The Verde Community Farm & Market will open March 2015 near HARB.

 I had the pleasure of being placed next to a delightful gentleman at Homestead’s first Eco Fair that was held Saturday in Losner Park downtown. I need to digress for just a moment because of the connectivity of Verde Community Farm Market and the Chapman Partnership. Chapman is an organization that I have great admiration for. They are a private organization that does remarkable work with the homeless through partnership with a number of different municipal, county, state, and federal programs. They have established a model that many like minded organizations have come to see, but that is a separate post.

Among their other efforts, there has been a plan to expand a farmer’s market in conjunction with a CSA and a farm-to-table café. Mr. Bill Squire was the gentleman set up in the tent next to me and he had some of their beautiful produce as well as the promotion for what they will be doing. It not only has all of the things that people who enjoy Farmer’s Markets are looking for – Certified Organic items, CSA option, commercial kitchen and special event venue – it is in an old emergency services station close to the Homestead Air Reserve Base with plenty of parking. Best of all, it is staffed predominantly with individuals from the homeless shelter as they learn skills they can build from. The entire operation will be open next month and I’ll do a follow-up post once they are in full swing. In the meantime, you can check them out at: http://www.verdefarmandmarket.com