Mary Andrews’ painting of Cary Nalls walking one of the pigs.
Over at Nalls Produce in the Franconia area, Penny the Pig is the in-house celebrity, and whenever children come to shop with their parents, Penny’s pen is a first stop. After all, it’s not common to have a celebrity pig on the staff, and then a loose pig in the neighborhood became the second pig at Nalls. The pigs have become a familiar sight around the place so one of the customers captured it in a painting which she recently gave to owner Cary Nalls.
The artist is Mary Andrews, a loyal Nalls customer and former art teacher at Franconia Elementary, including teaching Valerie Nalls. She’s been a Nalls customer for over 30 years. The painting is now in Cary’s house. In the painting, it’s a warm summer day and Cary is walking the pig. It’s a slice of life at Nalls.
Mary Andrews, artist and loyal Nalls customer, is a former teacher at nearby Franconia Elementary School
“I enjoy painting animals so their pig was an intriguing subject,” Andrews said. She regularly attends painting classes at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton.
Nall’s history with pigs started with Penny the Pig who has been there for years. Penny is a miniature pig and has her own pen over on the side near the vegetable plants at Nalls. Penny is nearly 10 years old and they celebrate her birthday in August.
Arnold is the other pig at Nalls and he came along by accident. In August 2022, there were reports of a loose pig running around the Beulah Street area and everyone thought it was the pig at Nalls so they reached out to them. This pig was a different variety then Penny but Cary and Valerie Nalls enlisted the help of a few other people and they cornered it in a spot nearby. Cary threw an old coat over the pig, wrapped him up and took him back to Nalls. They made a pen for him, threw in some food and he's been there ever since. He eats a lot too, they said.
Along with their two in-house pigs, there are several chickens and roosters running around the place and this adds to the country atmosphere at Nalls.
Nalls Produce
7310 Beulah Street, Franconia
703-971-4068
Nalls is open daily
Monday – Saturday: 9 am – 7 pm
Sunday: 9 am – 6 pm