Today we’d like to introduce you to Muriel Olivares and Tiffany Noe.
Muriel and Tiffany, please share your story with us.
We are business partners and friends and joined forces in 2014 to form this business after casually collaborating for a couple of years. We both have art backgrounds and share a passion for plants, especially edible, medicinal or otherwise useful plants. We started by growing vegetables for our CSA (community supported agriculture) and a local farmers market on an urban plot that we refer to as our farm. After just one year we quickly realized there was a demand for home gardening resources, like plants and workshops. We built our nursery in 2015 to produce edible plant starts that people could buy for their own gardens. It wasn’t long before started installing gardens as a service and offering maintenance as well. We also started hosting workshops at both of our locations in topics ranging from beekeeping to basic gardening to herbal medicine making. Last season we added a beginning farmer incubator at our farm in order to teach others how to run a small farm with the hopes that they will go out into the world and start their own farm.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting a small business is rarely smooth! We’ve been very cautious to start small and slowly grow every year just a little bit more. We’ve had all sorts of struggles along way, from crop failures to disagreements to hurricanes. At the end of the day we pull through thanks to our team, our passion for the job and the community that supports our farm.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Little River Cooperative story. Tell us more about the business.
Little River Cooperative is made up of an urban vegetable farm as well as an edible plant nursery. Although we are not certified, we use only organic and sustainable practices of agriculture. We believe that the health of our soil is directly related to the quality of our harvest and our plants so we focus on composting, cover-crops and crop rotation to sustain the micro-organisms and organic matter in our fields. We don’t use any synthetic chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers in our production. During the growing season, September-May, we produce 40 varieties of annual vegetables and herbs as well as many flowers, both decorative and edible. We consider Little River Cooperative a multifaceted plant-based business designed to provide Miami with a number of gardening and vegetable services. We offer locals a unique CSA (community supported agriculture) with all produce coming from local small farms, a nursery at which one can buy all they need for starting their own backyard organic garden and garden consultation, installation, and maintenance services.
Contact Info:
- Address: Edible plant nursery
771 nw 24th street
Miami FL 33127 - Website: www.littlerivercooperative.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @littlerivercooperative
Image Credit:
All images taken by Muriel Olivares and Tiffany Noe
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