Building a Community Farm Stand: From the Idea to Reality

Alexandra Greenleaf, Neil Sohal, Shriya Vejendla

We would like to share our journey in creating a free farm stand in our community. A farm stand

is a great way to make fresh produce available to anyone, while creating a sense of community. Here is what we did so you can do the same in your local community.

Step 1: Measure your space

We chose a space in front of Oak Park Sol’s Community garden. This area is wide open and

available. We choose an area that is located at the front of the garden so it can be a reminder of establishing community to other gardeners and the general public. With a tape measure we outlined the dimensions of the farm stand (width, length, and height). We gathered a rough estimate and then visualized the structure’s layout. As a team, we drew a rough image of what we wanted our farm stand to look like.

(Coming Soon)

Image 1: Collaborating on measurements of the space

(Coming Soon)

Image 2: Brainstorming as a group

Step 2: Support from Local Partners

By outreaching we contacted local businesses in the Sacramento area to ask for material and cash donations. However, this proved to be challenging. Some companies were eager to donate and others were not. This support allowed us to move forward with a few lumbar donations to our next step. Some of our donations came from friends, community gardens: Christian and Mariana, and Darnell from Habitat for Humanity Restore .

Step 3: Collection and Organization

After gathering our materials, we laid everything out. We were able to come together and come up with a plan by gathering new measurements of the materials and organizing a new plan. Using our measurements, we were able to sketch up a plan. The goal was to create something sturdy and semi-permanent.

Step 4: Design and Build

From there we marked all our measurements on 4x4 posts (4) and attached the structure together with screws. We used reused doors as shelves to set the fresh produce. We also used 2x4 posts (4) to help maintain the structure together. We utilized small lumbar to create crates for the produce to sit in. We chose to paint the farm stand with bright blue to stick with Alchemist's logo. We also painted some wooden boards for the shelves with earthy colors (sage green and brown).

We are excited to share our final farm stand to the local community and hope it becomes a place for individuals in local encampments and communities nearby to gather fresh free produce. We saw how the community came together to support one another and create a tool for everyone to use through volunteering and donating. By listening and observing the nearby community we were able to come up with this idea. This leads to our goal: to create a small impactful change to the community. Hopefully this inspires you to consider checking out the needs in your community and make a similar project in your own neighborhood. We are excited to keep working with the Oak Park Sol community and spreading awareness about serving others.