Local farms are alive and growing in the summer

by Frog Song Organics

Have you visited the new location of the Union Street Farmers Market to see what is growing in summer? Despite the heat and humidity, the local farmers at Frog Song Organics have not given up. Since starting their small farm four years ago, they have served the Union Street Farmers Market every week, rain or shine, with certified organic produce. Over the summer, you’ll find heat-loving crops like eggplant, okra, callaloo, peppers, basil, watermelon, native Florida Seminole Pumpkin, and fresh, bright, flowers.

Due to the efforts of farm staff, and the help of CSA members, market customers, family, and friends, Frog Song Organics has grown from its original six acres. They recently purchased fifty-seven acres of land through the USDA Farm Service Agency’s Beginning Farmer & Rancher Development Program to grow the farm and lengthen crop rotations. They are planning to cultivate about forty of these acres over time, and will slowly transition it into certified organic farmland with more fruit trees and vegetable crops.

Their mission is to produce healthy food for our community and create meaningful employment opportunities, and to demonstrate that farming can be accomplished with the “triple bottom line.” Frog Song currently employs seven full-time staff from both the United States and Mexico, plus several part-time local market staff in Gainesville, St. Augustine and Winter Park. They also offer benefits to full time staff not typically found in agriculture: paying above minimum wage, year-round full-time work, paid sick leave, paid vacation, life insurance, farm lunches, and a few paid holidays.

Frog Song Organics thanks the Alachua County community for it’s support of local food and farming.

Celebrate our vibrant local small farm community by shopping at the farmers market each week.

Registration for CSA membership is now open. Contact them at frogsongcsa@gmail.com for more information or visit www. frogsongorganics.wordpress.com/about.

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