RANTOUL – At 82 years old, Eugene Usher doesn’t need a slot at the farmers market.
His red pickup truck, just off the highway in Rantoul, has become a local favorite for fresh collard greens and watermelons.
The words “The Collard Green Co” stretch across both sides of the truck in bold white lettering. A worn blue tent shades Usher from the sun as he sits beside his stand, ready to greet customers.
It’s peak produce season in Illinois, but Usher has built his own kind of market — one with melons and leafy greens.
He’s the youngest of 14 children, raised in a sharecropping family in Conyers, Georgia.
Usher said his early life was split between helping his father in the field and working at a white-owned barbershop, where he made more shining shoes and cleaning than his siblings did farming 40 hours per week.
Later, he served in Vietnam, spending nearly two years cooking for fellow soldiers.
“I’ve cooked on base. I’ve cooked in the Army,” he said. “You know, that’s a big part of me.”
After 21 months in Vietnam, Usher returned to Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul. He worked at a local bank as a teller, eventually becoming the owner of Usher Trailer Park.
In 1964, he married longtime educator Gloria Peggy Storey. He began growing collard greens on small plots behind their home in Rantoul. Over the years, the plots expanded.
Usher’s mornings start early.
“I started collecting the greens at 6 this morning… I finally got them 20 buckets that we were picking and came over here going on about 8 o’clock, took us that long, but normally, I would have someone help me set up,” he explained. “And once I have someone to help, I’m good.”
Even on the 4th of July with sweat on his brow, Usher was out by the highway, stacking melons and waiting for customers.
The watermelons come from Missouri.
Usher said The Collard Green Company didn’t officially start until last year, but he’s been selling long before then.
Every summer, he makes a 600-mile round trip three or four times to bring back the biggest melons he can find.
On some days, locals might find him near the Savoy 16 movie theater. He advises them to bring cash though.
Usher’s watermelons and greens go for $15 each — a firm price, even if some hesitate.
“Like that lady that didn’t take the watermelon for $15, I guess she thought she was hurting me,” he said. “No, you’re not. If you don’t want to pay the $15, you’re that hurt, I’ll give it to you.”
He’s considered selling at farmers markets but thinks this is his “best bet.”
Usher’s stand offers more than just produce. His wife passed away seven years ago and his son died earlier this year.
“I watched all my siblings, my wife’s family, and everybody pass on,” he said. “All I can do is be grateful.”
Despite the losses, Usher keeps showing up.
He stacks the melons with care and speaks kindly to every customer.
“I don’t have any more hard days,” Usher added. “Now it’s down to if I want to be. If I want to come out here and sit today. I didn’t have to do this. I didn’t have to go get nothing. And I thank God for bringing me this far.”
As the day went on, cars pulled over, drivers leaning out their windows to ask, “How much?”
Some circled back to make a purchase. Others sat under the tent just to talk.
“Most of the older people, they know me,” Usher said.
Customers come for greens and melons, but they leave with something more — a story, a memory, or a few quiet minutes of shade and company.
“And most of the time, when you get to know me or start buying my greens — if you buy the first one, you can eat the next one free,” Usher said.
He may not have a storefront or online orders, but Usher’s customers come back year after year — not just for the produce, but for the man behind the truck.
“So whatever happens to me from here on is God’s plan,” Usher said. “And that’s the way I’ll play it.”