LA Home Farm: Cultivating Connection and Sustainability in the Heart of Los Angeles
In the bustling metropolis of Los Angeles, in the hilly eastside neighborhood of Glassell Park, you’ll find LA Home Farm. This unique farm shop brings the concept of farm-to-table right into the heart of the city, and it’s where you can buy some of the freshest produce in town. But importantly, it also encourages sustainable living and community engagement.
The brainchild of celebrated garden designer Lauri Kranz and her husband Dean Kuipers, LA Home Farm is an extension of her successful venture, Edible Gardens LA, which designs, installs, and maintains organic vegetable gardens for chefs, schools, and anyone interested in growing their own food. We recently had the opportunity to visit them in their eclectic and beautifully curated shop which is full of fresh, local produce and flowers, as well as artisan foods, crafts, and wares.
Planting the Seeds of Urban Agriculture
Lauri Kranz founded Edible Gardens LA after discovering the transformative power of gardening while volunteering at her son’s school garden. Her passion for organic gardening and sustainable living eventually transformed into a thriving business. Then, when the pandemic had many Angelinos scrambling to find fresh produce, they turned to Lauri for help. This led to her establishing LA Home Farm.
The farm was initially a subscription farm box, Lauri states. She goes on to explain, “When the whole world shut down, I stepped away from the gardens just to be cautious at that time. But what opened up was this world of people calling me because they needed food – not just people I did gardens for.”
She and Dean had planted a small farm in the hills of Glassell Park, the L.A. neighborhood where they also reside. “We had just started a small farm project and had the first crops in the ground, mostly arugula,” explains Dean. “But we didn’t have enough to bring to people. So we started calling the farmers Lauri has always relied on for advice. Guys like Alex Weiser, Peter Schaner, and Romeo Coleman.”
“And that’s when sort of the world of LA Home Farm started because we started delivering these farm boxes from our farm and local farmers who I’ve known for years who helped teach me how to grow food originally,” Lauri says.
A Sustainable Choice
Almost overnight they transitioned from being small-time farmers to vegetable dealers. The change meant delivering fresh produce to people throughout the city for the duration of the pandemic. “We did that for 18 months straight. We had one or two days off in that whole stretch. It was crazy,” remembers Dean. And, he notes, not exactly sustainable in terms of lifestyle or the environment.
“It became obvious that we needed a big cold storage. We needed a place where people could come to us instead of always going out to them. So we opened this place,” he says, gesturing toward LA Home Farm.
Their storefront opened in the fall of 2021 in a space that used to be an auto parts storage facility. “It was very unappealing,” admits Dean. But he explains that they were committed to staying in their neighborhood. “It took about a year to rehab this space and open it up. Our focus was really on the produce. So putting together this table out front, and the big cooler, that was our focus.”
Market of Local Bounty
At the heart of LA Home Farm’s philosophy is a strong belief in the importance of community support and the benefits of sustainable local economies. The store features an array of seasonal produce. It provides customers with the freshest vegetables, fruits, and herbs – all from farms using organic practices.
Today, visitors to LA Home Farm are greeted by a massive rustic wood table piled high with locally grown produce. In the back of the shop, there is a customer-facing fridge stocked with perishable produce. In addition, there are also artisan food, cheese, and sauces made by local chefs. They plan to sell local wine soon as well.
Beyond vegetables and fruits, the store offers a dazzling assortment of fragrant flowers arranged informally in clusters of buckets. These blooms are sourced from local flower farms, including their own, which practice sustainable floriculture.
Lauri, a New York native, fell in love with L.A. and her shop feels like an extension of her own vibe which is casual, relaxed, and “I woke up like this” pretty. It’s just down the street from cult favorite restaurant and bakery Bub and Grandma’s and acclaimed restaurant Dunsmore. “It’s really an embarrassment of riches, of food, both in the city of Los Angeles and in our little neighborhood here,” she says.
Building Community
LA Home Farm extends its support beyond agriculture to include local artisans and food producers. The store shelves are full of locally made preserves, honey, and artisanal crafts. Doing so provides a platform for small producers to reach a wider market.
The decision to stock the store with locally sourced items creates a ripple effect in the community. It fosters a network of mutual support among small businesses, promotes economic stability, and strengthens community ties. Beyond that, offering merchandise for sale has enabled Dean and Lauri to keep their produce prices affordable.
“Part of our mission is to try to make [our produce] affordable. Our prices are still higher than what you’re going to pay at the Super A down the street, but they’re not as high as what you’re going to pay at Gelson’s or Erewhon,” says Dean. “The idea is to increase the production of those small farmers and to create more small farmers.”
Local Impact
Lauri and Dean are passionate about serving their community with fresh, healthy food. However, they also want everyone to understand how challenging it is to grow it.
“People always want their food to be cheaper. And, it’s really important to understand how hard it is to grow food. It’s difficult to produce a great, clean, delicious crop that ends up in here and looks beautiful” shares Dean.
Lauri believes that part of that understanding comes when people try growing their own gardens. “I wish that people spent more time on farms or in gardens of their own so they could see the process of what it takes for a seed to grow from being planted in the ground into a piece of fully formed food or flower, whatever it is, to take that journey from seed to fruition,” she adds.
Giving Back
Both Lauri and Dean acknowledge that their store is in an “emerging” neighborhood. And they want to make their food accessible to as many people as possible. They do this by keeping their prices competitive and by offering food for donation. “There’s a free fridge across the street, so anything that doesn’t look as beautiful, but is still completely wonderful to eat, ends up there,” says Lauri. And their doors are open and welcoming to all. “We want everybody who we work with, who works with us, to feel like we’re going to take care of each other in this,” she adds.
In these ways, LA Home Farm’s store serves not just as a retail space but as a community hub, promoting sustainability, supporting local economies, and fostering outreach. It exemplifies how businesses, especially those in urban areas, can play a crucial role in building stronger, more resilient local communities. Visitors leave not only with their hands full of local goods but also with their hearts invested in the health and vitality of their local ecosystem.
Beyond the Home Farm: Edible Gardens LA
Lauri Kranz’s work with LA Home Farm is complemented by her ongoing endeavors with Edible Gardens LA. Through Edible Gardens LA, she extends her influence beyond the shop, helping individuals and institutions across Los Angeles build and maintain their own edible gardens. This outreach is part of her broader vision to foster a connection to food production and sustainable practices city-wide.
Lauri’s expertise has also led her to become a published author, sharing her knowledge and passion for gardening in a book she co-authored with Dean called, “A Garden Can Be Anywhere”. The purpose is to educate readers on creating edible gardens in any space they call home.
“Even if you are in New York City on the 15th floor of a high rise, you could still put a pot on a windowsill and tend it and water it and help it grow and enjoy it, make a pesto, have that relationship. Tend a little kitchen garden if you have more space, or put some pots, put a planter bed, whatever you can do to have that experience of growing some of the food that you eat,” she encourages.
LA Home Farm Welcomes You
Lauri and Dean invite you to visit them at their store in Glassell Park. “Everyone’s had a different day out there, right? We have good days, we have bad days, we have frustrations, we have joy. I just want them to come in here and have this be a place that feels like it’s nourishing them. Definitely with the food, hopefully also with the feeling” she says.
“A lot of times people walk in and the first thing they say is, It smells so good in here,” Lauri says with a smile. “It’s all this produce you see, and it’s the flowers, and it’s all of it together. So just walking in is a pleasurable experience.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Visit LA Home Farm
Article written by Alison Needham for California Grown. Images by James Collier