Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Neighborhood report

Organic Sunday market planned

In addition to fruits and vegetables, there will also be clothing and crafts.

By JACKIE RIPLEY
Published March 3, 2006

CITRUS PARK - If you're in the mood for a Joni Mitchell kind of Chelsea Morning, then you might want to check out the marketplace at Sweetwater Organic Farm on Sunday. It's a first for the community farm and could well include milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges too.

"It should be a blast," said Rick Martinez, the farm's executive director. "We'll be doing this every Sunday, and turning it into a nice community event."

The organic marketplace, which runs from noon until 4 p.m., is at the farm at 6942 W Comanche Ave. Admission is free and open to the public. Vendors will be selling numerous organic products, from fruits and vegetables to cotton clothing and handmade hats and shoes.

They'll also be selling homemade bread and salad dressings as well as hand-crafted serving ware, bowls and baskets. There even will be a selection of jewelry from Tibet and handcrafted items from Ecuador. Shoppers also may purchase organically grown "fair trade" coffee and chocolate.

A fair trade certification is given when "everyone is being treated well," Martinez said. "The grower is getting a fair price for his product and the workers are laboring under safe working standards."

Because most of the farm's produce already is promised to co-op members, much of what is available for sale to the general public Sunday will come from other organic suppliers.

"It will be mostly fruits and vegetables," Martinez said, "things like bok choy, potatoes and onions."

Martinez said the marketplace, which is a new venture for the farm, is well suited to Sweetwater's ideals.

"It really fits our mission of promoting organics and creating community," Martinez said. "The goal is to make it more fun than work."

Sweetwater Organic Community Farm is a nonprofit organization with about 150 members. They pay a seasonal fee and in turn share in the harvests. Some work on the farm and earn rebates on their membership fee. Members get about 30 weeks worth of produce from the farm's September-through-May growing season.

Martinez, a former engineer, bought the 6 acres of suburban property along Sweetwater Creek 20 years ago. He also is an organic farming inspector who flies all around the world inspecting farms and processing plants.

To find Sweetwater Organic Community Farm, take Hillsborough Avenue to Hanley Road. Go north on Hanley for one block to W Comanche. Go east on W Comanche for a few hundred yards until the pavement ends. Angle park in the area on the left and walk across the foot bridge over Sweetwater Creek. Turn right into the farm driveway.

For more information call (813) 887-4066.

- Jackie Ripley can be reached at 813 269-5308 or ripley@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 2, 2006, 13:56:08]