Tonopah Rob’s Garden of Eatin
We took a little drive today to visit Tonopah Rob’s farm out in – almost the middle of nowhere. It wasn’t difficult to find after we turned off I-10 at 339th Avenue; the directions were clear. At the farm stand we spent some time chatting with Jerry, Rob’s friend and help, then Rob took us around and showed us the beds on 2 acres with a huge variety of vegetables and greens. It was amazing to see these dark green patches in the midst of dusty desert soil. Equally amazing is Rob’s enthusiasm for farming healthy veg. He keeps everything chemical-free which means it is as good or better than organic, although he doesn’t have the official label (which is really expensive and cost-prohibitive for small operations). Too bad Tonopah is so far away from us, but at least he’ll be at the Phoenix Public Market again soon (that’s where we met him a couple months ago.)
We also met one of Rob’s neighbors who runs a goat farm with his wife. They are working on getting the license that allows them to sell goat dairy products at the Phoenix Market (they have a stand now, but only with eggs and a few other items.)
We picked up a few bags of greens, asian egg plants, jalapenos, and some really cool looking purple bell peppers.
