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New Urban Farm in Tampa, Florida

The new Meacham Urban Farm.

The farm sits on just over two acres and has a 20-by-25-foot farm store with room for expansion.

By Yvette C. Hammett
83 Degrees
November 10, 2020

Excerpt:

Urban farmers Joe Dalessio, Kristin Beauvois, and Travis Malloy are combining their talents to create the farm, built on property owned by the Hillsborough County School District. The project is in conjunction with the Tampa Housing Authority.

Some 40 fruits, vegetables, and herbs are already under production at the farm and the hope is to draw not just students on a regular basis, but city dwellers looking for fresh-picked organic produce amid the urban jungle, says Dalessio, who also owns Black Finger Farm in Lutz.

“Our specialty is organic mixed vegetables, over 40 varieties of herbs, vegetables, and fruit. We offer a farm membership program so if you pre-purchase a farm card you get a discount throughout the season,” he says. “There will also be general sales at our farm store on weekends.”

The pricing on the farm card starts at $250 and there are various tiers that can be added, giving members a 5% discount on all purchases. “We also offer local vendors’ meat and eggs,” he says.

The eggs come from Trailbale Farm in Tampa and the meats come from Providence Cattle, located throughout Central Florida.
Just how did these three partners get into urban farming?

Malloy calls it a “force of will. I wasn’t born in it and studied technical stuff in school, but I think it is one of those necessary things that more people need to start growing stuff. I started gardening in my backyard and then built a community garden in Temple Terrace, then started a chicken farm, and now this organic garden downtown.”

The project has everything the three were looking for, Malloy says.

Read the complete article here.