Interview with Ricky Robinson, Woodland Harvest
December 4, 2016 — I caught up with Ricky Robinson, owner of Woodland Harvest, at the Greenbelt Farmer Market on Sunday. He was selling fresh turnips, cabbage, kales, sweet potatoes, and holiday wreaths handmade by his wife at the farm. Here’s a Q&A from my interview with him at Woodland Harvest. He drives his pickup truck over 90 miles on the road from Delaware to sell his fresh produce here in Greenbelt!
What is your name?
Ricky Robinson
Where is your farm?
Seaford, Delaware
How many acres is your farm?
10 acres, and 2 high tunnels.
What do you sell?
We sell over 50 varieties of vegetables. Our specialty is strawberries, which comes out in May-early June. Next year, we will have asparagus this spring, which is around the May-June timeframe.
Are you certified organic?
no, we are not certified organic but we grow by organic standards. We have been operating for about 8 years in this environment. We used to have a Community Supported Agriculture group (CSA) but decided not to it’s not been a good growing year, and we had way too many people to handle.
How’s the business going?
Well, it’s been more time put into preparing than selling. We try to keep the fresh produce cold, not wilted. We will be in our second season with the Greenbelt Farmer Market next year. But as far as I can see attendance has been low [Editor’s note: As a frequent shopper, I myself concur with his observation] Maybe it’s a lack of awareness this is out here. My wife has made wreaths for the holiday fair, she collected the evergreens from the farm and she tied up the bows all handmade.
In completion of the interview, luckily, he managed to sell one wreath!
