Well, Hello Again!

We are three markets into the new year, and it is a pleasure to see familiar faces again. We began 2025 by declaring our commitment to small farmers by holding the market despite snowy forecasts, and it paid off! The sun was shining, and many vendors sold out of food.

It won’t be bikini season anytime soon so keep those coats ready for Saturday mornings (we see you “guy in shorts”). Hold onto your hats, friends, I have news. Althea Bread and Broadhead Mountain Farm are no longer with us (they will certainly be missed!) They will make way for some new vendors in 2025, new farms, cheese, and Indian prepared foods come to mind and we will continue to support new entrepreneurs through the Community Investment Collaborative’s Launchpad program. We look forward to highlighting them during the season. So share the word and bring a friend next time.

When you see Cecile make sure she’s got her coffee, she’s earned it.

How can there be produce in the middle of winter?!

Many local farms have strategies for producing foods during colder months, and winter produce sales can be a vital part of a farm’s income. Strategies include using heated greenhouses to start early plantings of warmer season crops or by using hoop houses that protect cold hardy plants and soil from frost. Stored and overwintered fruits and vegetables can be sold now as well such as onions, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and apples. Of course, meat farmers will have frozen cuts, and produce that can be grown indoors such as mushrooms and microgreens is always available.

PSA for CSA:

Another way that a farm can ensure income during the slower growing seasons is by offering CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) farm shares. Essentially, the customer pays an upfront cost to the farm early in the year and then receives products (shares) as the farm produces them during the growing season. This arrangement provides financial security for the farmer while the plants are growing, and allows customers to build a relationship with their local food system: knowing the farmer, eating seasonally, and supporting a small farm business. CSAs can take many forms. They may provide produce only or add items such as meats, eggs, flowers, or jams. Ask your favorite vendor if they offer one.

We will have a list of CSAs from the farmers at the Farmers Market at Ix on our website soon so check back at marketcentral.org.

Finding Elliot Coleman changed the way I see gardening and growing food. Living in Cleveland, I experienced the short glorious growing season of May through October and then I hung up my boots to sketch the next year’s plan. And then came Elliot. He gardens in Maine all year round and produces beautiful, organic foods often with handmade or made-for-purpose tools he created. If you haven’t picked up “The Winter Harvest Handbook” or “The Four Season Farm Gardener’s Cookbook” (written with his equally talented wife Barbara Damrosch) you are missing a spell of inspiration during the cold days of winter.