Healthy Living Farms Market opens for season

ALBANY — Area residents looking to bolster their diets with fresh, locally grown, organic produce now have another option this summer as Healthy Living Farms recently opened its farmer’s market and stocked it with seasonal harvest.

The market kicked off its opening for the summer season Thursday afternoon and patrons who visited were able to find a plentiful bounty of fresh bell peppers, cucumbers, squash, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, fresh eggs and peaches.

“This is exciting,” said the farm’s CEO, Charlene Glover, at the market’s opening. “We’ve had one of our best yields ever because we’ve worked with a soil specialist. As you know, we’re growing everything certified naturally grown, and we follow organic standards.”

Access to organic produce is at the heart of Healthy Living Farms’ mission and Glover, who is also a minister at Trumpet of God Ministries, of which HLF is an affiliate, said she’s been overwhelmed at the reception the farm, and subsequently the market, has gotten from the general public.

“We’re so delighted that we’re receiving community support,” Glover said. “I am thrilled, our team is thrilled. We’ve been working feverishly day and night to get the market re-opened, so we’re very excited, very thankful and feel very blessed to have people come in, especially right at our opening day.”

Indeed, within minutes of its seasonal opening, the tiny market on the farm’s grounds was teeming with customers, all of whom were visibly impressed by the quality and quantity of its selection.

Bonnie Scarbrough, who became a regular at the market last year, said she had marked the opening day on her calendar to come and see what the market had to offer this year.

“Everything I got in here last year was pretty good,” Scarbrough said. “It’s nice.”

Leah Hudson, who is a member of Trumpet of God and a volunteer at the farm, was also pleased with the variety and quality of the produce. Hudson said she made a point to visit on opening day to make sure she supported what she believes to be an important community endeavor.

“I’ve worked out here in the field, harvesting, planting; I’ve done some weeding, and I’m not a farmer,” said Hudson. “It’s good to see everything that we’re doing out here. We need to come out and partake of it. It’s our family business, so I wanted to make sure that I participate.”

The market, which like the farm itself, is located at 3810 Gillionville Road, is run entirely by volunteers. It will be open throughout the summer from noon-6 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays. The market accepts cash, debit cards and EBT. It also offers Community Supported Agriculture for individuals and families.

To learn more about Healthy Living Farms, visit the farm’s Facebook page or its wesbite, www.healthylivingfarms.org.