Tammany Family: Farmers Market Harvest

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Farmers Market Harvest

Farm fresh produce is the key to good health. That's what my father believed, and that's probably why he bought 11 acres in Talisheek and planned to grow organic vegetables and sell them down in Slidell at his shop on Fremaux Blvd. That didn't work out quite as well as he had hoped, but nowadays, there are a lot of farmers in St. Tammany and Washington Parishes doing just that.

On any day of the week, but primarily on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, you can find farm fresh produce being sold by local farmers, some organic, that bring their harvests in to the several local farmers markets for folks to purchase and pick up.

Some have even set up programs where members join ahead of time and share the harvest as it comes in later in the season. That helps the farmer plan ahead and spread out his costs of growing the produce.

Stoney Point Farm is one of those places, and they distribute out of the Abita Springs Pavilion Art and Farmers Market on Sunday afternoon. I talked to the owner Tim Roper earlier today about the community-supported agriculture program, and he said demand is growing so more produce is being planted and more members are being sought to take part in the future harvest.

My mother's family were dairy farmers up near Stoney Point, so I am pretty familiar with that part of Washington Parish just west of Franklinton. It offers some nice scenery and great growing areas, as the nurseries of north St. Tammany testify. I even visited a bamboo farm up there one time, and you would be amazed at the different kinds and styles of bamboo.

Here are a few pictures of the Stoney Point Farm folks setting up their display at the Abita Springs Farmers Market near the historic pavilion. Click on the images to make them larger. For more information visit https://www.facebook.com/stoneypointfarm/ or call them at 504-717-3812.