The changing face of farmers markets

As people’s love for farmers markets grow in popularity, some locals are working to offer more convenient options for people looking to consume fresh, local produce and farm-grown food.

Will and Hayley DeShazo, a couple who live in Cahaba Heights, recently launched Alabama’s first online farmers market, Till, in the beginning of April.

“Haley has been saying this for a while, but we in America make food really complicated. You know, there’s so many incredible cultivators in our backyard, in our community, but unfortunately, we are all shopping at grocery stores,” Will DeShazo said.

He said the idea came to the couple right before New Year’s Day of this year, when they were sitting around having brunch at his dad’s house. 

“The brunch was all super farm fresh food: eggs, farm-grown bread, the sausage was from the pig that my dad had harvested, and we realized, ‘Wow, farm fresh food is so good, but it’s so difficult to access,’” Will DeShazo said. “So we thought, ‘Why is there not a simpler way to get farm fresh food?’ Thus, Till involved from there.”

Both Haley and Will DeShazo have extensive backgrounds in marketing, as well as some experience in the tech world, so they decided to “throw it out into the market” and give it a go. As their email list grew, Will DeShazo said they started asking people what they would want an online delivery and pickup service for fresh, local foods to look like and what they would pay for it. 

Twelve weeks later, they found themselves launching Till through relationships with over half a dozen farmers. So far, they said, people have loved Till and been thrilled at the new service.

“People want to eat healthy, and people want to eat local, but they don’t want to eat inconveniently, hence why everyone just choose to go to Chick-fil-A or McAlister’s, because really when do you have access to super hyper-local food throughout the week? You really don’t, which is completely why people are thrilled,” Will DeShazo said.

Till, an online delivery and pickup service that connects locals to nearby farmers, offers members the chance to come by and get their personalized selection of farm-fresh products from 8 a.m. to noon in Cahaba Heights every Saturday or have their purchases delivered to them for a small fee if live in any of the ten zip codes that delivery is available. Vestavia Hills is one of the areas where delivery services are offered.

On the second weekend of the deliveries, Will DeShazo said, they even had someone leave a gift and a handwritten note on their delivery route thanking them for their new service. 

Hayley DeShazo said some of their members are so dedicated, they’ve offered to help with the pickup from farmers because they live closer than the Cahaba Heights couple.

“It is a community, and people are just loving the fact that they get to support local. That makes us really happy, and that makes the farmers really happy that they’ve somehow reached a new audience through Till,” Hayley DeShazo said.

Even though the website is a membership website that costs $12 a month, they said people don’t have to be paid members to browse the website and look at the available options, though they do have to be in order to check out. 

Membership gives locals access to pre-order food from Sunday at 8 a.m. through Wednesday at 5 p.m. Each Sunday, Will DeShazo said, members are emailed on what new options are available from the farm that week. 

“Just like you would go to the grocery store on Sunday, you have the availability to till, so till through the farms, till through the updated products, add to your cart,” he said. 

By placing the order Wednesday, the farmers have the next few couple of days to pick the requested produce and have it be at its freshest Saturday morning for pickup or delivery. 

Haley DeShazo said between their two-person team, she is the one who works as a liaison directly with the farmers to add products as they grow new items over the changing seasons. So far, they have offered everything from eggs to dairy products to baked goods to meats, vegetables and fruit. They add about three new offerings a week, she said, and she is currently working to grow the list of farmers so that Till can act as a “one-stop shop.”

“I love the facts and the stories [the farmers] have to tell about their food, and I think that’s why I was so interested in working on Till … Hearing the farmers talk about the process of harvesting the food and all the love and nurturing that goes into what we get to enjoy has been the most fun part for me,” Hayley DeShazo said.

Will DeShazo said he loves how fresh food connects people, and it’s been really powerful to see that happening in Birmingham in live action through Till. 

Another service for Vestavia residents looking to pick up pre-prepared fresh foods straight from local farms is Stone Hollow Farmstead’s Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, program, also offered in Vestavia.

Even though the farm is located in the Harpersville area near U.S. 280, they have developed satellite pick-ups every Tuesday all across Birmingham, including from 3 to 4 p.m. at Leaf and Petal in Cahaba Heights located at 4113 Crosshaven Drive, as well as at Liberty Park Playground in Vestavia from 4 to 5 p.m.

Stone Hollow Farmstead General Manager Jonathan Parrish said each Tuesday, members 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 the Stone Hollow Farmstead 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 a spring, summer, fall and winter share. 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. 

To learn about Till, go to usetill.com, and to learn about the CSA, go to stonehollowfarmstead.com/csa.