If you drive west on southeast 59th street, to just a smidge past Westminster, you will see on the north side of the road a precious one-story building surrounded by a timeworn blacktop parking lot. There is a classic arrow style marquee on the corner, and the building’s expansive glass windows are painted in bright, cheerful colors, drawing your eyes in and confirming, in case you weren’t sure, that you have arrived at the Farmers’ Market Connection.

Open the doors to this little food oasis on the fringes of Choctaw, and you are instantly put at ease. The shelves and display islands are arranged spaciously, affording you more than enough room to meander. Every surface is sparkling clean; even the ceiling is immaculate. The ice-cold air conditioning and aroma of Berkshire pork chops are gentle stimulants. And there is neither music nor any other noise that sometimes makes grocery shopping feel a little chaotic. The immediate physical experiences of parking easily, walking in and being greeted by the smiling proprietor, and taking a deep breath to explore and hunt for local treasure in a pristine environment is all just total pleasure. It is both nostalgic and affirming of so many values we all hold dear.

Asked about the story behind “Tortuga,” Joey smiled and said that for years every time he and Christina took a vacation, they would receive a visit from a turtle. Over time it felt like their spirit animal, and the moniker stuck. The qualities of the turtle as your spirit animal are patience, protection, and ancient wisdom. Native American culture also includes connectedness to Mother Earth, something Joey and Christina are cultivating beautifully.

Their good experiences at the market in the park led them to meet a need they saw in Choctaw: Connecting local food suppliers in a bigger way to their customers, who were hungry for beautiful, wholesome food throughout the week. He said that Oklahoma has surprisingly few food markets like this, compared to other parts of the country where market culture is more robust. And it’s a shame, he said, because we have so much land and so many excellent farmers. So, Farmers’ Market Connection was born. They opened this charming shop just thirteen months ago and have poured considerable creativity and hard work into it ever since.

The community the Rodgriguezes have built is a lovely mix of young, military families who are new to Oklahoma and retirees, locals who have been here for decades. As I stood at the front counter asking him all my many questions, a leisurely string of regulars walked in, shopped, and paid for their well chosen groceries. Joey chatted with each of them easily, and I felt that same pleasant nostalgia again.

The store itself is organized with sturdy wooden bins of fresh produce, including shiny tomatoes from green to orange and red, fuzzy okra, firm, purple potatoes, squashes, and peppers. There are gleaming glass front coolers filled with local dairy products, decadent refrigerated desserts, crips leafy greens, and more. The pantry shelves are a kaleidoscope of jars brimming with pickled vegetables, sauces, sourdough noodles, salsa varieties, herbal teas, local honey, and so much more. All this bounty is produced and packaged locally. Joey drives the market circuit every single weekend to bring fresh inventory to the store, and on the rare occasion that a gallon of milk goes unsold, their in-house chefs use it in the kitchen for sourdough and other popular recipes. It’s an all local, no waste environment. The kitchen is in plain view of shoppers, and on its back wall is a stainless-steel shelf displaying about a dozen cookbooks, obviously well loved.

In front of those cookbooks, the day I visited, a line of Paul Robeson tomatoes was ripening slowly.

Their work doesn't end with home grown veggies. I already knew from social media that The Farmers’ Market Connection had a free community pantry on their front sidewalk. It’s used freely and kept full by neighbors, and Joey said it has been going great. What I had not yet heard was that they also started a program for youth entrepreneurs. Aimed at kids under the age of eighteen, Joey and Christina hope to teach them how to chase down their ideas, face whatever fears they have about the process, and learn to ask for the business. They provide coaching as well as retail space for the kids to sell their wares, free of charge. What a beautiful layer to the community building vision they had at the beginning of all this work.

Choctaw is so fortunate to have this creative, hardworking young couple in our midst. If you haven’t yet explored The Farmers’ Market Connection, make the short drive to SE 59th and get ready for a treat. Are you curious about best sellers? Oatmeal creme pies and chips and salsa are contenders lately. I took home a loaf of rye bread and a wheel of smoked gouda, both of which made our dinner extra special that night. Let us know what you buy!