By Charlotte Kriete

While lots of young kids are sleeping in on weekends, Adler Jacobs, 13, and his brother Devin, 11, are up early running their farm stand on the dirt roads north of Boulder.

Every weekend at 9 a.m., the brothers operate Early Bird Eats, a well-stocked food cart serving cyclists, runners and other passersby. What started in January with two folding tables and a few chairs has grown into a permanent trailer business the boys helped build on 49th Street near Oxford Road.

“I’ve been noticing how many athletes come by,” said young entrepreneur Adler Jacobs. “I thought it would be a good business to start where they can get drinks, gels and other snacks.”

The kids aren’t just selling energy bars and Gatorade; they are fulfilling a growing demand for locally-sourced foods in an area where convenience stores are miles away. The shelves at Early Bird Eats include honey from Longmont’s Nimbus Road Apiary, sandwiches from Schlop Stop and Yum Yum Limeade made by a local mother-daughter team.

During the afternoon rush, the brothers split the workload to keep service moving.

“My brother Devin uses the Square and operates all the money,” Adler said. “And I usually get the food, snacks and drinks and different things for them.”

The weekend hustle has also drawn in another young entrepreneur. Their friend Will Hampton, 14, works shifts at the food stand to help the brothers and fund his own upcoming venture. Last year, Hampton saved enough money from side jobs to buy a Ford truck. But does he already he already have a license?

“Nope, I can’t drive it, but it’s just sitting in my driveway,” Hampton replied.

He is currently saving money to launch a lawn care business this summer.

Alder and Devin’s dad Vance Jacobs, watches them work from the family’s farmhouse, in case of emergency. Vance says that since January, his sons have only missed one and a half weekends because of pretty bad weather. He says otherwise, they’ve been working on Saturdays and Sundays for eight hours a day.

“I’m very, very proud of the boys,” Vance Jacob said. “Having grown up on a farm, this isn’t their first experience working hard.”

A 2025 survey by Provoke Insights found that nearly half of all shoppers rank food that is “locally grown” as their top priority, something Early Bird Eats customers say they notice at the stand.

“People really care about where their food comes from these days,” said customer Ellie Newman, who stopped by while training for a marathon. “Eating food that’s from a farm and is nutrient-dense, I think people really appreciate it.”

The boys’ work has caught the attention of Erick Mueller, the executive director of CU Boulder’s Deming Center for Entrepreneurship.

“You learn by doing,” Mueller said. “And they’re learning more by doing than any student that might be in a traditional classroom.”

For 11-year-old Devin, the trailer is a mix of enjoyment and a chance to learn.

“It’s fun doing it, and I love trying to make money and work,” Devin said. “I’ll try to use what we learn from this in the future.”

And Devin and Alder are learning a lot: They’re running a small business, negotiating partnerships with local brands and logging 16-hour weekends in the summer heat. With those statistics, it is easy to forget they are still just middle schoolers.

The next time you’re on a run or bike ride north of Boulder, look for the Early Bird Eats trailer. The early birds will already be there.