Plan cultivates love for local crops

A Johns Island farm is planting the seeds to boost awareness of locally grown produce.

Beginning this spring, workers at Legare Farm will begin distributing fresh fruits and vegetables from their fields and others to people who sign up for a new 20-week program.

For $350 per share, participants will receive a half a bushel of in-season, locally grown produce once a week. That's about how much fruit and vegetables can fit inside a handheld grocery basket.

The program, which is limited to 100 participants, lasts for 10 weeks in the spring and 10 weeks in the fall.

The vegetable selection will include tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, collard greens, butter beans, sweet potatoes, squash, zucchini, peas, sweet corn and okra. Fruits might include strawberries, peaches, grapes, plums, blueberries, blackberries and pears.

Most of the goods will be grown on the 375-acre farm, which is on the Stono River. Some fruits, such as apples and peaches, which don't grow well in the coastal climate, will come from other South Carolina farms, said Helen Legare-Floyd, whose family has been raising crops on Johns Island for nine generations.

After hearing about the program, downtown Charleston resident Corbett Tiller drove to the farm Tuesday with a $350 check to ensure himself a spot in the program. He plans to split his batches of truck crops with his sister.

"I know 10 other people who would want to do this," said Tiller, who normally stocks up on a week's worth of produce at the Charleston Farmers Market. "It's just a great idea."

By marketing, selling and distributing food in this manner, Legare Farms is tapping into the growth of community-supported agriculture programs, or CSAs. The movement has become popular in the Northeast and along the Pacific Coast, and there are now about 1,200 programs nationwide, according to Wilson College of Chambersburg, Pa., which tracks the trend.

"People are becoming more and more aware of the importance of eating locally," said Jamee Haley, executive director of Lowcountry Local First, a nonprofit that supports independent businesses and farms. "People want to know where their food comes from, they feel like it's safer to eat local produce, and they want to reconnect with the land."

Another local grower on Wadmalaw Island, Rita Bachmann of Rita's Roots, is trying to set up another buying program that would serve fewer participants. She plans to offer produce such as lettuce, radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, arugula, herbs, tomatoes, squash, cantaloupes, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage.

Bachmann currently supplies produce to the farmers market and local restaurants.

For growers like Legare-Floyd, such buying programs offer a measure of financial security.

"We know this stuff is sold before we put it in the ground, so we can focus on what we do best, which is growing vegetables," she said.

Legare Farm used to sell watermelons and cantaloupes to Doscher's grocery stores, but it no longer sells its produce in retail establishments. Most of its revenue comes from playing host to special events including a corn maze in the fall and Civil War reenactments. It also grows seasonal crops such as pumpkins.

The Legares are still figuring out the details of the local buying program.

As people sign up, the farm will assign weekly drop-off points throughout the area. It also will try to accommodate fussy eaters, and participants might also be able to buy other farm-raised products, such as flowers, beef and eggs, Legare-Floyd said.

The early response has been positive. Shortly after the program was announced Tuesday through Lowcountry Local First, dozens of people called the farm for more information.

"The phone hasn't stopped ringing yet," Legare-Floyd said.

Reach Katy Stech at 937-5549 or kstech@postandcourier.com.