Plant It Forward Farms

Plant It Forward is a non-​profit company that offers outstanding local, organic produce at seasonal farm stands & through its CSA farm share program. This is grown by Congolese refugees each given a ½ acre plot w/​in Houston, & the training necessary to farm it.
The company is exceptionally good at maintaining the quality of its produce. Everything we bought over the summer, at the U St. Thomas farm stand, & received in our CSA shares in the fall & winter were unparalleled, relative to produce we’ve bought at farmers’ markets here & in VT; from Abel & Cole grocers, in the UK; and even from Home Sweet Farm, in Brenham. Excepting a few boring mandarins, everything was gorgeous & tasty, the varieties, well-​chosen, and all had been carefully picked & cleaned, ready to go directly from farm to table.
But you needn’t take my word re. Plant It Forward’s quality – some of the most acclaimed restaurants in town use Plant It Forward’s produce, too, inc. Underbelly, Uchi, Coltivare, Oxheart, Local Foods, Sparrow, Dish Society, Down House, etc. And let’s face it, if it’s good enough for their chefs, it’s probably good enough for you & yours.
If, like us, you opt to join the CSA, you’ll receive at least 6 – 8 types of vegetables in each share, grown by a single farmer. Our share sometimes includes other local goodies, too. We’ve gotten honeycomb, pecan & rosemary infused honey, bread, Java Pura coffee, the mandarins, & Republic of Texas oranges. We even got a reusable Plant It Forward bag, just for being new members.
This year, expected winter produce includes kale, spinach, collards, radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, French sorrel, arugula, salad mixes, bok choy, cabbage, celery, cilantro, dill, fennel, & green onions. Sugar peas will be available in winter & early spring.
Expected spring produce includes tomatoes, peppers, radishes, beets, eggplant, summer squash, green beans, arugula, cucumbers, collards, kale, fennel, mint, and other herbs.
Expected summer produce includes winter squash, edamame, eggplant, peppers, okra, arugula, basil, cucumbers, green onions, roselle, malabar spinach, & maybe cantaloupe & watermelon.
See my pics for fall produce. (More to follow.)
You can pick-​up farm share produce in Montrose (at Plant It Forward Farm-​U St. Thomas), Greenway/​UK (Urban Harvest Eastside Farmer’s Market), Rice Village (Local Foods), Sunset Heights, Southwest Houston (Plant it Forward Warehouse), Meyerland (both at the JCC & ERJCC Bertha Alyce School), South Main, Greater Fondren Southwest, Westbury, Sugarland, or Pearland.
Or try Plant It Forward’s veg at one of their seasonal farm stands, at Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers’ Market, the University of St. Thomas, Braeswood Church, or Westbury Community Garden.
Presently, the full cost of a CSA share starts at $ 580 for a 25 week season, $ 1120 for a 50 week season, for those paying by check, one month before the start of the next growing season. Though, near the end of the last growing season, we received a coupon for $ 10 off the price of the 25 week season or $ 20 off that of the 50 week season. So the cost of a share currently starts at $ 22 per week. This is a steal, compared to the cost of a Local Box from Greenling ($ 35.99 per week, for a comparable amount of produce, some of which comes from Plant It Forward Farms, anyway) or a share from Home Sweet Farm ($ 36 per week).
And as Plant it Forward’s farms are located in Houston, itself, if you live in Houston, you’ll be getting truly local veg, rather than produce grown up to 100 miles away.
Best of all, Plant It Forward offers not just outstanding produce, but outstanding customer service too. This season, I failed to spot that pick-​up times had changed – my bad. But Farm Share Program Manager, Kassy R. went above and beyond, switching us to a pick-​up point & time that worked for us, then switching us again to one that works even better. *Thanks, Kassy.* So Plant It Forward’s employees aren’t just relying on your bleeding heart goodness. They actually want your business. Wow.
The winter growing season started this week. Stop by one of Plant It Forward’s farm stands to purchase their produce, or contact Kassy at
to join their farm share program.
In all, Plant It Forward offers truly exceptional locally-​grown, organic produce at a fair price, & offers outstanding customer service too. It also helps refugees earn a good standard of living. How can you argue with all that? Plant It Forward is a great cause & a great solution.
Special thanks to Gretchen P. for mentioning Plant it Forward on Talk-​Houston. This is the single best business I’ve found using Unilocal.And we weren’t even looking to join a CSA farm share program. But this one was just too good to pass up.