GARDEN: Meet our farmers and growers
The following is an updated list of all local farmers that we currently support and buy from. With all of our local farmers, we keep a direct and personal relationship with them, visiting their farms on a regular basis to ensure our high quality standards.
Local Farmers and Growers
Victory Farms / Hanover, Virginia / 17 Miles Away
Victory Farms is one of our largest providers of Certified-Naturally Grown produce in the state. Just 17 miles down the road, they provide us with veggies nearly year round. The five acres of land are compost-fed and pesticides are never used. Artisanally grown produce is hand-harvested and tended to daily and arrives at the markets freshly picked, clean and ready to enjoy.
Norman’s Garden / Richmond, Virginia / 4 Miles Away
Norman Harvey came to us in 2009, introduced himself and brought us some extra summer vegetables that he had to much of. From there, we’ve established a great relationship with the farmer who moved here form England more than 30 years ago. Norman grows all of his vegetables completely organically with a traditional no-till method. This method that uses absolutely no mechanical equipment is relatively a new practice here in Richmond. Norman’s sustainable methods also incorporate his own organic composting methods and the areas wonderful, hard-working worms and insects to help turn the soil. With the help of Mother Nature, Norman doesn’t rely on any pesticides, herbicides or any synthetic spray.
Manakintowne Specialty Growers / Powhatan, VA / 18 Miles Away
Manakintowne Specialty Growers is a family owned and operated farm in Powhatan County, Virginia. Since 1985. They’ve been growers and suppliers of fresh cut herbs, salad greens, micro greens, edible flowers and specialty vegetables for the best chefs and markets in Central Virginia. There fresh herbs and micro greens are our favorite addition to salads, try some today! Look for them in our produce cooler throughout the late spring, summer and early fall.
Shenandoah Valley Farms / Shenandoah Valley, VA / 100 Miles
Nestled right on the edge of our 100 mile radius lies a small group of farmers committed to traditional methods of farming. The Shenandoah Valley is one of Virginia’s most beautiful areas. Surrounded by te Blue Ridge Mountains, the geography of the area creates some amazing soil for farmland and sustainable growing methods. Using native practices and growing native Virginia produce, this group of farmers are committed to sustainability and freshness of the area. By working together as a collective, they are able to fight the rising costs of goods and produce fresh fruits and vegetables at a great price.
Trail’s End Farm / Montpelier, VA / 20 Miles / Certified Natural
Ever since we first started buying local produce, Trail’s End Farm was there for us. Trail’s End is a 10 acre Certified Naturally Grown farm in Montpelier, VA. It is tended by Jeff and Sherri Cantrell along with Sierra, Kristen, Rachel, Brenna & Jared since 1998. In the spring they grow sugar snap peas, lettuces, baby carrots, onions, herbs, different varieties of spinach, many kinds of beets, turnips, pac choi, leeks and more. In the summer they continue to grow and bring us some of the sweetest cantaloupes you’ve ever tasted.
Besides growing Certified Natural produce, they raised goats, chickens and horses. The goats are kept in their pen by a solar-powered electric fence. The goats are rotated regularly to clear field and fertilize field space, perfect for providing great soil for their veggies. For more information on Trails End Farm, please visit their website.
Warsaw Gardens / Warsaw, VA / 54 Miles
Warsaw Gardens is one of the best ways to start a successful summer harvest in Virginia. They provide us with locally-grown starter vegetables and herbs that are perfect for backyard growing. They offer a wide variety of tomatoes, hanging baskets, perennials, flowers and herbs, all grown right here in Virginia. Available early spring through late summer.
RedGate Organic Farm / Blackstone, VA / 54 Miles
RedGate Organic Farm is one of our newest local farmers in the area and we’re proud to have them! Wayne and Mandy Sikorsky have been organic gardening for many years at home and have always wanted to have and maintain a sustainable Homestead. Many children later, they are finally getting to that dream. With twenty acres at their upcoming Blackstone Virginia Farm called: “RedGate” Organic Farm of Blackstone, Mandy and Wayne plan to continually raise organic produce for sale. They also plan to gradually include hens for eggs and various animals ( for manure and friends) for a complete sustainable circle. They believe in enough space for everything and everyone to grow.
Dave & Dee’s Homegrown Mushrooms / Sedley, VA / 75 Miles
Dave and Dee’s Homegrown Mushrooms, located in Sedley, Virginia, is a family-based business privately owned by Dave and Dee Scherr. We love it when Dave & Dee arrive at our store with the best tasting oyster mushrooms we’ve ever had! We love to sauté them in white wine and some olive oil, throw in a little pepper and eat them just like that!
Dave & Dee deliver their homegrown mushrooms within the first hour of harvesting them so you know they’re fresh! Using all-natural processes, they grow and harvests three varieties of Oyster Mushrooms: Italian Gray, Yellow, and Chocolate Brown. They also offer dried Oyster Mushrooms for those who like to cook with these versatile delicacies. For more on Dave & Dee, visit their website.
Quail Cove Farms / Machipongo, VA / 90 Miles – USDA Cert. Organic
Quail Cove Farms is our main supplier of locally-grown, Certified Organic sweet potatoes in Virginia! Located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, their farm is one of the largest Organic producers of sweet potatoes in the state! We love to make sweet potato fries and pies with their potatoes! For more information on Quail Cove Farms, visit their website.
Dickie Brother’s Orchard / Roseland, VA (Nelson, County) / 100 Miles
Tucked away in one of the most beautiful parts of Virginia lies Dickie Brothers Orchard in Nelson County. Settled along the banks of the Tye River and surrounded by lush mountains and waterfalls, Dickie Brothers Orchard supplies us with what Nelson County is known most for, it’s apples!
Their family has been farming the land for over two centuries. In fact, their orchard is on Virginia’s “Century Farms” list. They grow on over 100 acres of apples with 15 different varieties. For more information on Dickie Brother’s Orchard, please visit their website.
Tricycle Gardens / Richmond, VA / 4 Miles – Organically Grown
Man, where do we even start? Tricycle Garden’s is so much more than a produce supplier to us, they’re the heart of the Richmond urban farming community, and so much more.
Tricycle Gardens is a grassroots, environmental nonprofit organization focused on bringing agriculture, nutrition education and healthy food access to the urban core of Richmond, Virginia. Founded in 2002 by three architects living in Church Hill who believed community gardens, and the simple act of growing food, were the fastest ways to transform the overall health of their community – both for the residents and the environment.
The goal of Tricycle Gardens is to transform abandoned, overgrown urban lots into sources of food and opportunities for economic development in low income neighborhoods. Starting with a group of friends and neighbors planting one community garden on a vacant lot owned by The Better Housing Coalition; Tricycle Gardens has grown into four community gardens, three learning gardens, a green house at Bryan Park, a ½-acre urban farm and a 3,000 sq ft edible forest garden at the Science Museum of Virginia.
In the spring and summer, Tricycle Gardens provides us with organically grown starter vegetables for your own garden as well as heirloom peas, tomatoes, peppers, beans and squash when they’re available. But you should really go visit them in Church Hill to get to know them better.
Our relationship with them was strengthened even more in the summer of 2009 when we co-founded the Humphrey Calder Community Garden with them and the City of Richmond. For a great article on Tricycle Gardens, read “Farm Stand in the City,” from Virginia Living Magazine. For more information on Tricycle Gardens, please visit their website.
A Thyme to Plant Herbs / Glen Allen, VA / 12 Miles – Certified Organic
A Thyme to Plant at Lavender Fields Herb Farm is owned and operated by Stan and Nicole Schermerhorn. They offer Certified Organic herb and vegetable plants. Located on 37 Acres of rolling hills beside the winding Chickahominy River in Glen Allen, They’re just just 12 minutes from our store! The farm is open March through Christmas to the public selling over two hundred varieties of naturally grown herbs in their 10, one-hundred foot long green houses! They offer a varity of hands on classes, lectures, farm tours, locally handcrafted skin care items and even host teas and luncheons with advance reservations. They also have many items from our farm available through mail-order on their website.
Epic Gardens / Bon Air, Virginia / 6 Miles – Organically Growing Practices
Epic Gardens, located near Bon Air, Virginia, is a local source for fresh, organically-grown vegetables, herbs, eggs (from part-time free-range chickens) and cut flowers. They also provide hands-on instruction in holistic gardening practices including soil building, integrated pest management, and growing food according to G.A.O.P. or Generally Accepted Organic Practices.
While they grow lettuces, squashes, beans and tomatoes, our main product is the vegetable soybean, Glycine max, or Edamame, which is Japanese for ‘beans on the branch.’ Nutritious, delicious, and hardy, Edamame enables people to eat lower on the food chain. High quality protein is essential to a good diet, and Edamame is a good source of protein. For more information on Epic Gardens, visit their website.
Dodd’s Farm / Hanover, Virginia / 29 Miles
Dodds farm is one of Hanover’s largest local farms, providing fresh, locally-grown produce to most of the Richmond area. Look for strawberries, Hanover tomatoes; summer squash, zucchini; cherry, grape and Roma tomatoes; tomatillas, bell peppers, 10 kinds of hot peppers; cantaloupes, watermelon; eggplant, access to sweet corn. Fall pumpkins, turnips, salad greens. Available summer through late fall.