The Farm At Verde Gardens

New favorite lunch place. On lock.
Verde Gardens has been making news and making waves. Part of the federal «Growing Hope» Project, this farm combines more than 100 «green» town homes for formerly homeless families with disabilities and 22 totally organic acres which includes a produce nursery and an on-​site public farmer’s market.
And now a café.
Run don’t walk to support this thriving mini-​community situated on a plot that used to be part of the Homestead Air Base (pre-​Andrew). Try the epic sunshine rolls (think cinnamon bun, only with brown sugar and lemon – CRAY), the white sauce and pesto pizza, or the eggplant burger.
It’s two minutes from my work and the best place to get a salad in all of the Stead.

So this is the market /​weekly produce box pickup spot for an community supported agricultural service project that also doubles as a café. I believe the building used to be an fire station in the old Air Force Base, which is why it the entire interior can be opened up to the outside. They also put basil bouquets on the wooden picnic tables, so it smells delicious. On a sunny day with light breeze, it may be the best dining ambiance in the city.
I actually prefer the two (enormous) salads for lunch, especially the one with dragonfruit in vinaigrette, but the very nice tuna salad sandwich is almost all tuna and very little mayo. Coworkers rave about the burger. Both the ice tea and smoothies are worth repeat orders.
As this building has multiple purposes, staff frequently seem distracted or learning on the fly. Once a guy in a Verde shirt turned out to do strictly farm things and didn’t know a thing about the café or how to take an order. Adjust expectations accordingly
I’m lucky enough to make this a regular lunch spot but it’s worth a special visit. It’s also worth pointing out that the market relies upon the growing season, so options should expand dramatically starting in November.

Was diaappointed because they don’t offer Sunshine tolls ! And they even know when they will have it again!
My only purpose for visit was to try the sunshine rolls …
The place is extremely clean ! No character, no history, sooo… nothi g imppresive ! No pick ups …
The good thing was the fresh air while seating looking around … A neighborhood is so close .
I dont want to come back

We stopped here for lunch after a few hours of volunteer work shoveling dirt on the actual farm. Don’t expect this to be a restaurant. All the seating is outdoor, but under a roof, in the shade and it feels pleasantly breezy. You can sit at the counter or at a table. Browse the produce while you wait for your food and have them ring to all up at the same time.
The prices are ridiculously low and all the food is prepared fresh. You can go vegan or you can order a grass-​fed beef burger. I ordered the eggplant «burger» sans bun, since they don’t offer gluten-​free buns or bread. Great flavor, totally addictive.
Get a side of home fries and also try the guacamole. Dee-​lish.
The home-​made ketchup and pesto need to be bottled pronto so I can take some home, please.
We were given a delicious dragon fruit as a free sample. As if I needed to be enticed to buy some!
The produce sold at the market is very reasonably priced, organically grown and fresh! I loaded up on calabaza squash, pastured eggs (the only eggs I will buy), dragon and passion fruit.

Great café. Had the eggplant burger and dragon fruit pop. Lotsa goodies in their farmers market. Fruits veggies baked goods all from the farm
Went back and had umami sliders. Best burgers I’ve had lately. Homemade pickles and pickled onions. Had a citrus flavored sticky bun for dessert. Going back for more.

The wife and I were curious when we learned about an event at the site of former Homestead Harvest farmer’s market, since we had heard it had closed. When we arrived, it was hopping. I tracked down the project director who let me know that it was the same project and grant as previously, but now under the auspices of the Urban Oasis Project.
The market is a worthy project — and quite charming. In fact, it has a lot of the same virtues as its previous incarnation:
It’s a really nice little organic local source movement farmer’s market designed to give lower income communities access to self-​grown, organic healthy foods and a variety of veggies and products such as honey, beef etc.
The facility is immaculate, and the surroundings are very pleasant.
As before, they have an educational element — such as running cooking and nutrition classes — that highlight many of the more unusual ingredients or produce. This time when we were there, they were showing how to make raw food cacao (chocolate) ice cream and candy that is actually healthy. The demo took place in the small café that during their normal business hours serves healthy foods.
I noticed some changes had been made, and asked the director about them. I agreed with her that these that make the project more «viable» for the local community — as these were issues that we had noted, on our previous visits, would be problematic if the intent were to serve nearby low-​income communities.
1. The hours are expanded. Reviews of the previous iteration were often frustrated by the short and infrequent hours. Now, they are open Thursday — Saturday 11am — 5pm.
2. Selection of items focuses less on exotic gourmet spices, unpasteurized expensive dairy, etc. — and more toward healthy veggies and fruits that local residents actually use and are familiar with (while still being all organic and grown on their farm). The items available are also great for people who want local sourced chemical-​free ingredients.
3. Prices are better. Previously, the prices were beyond that of even expensive markets such as Whole Foods — which is fine for some, but not a viable alternative to local, expensive «convenience mart» shopping for lower income communities. We checked the prices and they were indeed competitive or in some cases lower than the local chain grocery.
4. They’ve revised their farm from a pure «forest agriculture» model — which is ideal but not able to produce sufficient product for an ongoingly open farmer’s market — to a commercial style but still natural/​organic farm run by local community members.
It’s a great project, and I hope the new changes help make it viable for both the immediate community and for residents of South Florida in general to have yet another option for organic, local clean and forward-​thinking farmer’s markets. Great projects and ideas tend to fizzle in Homestead, so let’s hope this is the exception.