Announcements
Due to Good Friday, we will be holding the first Friday popup market on April 3rd at The Earth 309 S Flood Ave from 4-6pm. We’ve recently added Tru Grit Farmstead greens, Bird Nest Farm ground beef, One Farm Poultry chicken breasts, Equal Exchange coffee, Catalina Crunch cereal, Gimme seaweed snacks and more! It’s all there to buy on the spot, or you can pre-order through our app at app.redbudfood.coop. Send us your grocery list to info@redbudfood.coop and we’ll do our best to add it all! Check our Google Calendar to see upcoming order windows and popup market times.
OKC Food Hub will be restarting their CSA on May 13th, however, they will be distributing it on the OU Campus and it will not be all chemical-free. We will be purchasing much of their chemical-free and organic produce and selling it a la carte at our popup markets as soon as it’s available. Below is the info they sent to us if you would like to sign up for their CSA.
OKC Food Hub will have a produce box pickup option in Norman at the OU Food Pantry
A few things to note for our Farm Share this year:
~We’re using a new web platform, so you will have to create a new account (very quick and easy) and then subscribe to a farm share.
~Pickup will be at the OU Food Pantry every other Wednesday from 3:30-5:30pm, starting May 13th.
~Everything is from Oklahoma farmers who are stewards of the land and intentional in their farm practices, but this year’s farm share will include some produce from farmers who use synthetic sprays. There will be plenty of produce from farmers using organic practices, but as the farm share program grows we aren’t able to exclusively source from those farmers. The good news is we’ll be able to include more fruit – peaches, blueberries, blackberries, apples! – since the orchard will spray to save a crop. To read more about our farmers and their practices, you can click here.
A couple improvements we’re making this year based on feedback:
~We will email what to expect in your share the Thursday before your pickup day.
~We will have recipes and/or “how-to” cards each week.
Producer Highlight: True Grit Farmstead
Meet Mac Schaefer of Tru Grit Farmstead, a passionate local grower whose love of organic farming began in Norman High’s horticulture program and grew into a full-time homesteading mission. Located in Goldsby on an 8‑acre property with a 3‑acre garden, Mac uses sustainable, chemical‑free practices (though not certified organic) to grow a wide variety of produce. A grant from the Norman Farm Market allowed him to take the Never Sink Farm online course, and those market‑gardening techniques have been a game changer for the farm.
Tru Grit specializes in year‑round greens—multiple lettuces, arugula, kale, spinach, swiss chard, and mustard—using targeted methods like shade cloths and overhead watering on timers to fill a niche in our region. Mac also grows root crops, eggplant, cabbages, herbs, squash, and cucumbers, keeps chickens (at his mom’s house to protect the garden), and is always experimenting with new tools and techniques to improve yield and sustainability.
We’re proud to currently carry his chemical‑free greens and will soon offer his other vegetables and free‑range eggs. Mac is expanding distribution, developing ready‑made foods like soups and salads for market, and increasing donations to local food pantries to better support our community.
Norman Farm Market Petition
We applied for a booth at the Norman Farm market, but were rejected, even though we did everything to fit within their newly updated rules that ban nearly all resale and are extremely unclear on whether even farmers can resale items from other local farmers. Jacki applied as her farm, Mo’ Gardens LLC, and was rejected outright because she admitted she also wanted partner with Redbud to sell other farm’s products.
This is an extreme change from previous rules, and even if we weren’t trying to get a booth ourselves, we are very concerned for the future of the Norman Farm Market if they don’t allow any resale whatsoever. Farmers cannot be at multiple markets simultaneously and have to work together to get enough sales to make a living and for us to have a wide variety of products at our market. If you haven’t seen or signed it yet, please check out our petition to the Norman Farm Market to convince them to adjust their rules to make it more clear who can sell Oklahoma grown and processed food.
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