New market for fresh produce grows communities

Urban Farm garden and market
Nathan Schrecengost grows heirloom vegetables in St. Paul for Pig's Eye Urban Farm, his family's small farming operation. Starting today ( Tuesday) he'll sell his vegetables at North End Urban Farm, a new three-acre community garden and farmers market in North St. Paul. The market has 13 growers and will be open 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays, and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
MPR Photo/Jessica Mador

There's now another place to find locally grown produce. The North End Urban Farm in St. Paul is a three-acre community garden with 13 growers and a farmers market.

The garden provides fresh produce to an under-served community and helps develop small income-generating businesses.

Nathan Schrecengost grows heirloom vegetables for Pig's Eye Urban Farm, his family's small Twin Cities farming operation. He plans to sell vegetables at the garden to help increase access to healthy food.

"Food security," Schrecengost said. "Really connecting people back to their food and creating a product that is as fresh as possible and as local as possible."

The new North End Urban Farm market will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman says the three-acre farm will be an incubator for small businesses, with training provided by the organizers.

"We celebrate when we build buildings or open up a new street, but there is no more important community building than what we are doing here: giving folks an opportunity to produce fresh produce," Coleman said.

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