by Jewel Pickert

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Ripe Radish Farm is a residential, agricultural farm, where you go to pick your own, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Closed on Sundays.

It used to be known as Sam Kedem Nursery & Garden until it was sold and became Ripe Radish Farm on July 15, 2020.

You can find it at 12414 – 191st St. E. in Hastings. Marshan Township won’t allow them to put a sign at the road, since the farm does not border 190th Street, according to Suzanne Schmidt, the manager of Ripe Radish.

Therefore, as you travel south from Hastings, you’d turn right on 190th Street, go about ½ a block and turn left on Lena Ave. As soon as you meet 191st Street, you’ll spot the Ripe Radish sign on the driveway slightly on the left.

So far, most of the customers have been from the Twin Cities and suburbs, because they found their website at riperadishfarm. com.

What you might find curious is that they don’t grow radishes at least not yet.

Suzanne, originally from Connecticut, previously worked in advertising in the Twin Cities. She lives on site now.

She liked the name Ripe Radish Farm. No one else had that name. The word “ripe” speaks to the freshness and taste of the produce, since much of the produce in stores now is picked before being ripe.

She believes ripe produce has a distinct taste all its own. Ripe Radish is all about creating an organic, safe food source that any generation can get excited about.

Suzanne said their paperwork to become organically licensed is being submitted. She added that a farm has to have been organically licensed for three years by the previous owners in order to continue that way.

Suzanne wants Ripe Radish Farm to be an experience for anyone who stops by. She hopes the next generation can get excited about farming and about where food comes from.

They have free-range chickens that follow people around. These harmless chickens particularly like to check out shoelaces. The chickens’ eggs are sold in their store.

They have rain barrels and a few greenhouses, in addition to outside gardens and an orchard.

Suzanne plans to winterize the greenhouses and to make them solar. She’s interested in having a smart farm with soil testers.

In the future, she’d like to take their gourmet garlic to the Farmer’s Market.

But right now, there’s work to be done on the farm to prepare for the fall and to plant for next year.

The ever-bearing berries can be picked all summer through the first frost. They have golden raspberries, too.

If anyone with a busy schedule wants fresh vegetables, Suzanne says they can put a box together for you, if you call ahead and use a credit card.

Kids are welcome under a parent’s watchful eye.

Soon, the buttercup, butternut, and red curry squash will be ready to pick, along with the watermelon.

For more produce offerings, please check their website.

Ripe Radish Farm originated from a “weird coincidence,” according to Mahesh Johari, trustee of his family’s trust, designated as the farm’s owner. It was like an intersection between the pandemic and the Sheridan Story.

To understand Mahesh’s interest, let’s first take a step back. His maternal grandfather had a large farm in India that practiced organic farming.

They had mangoes as well as other crops. They collected poop from their water buffalo to make patties they could burn for fuel.

Mahesh never met his grandfather, as he died before Mahesh was born in the U. S., but he has visited his family often.

Now, with a wife and two small children, Mahesh can’t devote all his time to the farm, which is why Suzanne was brought on as the manager.

Anyway, at one point, Mahesh was looking at land stewardship projects online. He saw a farm for sale and had wanted to partner with the owner of Hope Organics. He never received a response.

Meanwhile, he was involved with the Sheridan Story, named after Sheridan Elementary in northeast Minneapolis. The Sheridan Story is a nonprofit organization that “focuses on food gaps when children aren’t able to receive free and reduced meal programs.”

Mahesh said they used to leave bags of food in kids’ lockers on Friday, but then COVID-19 hit.

When the pandemic hit, the service demand for food increased dramatically. He helped them fund and look for sources.

But then, there were supply chain issues. Orders were cancelled. There was a run on canned goods.

Then, one day, his wife saw a farm for sale on the land clearinghouse page of the land stewardship project, when she was looking for supplies.