We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ramona Ridge a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ramona, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

My young daughters and made a conscious decision to move from the Galleria area in Houston to “the country” in Fulshear. Our previous homes were in New York City, Palm Beach, FL, and Paris, France, so this was a huge change!
I bought the home in Fulshear and left on vacation before moving in. We had never visited the house at night, and arrived home from our vacation around 10:00p.m. in late summer to a massive chorus of Green Tree frogs croaking and filling the night air with incredibly loud cacophony. The only thing I could think of is “What have I done?”, sure that we would never get a good night’s sleep. Well, once inside the noise was gone, we had a restful sleep and the change of lifestyle was exciting.

Next was building our dream of planting vegetable gardens, adding bee hives, buying chickens, and planting a fruit orchard. That took a couple of years, but we enjoyed every minute of the efforts. I soon realized that my neighbors all had large vegetable gardens, and a few had chickens too, so around June all of my neighbors would call each other, begging them to take their excess of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, okra, squash, and eggs before they rotted. A person is only able to can so much! I told this story to a friend who lived in one of the new master planned communities and she was astonished. She said that she and her neighbors would LOVE to have those fresh vegetables and eggs. I collected from my neighbors and took them to my friend to disburse with her neighbors, and it got me thinking. How could I get these two groups of people together?.

Hmmm, what about a local market that would offer locally grown produce to those who could not grow their own produce and had HOA rules against chicken ownership? Next was finding a location (with no budget!). A friendly conversation with Doug Konopka, owner of DHK Development, who owned the large piece of land at FM 1093 and Bois d’Arc Lane, and had not started building Fulshear Run yet, turned into a generous offer of allowing me to use that land for a weekly market. It was a win-win situation. His future home buyers would have a local market that they could easily access and we would have a location for local vendors. Yay!

Next was permitting by the Health Department. I had no idea that the health department I needed to get approval from had never dealt with a farmers’ market previously. I left the first meeting in shock. One would’ve thought I had asked to sell heroin and body parts! We had several more meetings and they slowly understood my good intentions. A myriad of inspectors were hired and paid, we passed all inspections and received the very first Farmers’ Market Permit from our county health department!

Oh, but we needed a budget for those inspectors and some advertising. Several local businesses stepped up to help. We are eternally grateful to Angie Ballis Massage, Texas Country Properties, DHK Development, Martin Mortgage, New First Bank, Fulshear Mini Storage, Executive Finance Management, American Tax Advisors, Mike & Lisa Mobley, that made this possible.

I soon realized that my my gardens and my neighbors gardens would not suffice to supply an entire market. A request was put out on social media asking if we had any other local producers who would like to join us. The replies started rolling in. Could they sell freshly baked bread? Sure! Local honey? Of course! Tamales and salsa? Bring it on! Homemade soap and home cleaning products? Yes! Fresh juices? Absolutely! Fruit trees and plants? I love you!

We opened on Aug.2nd, 2014 with 15 booths of amazing, locally made, grown, or produced fare from within a 200 mile range of Fulshear. It was August-In-Texas HOT, but the community came out with incredible support! Most of the vendors were sold out before closing time that day and everyone went home exhausted, but happy.

Eight years later, the Fulshear Farmers’ Market, led by the Board of Directors of Forever Fulshear, has grown into a market of approximately 30-35 weekly vendors, a food truck, and occasional live music or a petting zoo. Some have been with us since Day 1 and will continue to bring to best of everything local to our Fulshear community. The Market has won numerous awards and continues to be in the Top Ten Markets in the Houston area. We have regular customers who drive from Richmond, Katy, Wallis, Houston and even northern parts of Houston. We are very proud of maintaining our reputation for top quality!

It has been a wonderful learning experience and so much fun to meet new patrons or greet established ones each Saturday. The Fulshear Farmers’ Market is a solid fixture in Fulshear, showing what community is all about!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The Fulshear Famers’ Market only allows food, food products, agricultural goods, and handmade artisan products from a 200 mile radius of Fulshear. Only the best quality products are allowed to join in and our vendors become part of a “family” where everyone helps and encourages each other. Our vendors have a strong sense of pride in the market and their wares. The Fulshear Farmers’ Market has become the main gathering spot each Saturday for the entire Fulshear community for over 8 years now.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid 19 hit everyone hard. One Friday evening in 2020, I had a phone call from our local FPD Captain telling me that we would not be allowed to open our market the next day. What??? I feel responsible for a large number of families who rely on this income. Fortunately, I had been at an event for our county judge and had the business card of his aide. I sent a quick text asking that the farmers’ markets be declared “essential” It worked and we ended up being the only place in Fulshear that continued to have hand sanitizer, meat, and vegetables throughout the entire crisis. The added bonus was that people felt much more comfortable (some still do) shopping in a wide open, outdoor space.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

It’s with much resilience that we open every Saturday, even in high wind, rain, flood, freezing cold, and 100 degree heat. Our loyal patrons realize this and come out, too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fulshearfarmersmarket.com
• Instagram: fulshear_farmers_market
• Facebook: Forever Fulshear
• Other: Tik Tok @fulshearfarmersmarket

Image Credits
Ramona Ridge on all photos.