Datil Mini Market offers fresh produce

Seeing a need and having the desire to market their farm-fresh produce and homemade health products, the Vasti and Rudy Flores family started the Datil Mini Market on Thursdays along Highway 60 two years ago.

While Vasti and Rudy are a driving force behind the market, the project is spearheaded by 21-year-old Vashti (Victoria) Flores, who is an articulate and budding YouTube star who makes videos that market healthy living.

“I took a medical missionary course, and I learned about natural remedies and just how to make your own, like salads and soups and things like that. I like to promote healthy living and a healthy lifestyle. We grow our produce and stuff. I make a lot of videos of what we do on the farm,” Victoria Flores said.

It all began when the Flores family moved from El Paso to fulfill their goal of starting a family farm.

“We decided to move out here, and one of our goals was to have a farm, so we started with a little garden, and every year, we expanded it more. We probably have about an acre of pinto beans, and then we have a few hoop houses and things this year,” Victoria Flores said.

Victoria’s brother Arian came up with the idea of a roadside market in Datil because he wanted to sell his produce. Trips to farmers markets in Magdalena, Socorro, and Belen cut into the budget, and when Arian floated the idea with his family, the Datil Mini Mart was born two years ago.

Arien may have come up with the idea, but Victoria has taken the lead in publicizing what had become sunfloresfarm. com online. The website has several helpful links, including a farming blog, health coaching, recipes, and even an online soapmaking course.

“I make health talk videos, as well as the content of when we plant things or like updates of the produce that we grow on the farm,” Victoria Flores said. “I always wanted to have my own business ever since I was little. I started learning how to make soaps and salves, and this August, we’re going to be opening our online store.”

Among the tables of soaps and salves, there are also baked goods that disappear about as fast as they are put into their display racks.

Datil resident John Pohl is in luck as he grabs one of the snack-size banana breads. He operates a store around the corner and is always on the lookout when Thursday rolls around. To hesitate means no banana bread for the week.

“It’s tasty. It’s a homemade plus made with love by Victoria,” Pohl said.

The Flores have made the Datil Mini Market a true family affair, with three generations working to produce items for sale. Grandma sews colorful purses, and 14-year-old Melody, who makes gourd birdhouses, does woodburning. Melody also edits the family’s website.

Victoria’s salves are rooted in the comfrey plant, which has fantastic qualities for reducing swelling and pain.

“I have testimonies of people who get knee replacements, and nothing helps them with the pain, and they can’t bend anymore. They used the comfrey salve for a few weeks and in a couple of months, they’re able to bend all the way down again. I use it on my dad because he has a herniated disc,” Victoria Flores said.