COYANOSA, Texas — The West Texas landscape is a lot like its people – a tough exterior, but below the surface is pure gold. The roots here run deep in more than one way.
“Everything is sweeter here,” Beto Mandujano said.
'Here' is in Coyanosa, a town of less than 100 people, along south FM 1776. The town name is synonymous with the Mandujano Brothers farm. There’s something about the goods grown here.
“People always ask – is it y’all? Do y’all put something different on it? I say no, it’s the variety and location,” Beto Mandujano said.
Beto and his two brothers run the farm. Their mark is on every part of the process, from planting, to harvest and shipping.
“I think if you put something out there with your name on it, your logo, you’ve got to back it up,” Mandujano said.
And this time of year, business is booming.
"Customers call every single day. They ask when the cantaloupe coming, when the watermelon coming, when the fruit stand going to be open,” Mandujano said. “You get a feeling that the customers really like what you're putting out. That's the reason we grow it. It satisfying to know that they're asking for it starting in June."
The fruits of their labor travels beyond West Texas. Trucks are constantly pulling in and loading up, shipping their namesake across the country.
While our crew was there, eighteen wheelers packed with onions were headed to Florida and Maryland.
Call it a labor of love – growing a good product and doing good business. It takes grit. That is the Mandujano Brothers – a family that is uniquely West Texas.
They're currently harvesting cantaloupe and watermelon. You can pick yours up from their fruit stand in Coyanosa or check their Facebook page, Mandujano Brothers Produce, for where they're shipping to next.
You can often find their produce sold at the Midland Downtown Farmer's Market and Parks Legado Farmer's Market on the weekends.