Bees are buzzing; fruit trees are growing. In the distance, a pumpkin’s orange is peeking through the big leafy foliage. A green house is being built and donkeys are hee-hawing.

This is The Van’s micro-farm in North Little Rock.

The farm project that The Van’s founder, Aaron Reddin, started about five years ago is serving its purpose to grow food and opportunities for people experiencing homelessness. The farm takes up five acres — aptly named the “Back Five Fields.” And while already successful with “one and a half employees,” Reddin has his eye on expanding to the neighboring 13.5 acres of land. 

“I’m not getting any younger,” Reddin, 40, said. “We need options for people right now.”

The main premise of the project is to help the unsheltered homeless get a paying job and provide a space that offers washing machines and showers. Work on the farm would serve as a stepping stone to help employees eventually move up to something more permanent, Reddin said. The money made from selling produce pays the workers, and the expansion offers a huge increase in farmland for cash crops.

“I can’t make enough work for the folks in the vicinity,” he said. “You’re not getting off the streets without three ingredients: wash yourself, wash your clothes and have some sort of income.”

The property costs $272,000, and Reddin hoped to raise enough for the down payment cost of about $55,000. To his surprise, that goal was met within four days of the fundraising start on Sept. 11. Reddin’s plan now is to raise as much money as possible before the closing date on the property, which is about two weeks away, he said.

  The donation page is here, if you’re interested .

“We didn’t anticipate such a strong response so quickly,” Reddin said. Any amount collected beyond the down payment cost will cover costs of fencing, seeds and future renovations, he said. Once the greenhouse is ready, it will fit 3,000 seeds that can grow during the winter and be put in the ground in the spring.

The 13.5 acres also has a house on it that would likely require renovations for use, Reddin said. 

“Our plan is to redo the house for a farmhand, if not more than one. We want to employ people and give them quarters.”

While a future living space on the property would be ideal, the main goal at The Van’s farmland is to create jobs. Reddin said the expansion could employ 10 people. A tour around the five acres showed there’s a good amount of work to be done: clearing brush and tilling land with the tractor, harvesting crops, bee caretaking and preparing the greenhouse.

So far, the small-scale farm has been productive. The six blueberry bushes on the property yielded about 20 pounds of fruit, and the vertical growing contraption for hops produced almost enough for a full batch of beer. The bee colonies can make upwards of 200 pounds of honey a year, Reddin said.

Three dozen fruit trees were planted this year but are still too young to produce any edibles. The experimental pumpkins took off and at least five are growing strong — though they took over the tomato plants for a fall harvest, Reddin said.

With the additional land, Reddin wants to expand the gardens to grow enough produce to be sold at farmers markets. Just barely visible through the tree line at the back of Reddin’s property — right next to the donkey family of Willie Nelson, Luc-ass Nelson, Paula Nelson and Mary Jane — the 13.5 acres are already prepped farmland.

Reddin started working with the homeless 15 years ago after getting involved in recovery and shelter work. He started The Van about a decade ago, and now helps unsheltered people in the area by providing resources and work for some. It has become his full-time job. The work is tough but fulfilling, he said. 

“You get to see some of the best outcomes, and you get to see some of the worst situations imaginable,” Reddin said.

Aside from the farm, The Van has a warehouse in Southwest Little Rock that distributes resources to people experiencing homelessness. They also have one social worker, and are looking to hire another to provide an extension of help beyond volunteers.

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