ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The 15th St. Agrihub is paving the way to a new beginning: Not with concrete and steel like its Edge District neighbors but with sun hemp, a perfect cover crop.
“It enriches the soil and creates good nutrients for the plants that we are going to grow. So it is all organic, it is all working with nature," said Emmanuel Roux, the manager of the 15th St. Agrihub. Roux has a vision for the space that has been three years in the making.
“We are an educational farm. So we show people how the cycles of nature take place. We also grow vegetables," Roux said. "Very high-quality vegetables that are also very nutrient-rich.”
The land on 15th Street and 4th Avenue north is owned by Social Services Charitable Trust, and last year, the trust handed over management power to Emmanuel.
“My family has been in farming in France, in North Africa, and I have been doing this here in St. Pete for 9 years now,” Roux said.
He doesn’t do it alone. In fact, his goal is to get as many local non-profits and kids involved as possible. Like the kids from Sail Future, a non-profit that works with foster care youth who might have been headed down a dangerous path. Aaron Bender had been in foster care from the age of five and was used to having others tell him he’d never amount to anything.
“Somebody was like an orange jumpsuit and shackles. And I was like, well, I know I am a troublesome person, but you don’t have to take it that far. Like kinda deeming it, and stereotyping my life," Bender said.
Now, he volunteers on the farm.
“It gives me quite a bit of fulfillment. I would say as it helps me physically, it also lets me blow off some steam. You know, it channels stuff to make it into something positive,” said Bender, even if he doesn’t always love it. “Oftentimes it can get kinda gross for me. I mean I know it’s weird cause I’m a man.
"But it can get kinda gross cause you can see bugs and stuff but for the most part, it’s fun.”
The main goal of this half-acre farm and forest is to reconnect people with nature.
”We want to invite young mothers with toddlers to come and interact and play in the soil," Roux said. "You have to give them good dirt. To build their gut microbiome. That they are going to keep for the rest of their life.
"That is absolutely essential for their immune system.”
It's billed as a space filled with dreams of health and community.
“We are building an events space and a commercial kitchen so that we are going to have cooking classes, nutrition classes, wellness classes," Roux said. "And for example, people will be able to come in the morning, get a tour of the farm, harvest vegetables, prepare them, and sit at a long table to enjoy them.”
Roux says the construction of the commercial kitchen, pizza oven, and entertainment space are expected to be completed by the end of the year. Right now, visitors are welcome to visit the farm from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays.
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