Tastes like home: Brothers Martín and Pedro
Rodriguez have made a successful business out
of selling the foods of their native Mexico.
Pictured here with squash blossom.

Martín and Pedro Rodriguez have made a name for themselves producing specialty Mexican products that eager city shoppers are unable to find fresh anywhere else. While some city residents may have never heard of products such as papalo, pipicha, alache, and chilipe, they are key ingredients in traditional Mexican dishes and Latino shoppers are willing to wait in line at the market for a taste of home. 

Martín and his brother Pedro are the owners of Rodrimex Farm, a family farm business that produces niche products for sale at farmers markets in New York City. In addition to growing hard-to-find herbs and vegetables for their Latino clientele, they also grow Mexican products that may be more familiar to American palates such as jalapeño and chili peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos, squash blossoms, jicama, and a variety of herbs including cilantro, quelites (lamb’s quarters), and verdolaga (purslane).

The Rodriguez brothers started farming in 2004 with the help of the New Farmer Development Project (NFDP). “We had been thinking about farming for a while, but we didn’t know how to get started. It’s really difficult when you don’t know a place well.” After hearing about the project on a Spanish-language news program, they enrolled in the project’s winter training course to learn the climate, conditions, and farming techniques of the northeastern United States. After graduating from the course, the NFDP helped them find land with a local farmer in Orange County, NY, a region famous for its unusual “black dirt” soil.

The brothers grew up together on a farm, caring for animals and helping their family grow and harvest vegetables for family use and sale at the market. When they started their own farm in New York, they used their expertise to plant specialty products that they were familiar with, but that they had a hard time finding in their Brooklyn neighborhood. This strategy proved wildly successful, and their specialty products were in such demand that they barely had time to sleep. 

Now, with the success of their business and the support of their family, Martín and Pedro have purchased 16 acres of beautiful black dirt farmland and a farmhouse in Orange County, NY. They are the first farmers within the project to own their own land, and this incredible achievement is an inspiration to all NFDP participants. They are currently expanding their operation to include laying hens for egg production, and hope to incorporate goats into their farm in the near future.

Times-Dispatch story on Rodirimex
http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=
RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031778866592