Lori O’Rea’s small Middleburg, Virginia farm and passion for organic food is not unlike many other sellers at farmers’ markets around D.C. What makes her unique is that she’s not at one. Her table sits alone at the intersection of 11th and K Streets NW under a banner proclaiming it “D.C.’s 1st Farmstand.” She has a vendor’s license, the same that the hot dog carts have, and was assigned that corner to set up shop. It’s right in front of a certified LEED Gold green building; she’s not sure if that is by coincidence or fate.
The setup allows her to avoid the waiting lists involved in starting in a farmers’ market, and the fees she would have to pay to be there each week. Having obtained her food vendor’s license, she’s free to set up on K Street, usually with her husband and young son, or sometimes with her sister who co-owns her farm with her. She catches locals and the moderate dose of tourists that may be out wandering downtown over the course of any given weekend.
The Little Farm Stand at 11th and K sells a modest selection of produce — so far mostly corn, tomatoes, berries and peaches, as well as homemade pies and jams, and organic eggs and ground beef. When I first asked what was on offer, O’Rea explained at length how her jams are made without pectin or other fillers, how she raises grass-fed beef that she and others sell through a “cow pool” with partner farms, that she is promoting a new CSA, how everything she sells is GMO free and about what it means to be truly organic.
And she is ready for a fight about the $7 price of her eggs, which she declares to be the best in the city. She explains how her chickens walk around all day and eat bugs, and thanks me for asking. The woman is passionate about her local foods.
Through one of her tweets — she’s also a prolific tweeter — she thanks repeat customers, but also the tourists from Sweden and Shanghai that are buying up all of her produce. It’s not a heavily trafficked corner, certainly not packed the way the Dupont Circle FRESHFARM market would be on a Sunday morning. The little farmstand is a curiosity when passersby spot it on the corner, which makes people stop to look. It’s also a hit with the chef from nearby Acadiana who keeps buying out all of the duck eggs and putting a major dent in the sweet corn and peaches.
The Little Farm Stand on 11th and K first took to the corner over July 4th as a weekend thing and is now expanding to Fridays. They’ll be outside today from 3 – 7 p.m. for people heading home from work, announcing other days by twitter, and may even expand to more weekdays next year — after they’ve had the chance to lay down a few extra thousand heirloom tomato seeds.
