Proud to be a Farmer: Matthew Blitch

BROOKLET, Ga. (WTOC) - Harvest season is a special one for farmers. Seeing quite literally the fruits of their labor.

That of course holds true for Brooklet peanut farmer Matthew Blitch, but perhaps just as special to him about this time of year is the memories it kicks up, too.

“I get excited every year when it comes time to pick peanuts. Something about the smell in the air and the time we get to spend out here in the dust, it just kind of sticks to you. It’s an exciting time of year for us,” Blitch said.

An exciting time at Blitch Place Farms, maybe because Blitch gets to enjoy the payoff of all that hard work.

“Eat you a good peanut butter and jelly. It’s hard to beat one of those,” he said.

Or maybe it’s because he gets to be out on the land he loves.

“It really just feels like the Lord’s paradise to me. You can’t beat being out in His creation and just enjoying it,” Blitch said.

And while both of those are reason enough, for Blitch, this time of year is so special because it reminds him of who he’s gotten to spend it with.

“My granddad passed away about a year and a half, two years ago, and from about the time I was 16, at least in the summers, I spent every day with him. Every afternoon when I was in college and every day for the six to eight years I had out here working with him. Every day I saw my dad and my granddad, we spent a lot of quality time,” Blitch said.

Sure, that quality time does add a bit of pressure.

“It makes me work a little bit harder because I don’t want to let any of them down. They definitely put a good name out there and I don’t want to be the one to lower the standards,” he said. But it’s made him the farmer he is today.

“From a young age they taught me to love it. They instilled a great work ethic in me, and I try to carry that on,” Blitch said.

Carry on a tradition of growing some great peanuts and some even better memories the make Blitch proud to be a farmer.

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