Welcome To…
Who are we?
StPete.LocallyGrown.net is an online produce Market connecting St. Petersburg consumers with St. Petersburg’s growers of chemical-free produce and products. We do not sell conventionally grown produce which is known to have chemical fertilizers and/or chemical pesticides applied.
Our customers want convenient delivery of freshly picked, affordable, chemical-free produce to lead a healthier lifestyle and support preservation of fossil fuels by buying goods that don’t need to be trucked in from California. They are interested in lectures of interest offered at the Market origin location in St. Petersburg and they enjoy participating in book discussion groups and craft circles. Our Sunday afternoon lectures (October thru April) are free and draw customers and their guests to subject matters ranging from vegetable gardening, all types of composting, using grow boxes, sheet mulching, raising chickens, eating raw, practicing Qigong, making vegetable wreathes for party dips, herbal remedies, Salad Dressings 101, and Yoga to you-name-it. Every year attendance and the repertoire grows.
To satisfy our bulging customer base, we need St. Petersburg growers of chemical-free produce to join our online Market. We know you are out there! No garden is too small for this effort and there is no longer any excuse for not starting your own chemical-free garden to earn extra dollars in this challenging economy.
Our Mission
We all realize the limitations of personal urban spaces. Thus the need to organize as local “urban farmers” (growing chemical-free in our backyards) and get our produce to market. In this way, all our produce combines to supplement one another’s selling power and create wonderful one-stop-shopping variety for local residents.
To Prospective Growers: We have a resource who will help you get started! Just ask. See Q & A’s section on how to become a Grower.
To Prospective Customers: We aim to balance our customers’ needs with our need for a prudent business model. As we evolve, we will be counting on our customers’ feedback to help us improve, with the understanding that we (The Market) will not always be able to please everyone. But we will try! We want your business for the long-term. Open an account in The Market section.
Our History
This Market was founded in January 2011 by the Levy’s (of Nathan’s Natural Veggies) to expand the variety of freshly harvested chemical-free produce available to our small group of friends and neighbors with whom we were sharing our homegrown produce. This online venture unites St. Petersburg’s growers with enthusiastic locavores who want to consume chemical-free produce. Whether a grower and/or a buyer, one just opens an online account to manage either selling and/or consumption of Market wares.
Cost of using StPete.LocallyGrown.Net Market
We charge an annual membership fee of just $35 per family. That’s less than 10 cents per day for your entire household to have access to fresh, chemical-free, locally grown produce year-round. Our Market Manager works diligently to insure that you have a great experience on-line and in-person. Local urban farms charge annual fees in the hundreds of dollars to folks who don’t mind letting the farm choose their vegetables and quantities. With this Market, you will make your own choices from vegetables available and you can also choose NOT to purchase. There is no minimum purchase required. If the membership fee is cost prohibitive, please inquire about our sliding scale fees. We will probably ask for some volunteer time in return. Call Market Manager at 727-515-9469 to discuss.
In addition to a membership fee, our customers are asked to support the cost of the Market’s online ordering system by paying 3.15% per order. In other words, when you purchase $20 of produce using the online Market, you’ll pay 63 cents toward website maintenance and hosting. We think it is best to be transparent about this cost, instead of building it into the price of our produce, which is competitively priced to beat local retailers whenever possible.
Our online ordering system is pretty easy to use. The learning curve, if any, is generally your first order. The good news is that you get to try before you buy (a membership)! You are welcome to try us for two orders before you pay the membership. The website will automatically add the membership fee to your third order.
Delivery costs vary based on your location from the Market origin. See Q & A’s section for more info on this.
Competitive Pricing
As you might imagine, it is difficult for us to compare our pricing with that of local retailers because our produces cannot be equitably compared. Our produce is picked the day the customer takes ownership compared to (so much of it) that which is trucked in and stored before a customer can examine and purchase. What price can you assign to “truly fresh” and still keep it affordable? Even though we are chemical-free and not certified organic, our produce is fresher than most USDA produce sold by local retailers. Our pricing reflects our philosophy that healthy fresh chemical-free produce has to be affordable for the general population. Every day, we strive to meet this challenge.
FAQ’s
We highly recommend that you review the Q & A’s section where you will learn quickly how we operate and what to expect. You will also find our Calendar of Events there. Thanks in advance for helping this network to grow in St. Petersburg, Florida. The time is now… We know there is a need.