V&B Farms
V&B at a Glance
Farmers: Tommy Vick, Pam Vick
Where they’re located: Redland
Website: V&B Farms
What they grow: Tomatoes, bok choy, strawberries, zucchini and yellow squash, tomatillos (winter). Mangos, avocados, lychee, longans, dragonfruit, guava (summer).
Where they sell: Pinecrest Gardens farmers market; wholesale and to restaurants
CSA: No
A multi-generational family farm in the Redland, V and B has been around for decades. Tommy Vick always knew he would follow in the family footsteps. His great-great grandfather moved his farming operation from Ohio and homesteaded in Goulds in 1918. The family’s primary crop at that time was potatoes. Tommy’s father, Fred Vick, helped him plant his own garden when he was 3. By age 7, Tommy was driving the tractors, helping to disc and cultivate the fields. It didn’t take long for him to buy his own planter and start his own row crop at age 13. Today, Tommy’s grandfather, Willis Vick, and his father visit him in the same fields they once farmed.
What they believe in: Pam Vick’s son Tommy wants to grow like great-grandpa did, she says. "He wants his daughters to be able to walk through the field and pick anything up and put it in their mouth. I started helping Tommy six to seven years ago here at the market. So whatever we harvest during the week, that’s what I bring to the market every Sunday. Having done the market here, I think that people who come to this kind of market are aware of buying local and buying from local farms, especially those that are pesticide-free. Most other people just go to the grocery store and buy whatever they see. They don’t even realize a lot of this is grown in their own backyard. Try to buy local first. Buy Florida next. And then buy USA."
Where to find them: Every Sunday at Pinecrest Gardens farmers market and at other farm events seasonally.
