the market first emerged, St. Louis was a regional railroad hub. The market itself is serviced by 14,000 tractor-trailers and rail cars 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Commodities arrive from 49 states and more than 76 foreign countries. Today, the lion’s share of the product moved from Produce Row is transported by truck.”

There are produce markets all over the Greater St. Louis Area including Kirkwood, St. Charles, O’Fallon, Swansea and many other areas. St. Louis Magazine compiled a list.

Our Food and Travel Editor Suzanne Corbett grew up with produce as her parents were in the “truck farm” business. they would grow the food and then transport it to St. Louis to sell. We love local produce stands and encourage you to visit one.

“My family operated a small truck farm/garden form the late 1950s until the 1970s,” said Corbett. “It was supplemental income – growing row crops -vegetables and flowers. Tomatoes were the cash crop. To this day I don’t eat tomatoes. However, fresh green beans, okra, squash, melons, cucumbers, peppers were among the row crops we grew.”

Growing produce is a family business as Corbett well knows.

“We grew potatoes, which wasn’t a fun thing to dig,” she said. “We had a few fruit trees and wild berries.  We sold (produce) to a local Dairy Queen (tomatoes for the hamburgers), and also to some IGA stores.”

They sold to Sappington Produce/Market, and few senior facilities..

Corbett’s family also had a road side stand. The photo, left is an old black and white dating to about 1959, located at  the corner of South Lindbergh and Union road, near what is now a Phillips 66 and Best Buy.

Roger Krull, his family and employees truly represent  what is really the backbone of St. Louis—hard working people.

Hard working people who love the Cardinals.