Baltimore Ave & S 43rd St
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Thursdays 3 pm - 7 pm; June - November
Saturdays 10 am - 2 pm; Year round
On Saturdays Clark Park is a bustling place with people shopping for their weekly produce. It is a larger farmers' market, decorated with vendors of all sorts. One in particular stood out, John and Linda Shenk Vegetables. I got into a lengthy conversation with him about his farming practices, and was delightfully surprised.
1) Fahnstock Fruit Farm ($)
- Located in Lancaster
- Apples
- Organic
- http://www.keystonefarmcsa.com/
- Great selection of vegetables
- Naturally raised meat
- Rome, PA based food share
- John Shenk has owned and operated his farm in Warwick Township, Lancaster County since the mid 1980’s. Since then, he has established a business based on truly organic and eco-friendly agriculture. His typical growing season spans from May until November, though it fluctuates due to seasonal climate change. He uses less energy consuming and habitat invasive means to fertilize, maintain and protect his plants. These include crop rotation, compost and manure from his cattle. He makes his own compost as well as obtaining it from his local waste facilities. He also uses small amounts of Nitrogen fertilizers to fill the voids of the other three. This is because organic fertilizers contain fewer nutrients per unit weight than inorganic ones. Land that is not suitable for growing any sort of crops, i.e. hills, is utilized to feed his cattle. The beef contains no hormones, antibiotics, and is grass fed. Having said all of this, it would be fair to think that his prices are much higher based on the average prices of organic foods. On the contrary, this is not what I discovered. The cost of a pound of ground beef is only $3.25, reasonable when compared to the $4.50-$5.50 other vendors charge (and boy was it delicious).
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