Martin’s Garden at Coleman Farms

In this episode of Life in Roswell, we visit with Maxwell Davenport at Martin's Garden to learn about amazing organic farm and event venue in Historic Roswell, Ga off of Coleman Road. As busy realtors, we're constantly hitting the streets of Roswell, GA to see what's trending in business and entertainment and what developments are underway. Watch the video or read the transcript below.

Tell Us About The History Of Martin’s Garden And What You Offer To The Community

Martin’s Garden was established in 2016 by my bosses Tony and Shari Martin. This property is the last 7 acres of what was the 100 acre Coleman farm. All of these subdivisions surrounding this 7 acres used to be a giant family farm. Something really special and unique to the Coleman farm is that, even after Word War II, when a big switch was made to chemical agriculture, the Coleman family continued to use, what we now call, organic practices. So this farm is very special in that it’s never had conventional growing on the land.

How Do People Buy Your Produce?

I run what’s called a CSA. It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. People pay me up front which helps me cover my operating costs, which a lot of big farms have to take out loans for. In exchange for that investment I provide 6 to 8 vegetable items or fruit every week for 12 weeks. And I try to do 2 sessions per year, so that’s 24 weeks per year. That costs $360 per 12 week program, which averages to about $30 per week.

I also do 2 farmers markets. One on farm, on the porch of the original Coleman house, and about a mile away at Roswell Farmers & Artisans Market.

What Do You Primarily Focus On In Terms Of Production?

At any given point in time of the year I’m growing I’m growing 30 to 40 different types of vegetables. And just, in general, in this field, this is field 3, I have some brassicas, so that’s a couple of varieties of Kale, I have Mustard Greens, which are some of my favorites, and then I have some Rainbow Chard, or Swiss Chard, which is in the Beet family, and then right next to it I have what’s called Frisee Lettuce, which is a type of Chicory. Actually Executive Chef Blake Hartley of Lapeer Seafood Market over in Alpharetta specifically asked me to grow this for him. We do farmer collaborations with restaurants and chefs.

Do You Grow Cabbage?

I don’t actually grow cabbage. Cabbage is one of my least favorite things to grow. But another heavy feeder, related to cabbage, that I absolutely adore is Collard Greens. I grew up in the south so Collard Greens are kind of close to my heart so I love growing Collard Greens. Tim Stevens, over at From The Earth Brewing Company, can’t get enough of them so I always try to make sure he always gets what he needs.

What About Strawberries?

We have a variety called Chandler. I’ll try to find you the very best one I can. I’m looking for one that’s completely red. I would prefer it to not have the white tip because that means it could probably use a few more hours of ripening. You can literally watch a strawberry ripen!

What Else Is Martin’s Garden Involved in?

In addition to the vegetable production we do a few other things on the farm. One big thing is every spring, in early April, I have a really big plant sale. Also we have an on farm market. And one thing that really brings the kids in is our goats, sheep, and chickens. They are right at the entrance so often people walking by will just go right up to the fence to hang out with the animals. Every Saturday we let the chickens out to free range and the kids just go nuts for it. We love seeing the kids have fun. And we do sell the chicken eggs.

Tell Us About The Beautiful White House

That is a house that Toni and Shari had built with commercial cooking equipment which allows us to make it available for chefs to cook out of for fund raising events. Just recently we did a huge benefit dinner, 2 days in a row, for The Giving Kitchen, which is a local organization which seeks to provide disaster relief for people in the food industry. So whether your restaurant burns down, or somebody in your crew gets cancer, they are there to help you. It’s a really great organization. We also rent out the house on Airbnb. It’s kind of like a farm experience weekend. You get a tour with me, you get some delicious pastries from Gracious Plenty, you get some soap from a local soap maker, called Primordial Soap, that has the best soap I have ever lathered in my life! It’s designed to be a very special experience.

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