Urban Oaks Organic Farm Improving Oak Street Area

When Sandelli Florist left the Oak Street business, little was known of what would become of the land. Elmo Audi purchased the land and asked Mike Kandefer and Tony Norris if they had interest in cultivating the land.

"My first thought was 'no way'," said Kandefer. "But, I was persuaded to try to do something with it."

Volunteers including former Mayor Lucian Pawlak came down to the farm and cut down trees.

"Over 200 lbs of debris was taken out," Kandefer recalls. "We originally had 9-10 greenhouses and kept the best 6."

The project soon received a $500,000 from the state and $500,000 from the city. The farm became one of the centerpieces to rehab the area of the city.

In 1999 the first crops of tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash were planted.

About 1 ½ later it was decided to make the organic farm non-profit.

"Our goal was to better the lives of the people in the neighborhood," said Kandefer. "At that time the neighborhood was seedy and there were gangs."

Since the emergence of the farm other projects to fix up Oak Street began.

Even with the passing of Norris in 2007, Kandefer says every year the farms grows.

The organic farm most recently took over the corner building and has its organic farm store on the site.

"Our store is open year round, as we farm year round in our greenhouses," said Kandefer. "Everything we sell is organic except for some fruit like bananas and sweet corn. But, the corn is local. We even sell local grass fed meat, organic turkeys, eggs and cheese produced locally. Our produce keeps increasing."

The primary income from the farm comes from selling vegetables to top-notch restaurants such as The Pond House in West Hartford; La Farm in Stamford; Scuzzi's in New Haven; and On20 in Hartford.

"About 65-70 percent of our money comes from selling it to restaurants wholesale," Kandefer said. "Our major crops are salad greens. Twelve years ago people didn't eat as much greens as they do today. In the wintertime, we are in such high demand, we can barely keep up."

Most of the staff are volunteers, but there are four full-time workers in the winter, eight in the summer, 12 summer youth employments from the HRA and 12 board members.

"Some volunteers come weekly, some monthly and some yearly," said Kandefer. "It's all up to the volunteer."

"We are blessed as a neighborhood to have this farm in our neighborhood," said Rich Marzi, of the North Oak Street NRZ. "It is thanks to the vision of Mike and Tony that this project is what it is today."

The farm has several new projects on tap including an educational classroom where students can take a tour and learn about planting and gardening.

"We've had a few classes come in and learn things like the difference between tomatoes and that lettuce is not all iceberg," said Kandefer. "It also gives them the knowledge that food does not come easy."

"In the last few years the craze of having a garden has increased," said Marzi. "It is because in this economy it is cost effective to grow your own."

In the month of May, Urban Oaks was recognized by Yankee Magazine as having the "Best Heirloom Vegetables in New England".

"Community supported agriculture is big across the country," said Kandefer. "I can sleep at night knowing I'm not poisoning someone with vegetables."

No preservatives, chemicals or raw animal waste are used on the plants.

This weekend is the last weekend seedlings are available for sale at the farm. The store at Urban Oaks Organic Farm, 225 Oak St. is open Fridays from 3-6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

"In the future we want to be here for everyone and better their life," Kandefer concluded.