KPU’s Richmond Farm School hosting pop-up farmers markets this summer
Students and faculty will be hosting five markets at the Richmond Farm for folks to purchase freshly harvested produce and flowers
KPU’s Richmond Farm School will be hosting five pop-up farmers markets through summer. (Submitted)
From June to September, Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Richmond Farm Schools will host five markets at their seven-acre farm, with the first one on Saturday, June 25.
“It’s something that we’ve really wanted to do, to be able to include that as a learning opportunity for our students so that they can see different ways in which they can make farming a business and how they can go about selling their produce,” says Paige Leslie, sales, communications and program coordinator for KPU Farm Schools.
The markets will run from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Saturdays. Farm School students will spend the mornings of those days harvesting and preparing stalls for visitors.
Though selection will shift as the season progresses, a large variety of delicious fruits and vegetables, some of which will include leafy greens, carrots, radishes, onions, scallions, tomatoes, peas, and beans, are among the potential produce available.
Flower bouquets will also be for sale, freshly harvested from the farm’s cut flower fields.
“We definitely want people to come out, see the farm, buy some local fresh produce, talk to our students about their experiences, have the students talk about the produce and have that experience of talking to customers about what they worked hard to grow this year,” Leslie says.
A huge part of the Richmond Farm School’s program is “building that community of more sustainable, regenerative farming in Richmond,” she says, as well as connecting people with their food system.
The markets will provide an opportunity for their students to connect with the community they’re learning in.
Leslie says that the cold, wet spring seen this year may result in a smaller amount of produce available on their first market day.
This is the first year that the Richmond Farm School has been able to organize and participate in farmers markets, as their operation was previously too small of a scale to open their harvests to the public.
Compared to the Tsawwassen First Nation Farm School, which runs on a 20-acre farm and is a three-day-a-week program, the Richmond Farm School operates on a significantly smaller farm and scale where only three of their seven acres are grown on, and the program runs once a week.
The Tsawwassen Farm School has been taking part in more established Vancouver farmers markets for several years.
The Richmond Farm School will be hosting their pop-up farmers markets on June 25, July 23, Aug. 6, Aug. 2, and Sept. 10 at their farm located on 13840 Gilbert Rd. in Richmond.
