LOCAL Houston | The City Guide June 2017 | Page 53

FOOD | ARTS | COMMUNITY | STYLE+LEISURE
HOT HARVEST
FINCA TRES ROBLES IS GROWING
By Tim Moloney | Photography by Collin Kelly
Weeds and townhouses aren’t the only things growing on Houston’s East Side. Just
off Harrisburg Boulevard, in the shadow of the Farmer Brothers coffee plant, you’ll find
FINCA TRES ROBLES, Houston’s first private farm inside the Loop.
On its 1.25 verdant acres, brothers DANIEL AND THOMAS GARCIA-PRATS are growing
herbs, fruits and vegetables that are sold to individuals and restaurants directly from
the farm and at area farmers markets. One of their main goals is to make healthy
produce accessible to their community (currently a “food desert”) and also affordable
to their immediate East End neighbors.
“We see it as a way to begin to challenge the food system of the neighborhood, to
build community and to keep money here in our immediate, local economy,” says
Danny, who works at the farm full-time year round with his brother. The farm offers
free memberships to residents in the 77011 ZIP code to get discounts (10%+) on all
produce and classes offered on the farm. By offering classes on the farm covering a
wide variety of food-and-health-related topics, they diversify their business, while also
creating additional ways to get more people out to the farm to empower them with
the skills necessary to take their health into their own hands.
“Conversations surrounding starting a farm slowly began in 2013 and picked up
steam as we developed a business plan and searched for land in various areas around
Houston," he explains. The lot they found, formerly home to an auto inspection
station, was leased in 2014 by the brothers, and they began the process of building
a farm from the ground up. “Houston’s soil is clay, so it’s not conducive to farming,”
says Daniel. “To remedy this, we covered everything with several feet of wood chips,
and as they decayed, they created a rich soil.” So rich that the farm operates year
round, with seasonal crops that include green beans, tomatoes, summer squash,
zucchini, onions, collard greens, kale, radishes and more.
Celebrating its third anniversary this month, the farm operates regular hours and hosts
a Farm Stand twice a week to sell its fresh produce directly from the farm. “Our goal
has always been to start farms all over Houston. The city can do something that no
other city its size -- not New York, not Chicago, not LA -- can do and make agriculture
a fundamental part of our city and our communities."
5.11.2017
6:21am
www.smallplaces.org
www.facebook.com/pg/FincaTresRobles
june 17 |
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