Teen fruit vendor rooted in agriculture

Left, Kris Knerr, 17, pets one of his chickens at his home. Right, Knerr stands in front of a pomegranate tree in his backyard. The fruit will eventually be sold at the Las Vegas Farmers Market. photos by Larry Cruikshank/view Advertisement

Others children had a lemonade stand. Kris Knerr had a fruit stand.

Other children made their product from processed, packaged goods. Knerr grew his produce naturally, in his own backyard.

When he got to high school, he took it to the next step. He obtained an agriculture license and sold his fall fruit -- apricots, figs and pomegranates -- at the Las Vegas Farmers Market, which he joined last year as a vendor.

"Mom said it wouldn't be cute anymore to sell them by the side of the road," the Centennial High School senior said.

Knerr, 17, credits his father, Keith Knerr, with fostering his love of growing things. The two spend a lot of time in the backyard. Even as early as age 5, Kris Knerr was helping his father plant trees on the family's half acre lot near Craig Road and Durango Drive. It was that street corner where Knerr would sell his produce for two years, when he was ages 13 and 14.

"Most people didn't know what a pomegranate was, so I'd tell them it was sweet and tasted good and that it contained antioxidants," he said.

"He was always one of those kids who was entrepreneurial," said his mother, Annette Lightfoot, a substitute teacher.

Knerr was eager to become a farmers market vendor.

"He jumped through all the hoops to (be legal) for the pomegranate season," said Steve Johnson, who operates the market with his wife, Ginger.

Knerr joined the market at Bruce Trent Park at 1600 N. Rampart Blvd., which operates 4 to 8 p.m. each Wednesday.

The Las Vegas Farmers Market also operates during those same hours on Tuesdays at Gardens Park, 10401 Garden Park Drive, and on Thursdays at the Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd.

"When he first approached us, we didn't think that he would follow through, but he sure did," Ginger Johnson said. "He listened to what we told him about selling at a market, like offering three items together instead of one item at a time."

The Knerr family's parcel has four pomegranate trees. Two were planted when Kris Knerr was 8, and they produce fruit that grows about the size of a softball, or bigger.

Two other pomegranate trees were planted later and only produce golf ball-sized ones for now. The family's fig tree yields at least 100 fruit a season. Now that he's 18 and about to graduate from Centennial High School, Kris Knerr is looking forward to college in Reno and plans to study business.

"I'd like to have my own business one day," he said. "But no matter where I am, I always plan to have plants that will give me fruit."

For more information about the Las Vegas Farmers Market, visit www.lasvegasfarmersmarket.com.