Waylon Breaux demonstrating the building of a hugelkultur bed inside one of the NRCS funded high tunnels at the Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Farm in Campti, Louisiana.
Campti Field of Dreams is pleased to bring you Red River Farm Fresh, a virtual local food marketplace serving Natchitoches and surrounding parishes. Beginning May 1st, 2016, we will be registering new vendors and customers. The online store will open on Friday, June 10th with the first orders being filled on Thursday, June 16th. We are focused on providing locally grown produce that is both high quality and affordable. Value-added products, such as jams and jellies, will also be offered.
If you’re looking to buy fresh, locally grown produce, Red River Farm Fresh is your one-stop shop. When you buy your produce through the online marketplace, you are supporting local farmers, ranchers, artisans, and other small businesses in the Red River area. You are helping to create local jobs for people in our community thereby building the local economy.
Local growers and artisans will also benefit from using our online marketplace. We take the guesswork out of the retail process for you. Growers only have to harvest what has been ordered earlier in the week, which reduces waste and allows you to easily adjust the amount you grow and harvest in the future. Local artisans will benefit by having an online space to list and sell their arts and crafts.
The system is set up on a weekly cycle. On Friday, the marketplace opens for the following week and producers enter the products that they have for sale that week. On Sunday morning the vendor portion is closed and the marketplace is opened to customers, who will be able to place orders up until Wednesday afternoon. Customers can place their orders 24 hours a day from their computers or mobile phones, choosing from several convenient pick-up locations. Vendors get a “pick list” on Wednesday evening. All produce is picked and distributed on Thursday, thereby ensuring maximum quality and freshness.
We invite small producers within 120 miles of Campti, Louisiana to participate in our online marketplace. Did you grow extra produce in your backyard garden or truck patch last year that went to waste? Then the marketplace is here for you. You can earn money from your extra veggies and be a source of locally grown food for your community. For more information, call Donna Isaacs at 318-332-7791 or visit our website to register http://www.localfoodmarketplace.com/redriverfarmfresh/.
Red River Farm Fresh is the online market for the Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Farm located in Campti, Louisiana. The working farm will produce all natural fruits and vegetables, yard eggs, and grass-fed meat. Year round production is facilitated through 3 high tunnels funded with a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture High Tunnel Program.
Are you interested in starting or growing an agri-business but need technical or financial assistance? The USDA Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service has several programs to assist beginning farmers and ranchers, veterans, women, minority groups, and specialty crop producers. These organizations offer their help and information for free. In addition to technical assistance they provide grants and low-interest loans to qualified individuals. If you are located in Northwest Louisiana (Caddo, De Soto, Red River, Natchitoches, Grant, Rapides, Vernon and Sabine) you can contact Donna Isaacs at Campti Field of Dreams, 318-332-7791 or USDA Natchitoches, 6949 Louisiana Highway 1 Bypass, Natchitoches, LA, 71457, 318-357-8366, for more information.