SUMTER, S.C. — A Sumter grandfather and his granddaughter are getting attention on social media for their work on a farm.
Samuel Martin owns the 149 acres that make up Martin Farms, about 20 minutes from downtown Sumter. He’s maintained the land for years, but after his wife passed away, Martin said he wasn’t sure how he could keep up the work on his own.
"I needed some help and I just was wondering who would come around and extend the invitation," Martin explains. "I said, 'Well now if I can find somebody to help me,' and the Lord sent her by."
His 23-year-old granddaughter Zakaya Butler stepped in. She started the job a couple weeks ago, running errands and helping with marketing.
"I feel proud of myself to have somebody that say ‘Well, Granddaddy, I wanna help you," Martin shares. "That makes me feel real good about it."
"I was like, “Granddad, maybe we need to you know market a little more different’ because he doesn't have social media," Butler explains.
Her first day on the job, Butler posted a video on Facebook and on TikTok.
"It took off," Butler smiles. "It took off and I wasn’t expecting that, but it definitely did."
Now with over 500,000 views, Butler and Martin have been getting lots of calls asking about their meat and their fresh produce.
"I was like ‘Granddad, we gotta get to work! We gotta get to work!" Butler shares. "People are calling, asking for this, asking for that."
Martin tells me he’s sold out of almost all his product.
"Friday and Saturday were like — whoo — like an open house!" Martin exclaims. "Busy as a bee!"
"We got people from Charleston, Walterboro," Butler lists. "We done seen half of the cities in South Carolina come up."
Now he and his granddaughter are working hard at the farm to meet up with the new demand, getting closer with each other in the process.
"It means a lot because he’s smiling more, he’s happy," Butler beams. "That makes me happy and I smile a lot already."
As for why the video has gone viral, Martin has two theories.
"A lot of the people love the fact that it’s bring back memories," Martin shares about the comments on the video talking about users growing up on farms themselves.
For others, Martin says seeing a hog on video might have piqued peoples' interest.
"I guess some people have just never seen a farm," Martin laughs.
Martin tells me the next step is to get a sign so people coming out to the farm know they’re in the right place.
The duo is working six days a week together, 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.