Treutlen Residents Turn Retirement Farm into Roadside Store

Donna Gaddy established the Hoopee Homestead Farm Stand alongside Ohoopee Bend as a way to share with the community while making use of the excesses of her retirement farm.

“We can do stuff for ourselves, hopefully help some other people, share our products with them, you know, that kind of thing,” said Gaddy.

Gaddy, 61, is a native of Soperton, though she relocated to Swainsboro as a teenager. After she married her husband, Jim Gaddy, she spent years between Texas and Colorado due to his position in the United States Army.

In 2006, the couple purchased land on the outskirts of Treutlen County, near the Ohoopee River, for their eventual retirement.

“We actually bought this place in ‘06 with the intention of someday possibly retiring here, and so, the time kind of came,” said Gaddy. “My husband sold his business in Texas, and we decided, you know, let’s go give Georgia a shot.”

The Covid outbreak inspired the couple to think about preparation for other life changing events, such as “illness, job loss, … another pandemic, whatever may arise.” They moved onto the property three years ago and began building infrastructure to become more self-reliant.

“I’m not a doomsday prepper or anything like that,” said Gaddy. “It’s not about zombies and the apocalypse and all that stuff. I’m more about being prepared.”

According to Gaddy, they “hit the ground running” by building raised beds for their garden and a perimeter fence. They also took on chickens as their first farm animal for their eggs, which led to the creation of the roadside store.

“I asked my husband, I was like, ‘Could you build me a little, like a roadside farm stand that I could sell eggs out of?’” said Gaddy. “Because, I thought we… were getting more eggs than we could consume.”

Jim, tired from all the other construction he had done around the property, suggested searching FaceBook Marketplace for a stand instead. They found a suitable building on the website, and established the Hoopee Homestead Farm Stand, which takes its name from the nickname of the nearby river.

“The dream kind of started with just getting rid of some of those eggs,” said Gaddy.

Initially, Gaddy wanted the stand to serve as a produce stand, but found she was losing money sourcing produce from other local vendors. Instead, she pivoted to selling more “shelf stable” goods from the couple’s growing assortment of farm animals, such as pigs, bees, ducks and longhorns.

The couple also received a mobile meat license, allowing them to sell pork cutlets out of a trailer, which they set up at different locations.

Gaddy operates the stand with a hands-off approach, utilizing a self-serve honor system for payments. Customers can enter the stand and pick out what they would like to purchase, then they may leave cash inside a dropbox or scan a QR code to pay digitally.

According to Gaddy, the stand has not had any issues with the self-serve model.

“I hope it continues like that,” said Gaddy.

Social media, especially accounts on YouTube and Instagram, initially inspired her. So, she tries to maintain a social media presence on FaceBook and Instagram to promote the store. 

“You learn a lot from other people that are living this lifestyle,” said Gaddy.

Gaddy does not have any plans to expand her offerings in the stand any time soon, instead favoring a simple approach. She said she would like to host groups at the stand with the accompanying fire pit and picnic table.

“A lot of people say it’s like stepping back in time, because you don’t, or for a while, you didn’t see roadside farm stands that are honor system,” said Gaddy.