FISHERS — Two entities with Hancock County roots have helped develop the largest urban farm in the United States, soon to open in Fishers with plans to feed the hungry.
Brandywine Creek Farms, a nonprofit/for-profit hybrid farm operation headquartered in Hancock County, will manage Fishers AgriPark, a 35-acre plot of land at the intersection of 113th and Florida streets in Fishers. Fralich’s Landscape in Greenfield designed the multi-faceted agricultural park, said Jonathan Lawler, owner of Brandywine Creek Farms. Work is planned to begin on the farm next week, Lawler said.
Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness announced the park is slated to open in the spring. The park, which is an effort to integrate agriculture into the urban landscape, will feature four large commercial growing plots, beekeeping areas with an observation hive, local restaurant market gardens, educational programs and a summer farm adventure camp and livestock encounters, Fadness said.
He said the best part of the agreement is that a third of the produce grown on the park property will go to help people facing hunger.
Brandywine Creek Farms, 5332 North County Road 400E in Greenfield, donated one-third of its food to food banks and food pantries, sells a third wholesale and offers the remaining at retail price, Lawler said. The first goods grown in its soil were harvested in 2015; today, the farm provides some 411,000 pounds of fresh produce and farm-fresh eggs to area agencies dedicated to feeding Central Indiana families.
Since launching, the farm has partnered with dozens of organizations and agencies across the region, including Hancock Health and others.
In the four commercial farming areas planned for the Fishers AgriPark, Brandywine Creek Farms employees and volunteers will grow tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, cucumbers, zucchini and squash, Lawler said. In the market garden, produce used in local restaurants will be grown by area youth enrolled in an entrepreneurship program in which they’ll be paid for their labor, he said. Each market garden, up to 1 acre in size, will feature signage for the restaurant the produce is destined for.
There are a variety of educational areas and programs planned in the AgriPark, including summer camps, beekeeping classes and courses about livestock, he said.
And one of the farm’s partners plans to help out with the new effort as well. The Indiana AARP, which announced its AARP Education Garden partnership on the local farm last year, will also sponsor a community garden aimed at getting seniors and younger folks to spend time gardening together, Lawler said.
Lawler said he worked to bring the efforts of current partners and Hancock County folks into the plans for the Fishers park.
Joe Turpin, an employee at the Greenfield-based Fralich Landscape, designed the layout of the farm with input from Brandywine Creek Farms and Fishers city officials. The biggest driver for the design is how water moves across the more than 30 acres, he said; that led to the large commercial farming plots being placed at the northern edge of the park.
