Radically Local · A Companion Concept
A micro food hub on a half acre.
A market garden, a network of nearby farms, and a weekly delivery route — operated by two people in coastal California.
A Companion Concept
Rad Roots is a companion exploration to Groundworks — a parallel test of whether a single-operator micro food hub can pay a living and rebuild a community-scale food system on half an acre.
Weekly rhythm
The math problem
Beautiful food. No living.
A half-acre market garden, operated with extraordinary skill and grinding hours, might gross $40,000–$80,000 a year. After inputs, land, and the farmer's own labor, there's often nothing left.
The Farm Hub model breaks the equation. Same half acre. Add a network of partner farms, an online store, and a weekly delivery route — and the operation becomes a $100K–$200K+ business, without adding acreage, equipment, or employees.
The Farm Hub model
Five revenue layers.
One small farm.
Every layer is operated by a one- or two-person team from the same half-acre garden. The hub is the leverage.
Own Production
High-value, quick-turn crops grown on the half acre — salad mix, microgreens, herbs, and specialty items.
Vendor Aggregation
Curated products from 10–20 partner farms and artisans: meat, eggs, dairy, bread, preserves, honey.
Farm Credit Membership
Prepay for store credit at a discount. Pay $400, get $450. Upfront cash, flexible spending, no commitment fatigue.
Weekly Home Delivery
One order. One delivery. Full diet. A reliable route to member households within a 15–25 mile radius.
On-Farm Pickup
A community touchpoint and lower-cost option for neighbors who'd rather come to the source.
What's in the box
One order. A full diet.
Lineup shifts with the season. The shop opens fresh each Sunday with what's actually ready that week.
- Salad mix
- Microgreens
- Cooking greens
- Culinary herbs
- Specialty veg
- Pasture-raised eggs
- Local meat
- Dairy & cheese
- Fresh bread
- Honey & preserves
- Seasonal fruit
How it works
From the field to your kitchen in 72 hours.
- 01Pre-order
Reserve the week ahead
Pre-orders for the coming week are placed over the weekend (Sat – Sun). Pick from our greens and herbs alongside local meat, eggs, dairy, bread, and pantry goods from neighbor farms.
- 02Harvest
We pick to order
Harvest happens Monday through Wednesday against that week's orders. Vendor partners drop their products at the farm, and everything is washed and packed fresh on Thursday.
- 03Deliver
On your doorstep
Friday delivery — family boxes and individual boxes go out together. Insulated totes, your name on the tag, the freshest groceries you've ever ordered.
Mission
A community-scale food system.
To make eating local as easy as ordering groceries — by operating a micro food hub that aggregates products from a network of local farms and artisans, sells through a single online store, and delivers directly to households.
Founder
Drew Keske
Impact operator with hands-on training through the Ecology Center market garden and a Food Shed Cooperative apprenticeship — which built direct relationships with North County farms, the same growers a Farm Hub depends on. Adjunct instructor. Background in cooperative food systems and community-centered operations. Building Rad Roots Farm as a working model for community-scale agriculture — proof that small farms can pay a living, and that local food can scale without losing what makes it local.