Yesterday, volunteers and leaders with local nonprofit Shalom Farms and the Love, Tito's Block to Block program kicked off an expansion of the organization's Northside farm.

This is the third year in a row that the Austin-based vodka company's community garden program has helped with major upgrades to the urban farm site, one of the largest of its kind in Central Virginia.

The expansion included work on ongoing projects such as:

🌳 Planting fruit trees to start up an orchard (Did you know Virginia soil can grow apple, elderberry, plum, black cherry, Bartlett pear, persimmon + serviceberry trees?)

🎨 Creating art of farm life, vegetables + nature, all designed by Richmond artists

🌱 Doing landscaping work across all five acres, including fence building and installation + gravel spreading.

Shalom Farms has harvested ~100,000 servings of fresh produce from Northside this year alone, but growing food is only part of their organization's mission. Richmonders can head to the Westwood Avenue facility to grab produce + culinary prep tools or try out farm education classes.

The nonprofit also owns the Powhatan Farm on Venita Road in Midlothian, where two farmers-in-residence live and work on the 14-acre property. This farm harvests ~500,000 servings of produce a year.

6,000+ people volunteer at Shalom Farms. Interested farm-friendly folks can apply throughout the year. Every member gets an educational tour before they start getting down in the dirt.

Other Richmond-based organizations promoting local food accessibility include:

Bonus: We're looking into what Richmonders can plant in their own fall gardens. Let us know which green-thumbed gurus we should contact.