DUVAL COUNTY — Brian Lapinski is one of Duval County’s newest farmers.
After years of researching, earning a related master’s degree and interning on other farms, the 30-year-old and his wife bought 2.5 acres near Interstates 10 and 295 that he calls Down to Earth Jax.
He plans to transform the land into a Community-Supported Agriculture produce farm that will use sustainable agriculture practices.
Lapinski is one of a growing number of small farmers helping to meet the growing demand for local organic produce. About 12 to 15 small farms have opened in the area in the past year or so, according to the University of Florida Extension Office in Duval County.
These farming entrepreneurs with less than 50 acres are filling a void left by the 21 percent drop in larger farms in the county over the past six years, according to extension office data. The small farms provide fresh fruit and vegetables to farmers markets and straight to consumers.
Designed in part to reduce some of the financial risks involved in farming, CSAs are farms that sell shares, in advance, to consumers who, in turn, receive a portion of the food produced on the farm once a week for a set number of weeks. Although he knew of two other CSAs in North Florida, Lapinski did not know of any others in Jacksonville.
He’s already harvested produce that he’s sold at a local farmers market, and plans to plant his first CSA crop this fall.
“It enhances the quality of life in Jacksonville,” Lapinski said. “It’s good for the local economy.”
Community gardens, which give consumers with a green thumb a hands-on approach to buying produce, are also becoming more popular.
Gretchen Ferrell is helping develop the Beaches Organic Community Garden in Jarboe Park, Neptune Beach. For a $10 fee and three hours of dedicated volunteer time per month, the garden provides gardeners with a plot, water, soil, liability insurance and a basic introduction to organic gardening education.
The garden broke ground last week. Those who win a plot through a lottery will be able to plant their first seeds in October and may have their first harvest by winter.
Jennifer McCharen is developing the Springfield Community Garden on North Main Street that will double as a living classroom for a group of students at the UF Extension Office this fall. Eventually, McCharen said, she’d like the community surrounding the Springfield Community Garden to adopt the third-of-an-acre plot.
Other local businesses are turning to locally grown produce.
Tom and Ila Rae Merten, who own the Jenks House bed and breakfast in Riverside, have been growing fruit and vegetables year-round in their backyard for 33 years, and started using the garden-fresh produce in meals they prepare for their visitors three years ago.
The Mertens said the only trick to cooking almost entirely with their own produce is finding a variety of recipes.
“You really have to adapt yourself to the garden,” Ila Rae Merten said. “You’re not going to have the variety you have when you walk into the grocery store.”
Source: Jacksonville Business Journal
I wouldn’t think that planting a garden, organic or otherwise, could profitably pay for the land with the (high) prices and poor soil in the area. I wish them all good luck in their ventures and, as transportation costs increase, perhaps it will make better economic sense for people to purchase locally-grown vegetables and fruits instead of those grown across the country or world.
I will be watching this experiment closely, as I may have extra produce to take to the farmer’s market this fall myself….if the chickens, insects, sheep, or bad weather allow me to have any produce that survives to harvest, that is!
