Photo courtesy Leafy Lanes Urban Farms
History: A Hanover native, Leafy Lanes founder Brad Heath possesses both a green thumb and an entrepreneurial spirit. Originally converting his lawn into a microfarm with his wife, Nota, and selling to local restaurants, in 2018 the duo shifted to a home-delivery community-supported agriculture program. Aiming to establish a more sustainable model, he says he came to a realization: “People don’t want to eat greens every week for 12 weeks in a row, and turnips and beets every single week, and that’s where I started to dive deeper into curating a project offering that would drive our customer retention.”
Specialties: Leafy Lanes offers an innovative CSA model that provides consumers with buying flexibility and farmers with consistent business. “We don’t have terms, there’s no bulk payment up front; I eliminated that,” Heath says. “I want to build it so people can sign in and sign off whenever they want.” Through the Leafy Lanes website, buyers can set up $40 weekly or biweekly deliveries. There is also an online portal stocked with additional local food items from coffee to honey.
Production: Forming an agricultural ecosystem, Leafy Lanes works with a network of area growers, producers and small-business owners. Its main produce suppliers include Woodside Farms and a handful of Varina purveyors.
Buy: Shoppers can subscribe online at leafylanesurbanfarms.com. This year, Leafy Lanes also launched a line of “farm-raised” frozen pizzas that are available at Stella’s Grocery.
