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Among the rows of ripe organic tomatoes, sweet corn and string beans, dreams grow at Mendies Family Farm in Roosevelt, western Monmouth County.

The 30 acres of farmland along North Rochdale Avenue sat barren for a decade before Lawrence Mendies purchased it in 2005. At that time he used the property to expand his swimming pool and landscaping business, growing native plants and trees there to sell along with fieldstone, boulders and mulch.

While their father installed pools and created natural settings in backyards across New Jersey, the Mendies children, Lawrence Jr. and Niyasia, minded the roadside stand, selling small crops of watermelon, tomatoes, corn and other produce grown on the farm.

Mendies’ wife, Heidi, toiled from sunrise to sunset to keep the farm running while her husband was landscaping. That was the family’s life on the farm until the season his line of work dried up.

“At one point the phone stopped ringing for swimming pools and landscaping,” Mendies said.

When the economy tanked a couple of years ago, it took the family’s pool and landscaping business with it. The effects could have been devastating, but the farm served as a buffer for the family.

“Basically, when the economy went down, our farm grew,” Mendies said. “People didn’t want swimming pools or landscaping, but they still needed to eat.”

The family planted more crops and built a new farm stand where they could offer people an expanded variety of farm-fresh produce.

To further meet the community’s needs, they took their vegetables, flowers and herbs to people who could not get to the farm. They worked with Downtown Hightstown Inc. to develop an annual farmers market. Now in its third year, the weekly market is held on Fridays from June through September, offering an array of produce, baked goods, and arts and crafts from local vendors.