Photo by Alyx Chandler
The new Stone Hollow FarmStand location is open at the Pepper Place Market. People can sign up to get weekly CSA shares of fresh produce and pick up a basket of goodies each week.
Even though the brick-and-mortar FarmStand is new to downtown, the Stone Hollow Farmstead family says its opening feels in a lot of ways like coming home to one of the places where the farmers market and fresh food movement first became popular in Birmingham: Pepper Place.
In April, the Pepper Place Market area added the FarmStand specialty grocery store as its newest tenant.
“When we got the opportunity to get the place at Pepper Place, we knew it was the perfect spot,” Stone Hollow General Manager Jonathan Parrish said.
Stone Hollow began in 1999 as a family-owned business that produces items like cheese, honey, specialty foods and cosmetic extracts from things grown primarily on their family farm in Harpersville.
“The concept is you’re able to come get your local stuff and support your local producers and community, but then we’ve also got everything you’re going to need for gifting if you have special occasions coming up because we have a lot of stuff that’s great for parties and events,” Parrish said.
Photo by Alyx Chandler
FarmStand is a one stop shop for everything from groceries to gifting.
Although the store is stocked with items like oils, jams and cheeses with a longer shelf life, Parrish said they are slowly bringing in more produce so it can be a “one-stop shop” for getting groceries and other items for the week.
“As home to the farmers market, Pepper Place has served as a natural incubator for designers and makers for the past 20 years. Stone Hollow Farm[Stand] is a terrific example of our vision for the district coming to life, moving from market vendor to permanent retail tenant,” said Lochrane Smith, the director of leasing and business development at Sloss Real Estate, which manages Pepper Place.
Owner Alex Stone said a lot of people expressed interest for “party items,” such as grazing or cheeseboard favorites.
“That’s kind of the avenue people have been expressing more interest in. … It’s flower season, too, so that’s been fun,”she said.
The new location has also provided a central hub where people can come learn more about their Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, program, Stone said.
Individuals or families who become a CSA share member, Parrish said, get to be part of an educational program, support local farmers and supplement their groceries with pre-prepared baskets of seasonal, fresh and organic food each week. Since they began their program in 2014, memberships have become more and more popular, Parrish said.
“It gives you a new respect for where your food comes from and just the hard work people on the farm are doing every day, so I think that’s really valuable. You’re investing into the growth and development in the food scene here in Alabama,”he said.
Their CSA program has developed satellite pick-ups every Tuesday all across Birmingham, including their new FarmStand location at Pepper Place, which has the widest span of pick-up hours available.
Each Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m., members who might not be able to make it out to farmers markets or who prefer to avoid the crowds can swing by and pick up a basket filled with a selection of fresh vegetables, flowers and dairy products from local farmers. Parrish said they supply a hefty portion of the CSA basket themselves, but they also partner with other nearby farmers to sell their extra produce and fill the growing demand.
“[Shareholders] get a really great selection each week that we put a lot of time and thought into, not just the quality of the items that we are featuring, but how they all pair together and how they will work to make some really great recipes,”Parrish said.
He and his staff research recipes with the various baskets and compile them online on a weekly blog called Tuesday Table. It features the breakdown of the week’s shares, artisan profiles and notes from the farm so that people can get to know more about where their food came from.
The CSA shares are offered in various programs, including the annual share, offered all year long; a flower share, offered at various points in the year; and then seasonal shares. People can purchase a quarter share, which generally feeds a family of two with a small child, or a half share, which generally feeds a family of four, Parrish said.
“You have access to something that most people don’t [through the program], and everything just has a much better flavor, and it’s fresher because it’s right when it’s being pulled out of the ground basically,” Parrish said.
Stone and Parrish said they’re having a lot of fun sharing their love of fresh food at FarmStand in the Pepper Place area, and the CSA program has been getting more attention than ever before.
“FarmStand is a wonderful addition to our Pepper Place community. We are excited to support them as they lead the way in promoting local farmers and makers. FarmStand creates an access point for the Birmingham community to ‘shop local,’” Smith said.
FarmStand is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays. For more information about Stone Hollow Farmstead new storefront at Pepper Place or the CSA shares, go to stonehollowfarmstead.com
