Karen McCard begins almost every morning by boiling a 50-pound bag of peanuts. On the front porch of Maw’s Produce, she carefully pours the nuts into the four-foot-tall stainless steel pot that has boiled peanuts here for years.

Housed in a former quilt shop on the side of NC Highway 105, Maw’s has sold locally and regionally sourced products for three decades. Its front porch and warm welcome have made it an annual road trip destination for some families and a weekly stop for others. Danny Kirkland opened Maw’s in 1994 with his mother, Susan, for whom the store is named. She served as manager until her death in 2020.

Come for the peanuts but don’t leave without picking up some farm-fresh vegetables. photograph by David Uttley

Fifteen years ago, Susan trained McCard, who’s now the produce manager. McCard still uses the same tricks that Susan taught her — like how to pick the perfect summer cantaloupe. (The secret is to not only smell the melon but also look at its belly button. The yellower the button, the riper and sweeter the cantaloupe will be.)

But cantaloupes and peanuts aren’t McCard’s only specialties. As she walks around the porch, organizing produce, she takes breaks to tell customers about the stand’s fresh berries and what parts of the state they came from, as well as what other goods are in season.

Returning customers still ask about Susan. Her personality lives on through stories shared at the checkout counter and in the “I owe you” envelope that she kept in the office for anyone who needed help purchasing groceries. And if customers leaving the store need a snack, McCard will happily serve up a bag of peanuts for the road.

Maw’s Produce
7918 NC Highway 105
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 963-8254