Farmers Market Saturdays

Stemple Farms will arrive Saturdays 9am with the following to fill your basket:
lettuce, kohlrabi, onions, swiss chard, broccoli, red beats, green beans, peas, garlic, blueberries and cucumbers.

You may be able to special order for your restaurant or store, or for your own eggs or field-raised chicken by calling James Stemple at 789-2515.

Also sign up at Hypno Coffee for Breadshare orders from the Wolpert Farm, Joel quoted below:

Yo everybody,
I put together the breadshare signup forms. They should be on display at Hypno Coffee on Friday or Saturday. Fill out your form and return it to Tony at Hypno by August 8th. The Breadshare will start the following Saturday, August 15th. I'll deliver the bread there around 2pm.

Note to all Vampire Player Haters, there is also a Garlic Share going down. Same sign up form available at Hypno.

Hope everybody is enjoying the summer fun.

Joel

From Slow Start to Sold Out (in 3 weeks)

The farmers market was fully sold out by 10:30. Farmer Ben Nelson joined around 10am, which helped handle customer demand. Duck into Hypno for a coffee and stop by the market stalls for some greens or berries; that was Saturday's MO. For yesterday's market we had signs (designed by Kristin Douglas) along main street and flyers posted throughout Davis, Thomas and the Valley. The Parsons Advocate was also able to get the produce list published in "What's Happening" so that people could plan menus. Locating in different spots on the lot and having conversations about what layouts would work best is helping me sort out details for the parking lot and market stall construction.

By next week we'll have some easel-type sidewalk signs to help out with day-of promotion. The Advocate has suggested a sponsored ad where the area restaurants and other businesses that support having a market can pitch in to run an ad promoting the market (sponsors listed on the ad). Please contact me with any interest in this idea.

This year should prove that there is demand for a market, and that there are farmers and crafters to meet that demand. The demand side has been an object of intuitive belief for me, but it is nice to see real people turning out! In addition, it has been fascinating to learn of the number and quality of small farmers, artists and crafters in the immediate area. For next year we'll try to have a few more participants and make arrangements to consistently feature a musician.

Friends of Blackwater Fundraiser a success!

I attended a fundraiser in Canaan Valley for Riverwalk tenant Friends of the Blackwater Canyon on Friday night. It was hosted by developer and Charleston attorney Steve White. Governor Manchin attended and Speaker Richard Thompson sang and played his guitar for us. Whitegrass, Sirianni's, Timberline Resort and others donated food. Over 30 items or services were donated for the fundraising auction. Expecting 30 or 40 folks, I was amazed to see what looked like over 200 people. Steve's house easily hosted the crowd.

During the event a group of protesters formed at the entry of the subdivision. No one knew what they were protesting until it was relayed that they were against the planned power line called PATH. See www.wvcitizensagainstpath.com. They were at this location on this night specifically because Governor Manchin was present. This confounded the guests, most of whom seemed unfamiliar with the PATH project. The host family told the protesters to stay off the property at one point, though the Governor apparently went out and spoke to two women leading the protest. Tacky as it was to protest outside a private home at a completely unrelated fundraiser, the protest had the positive effect of provoking more conversation by the Governor. The next day I saw the Governor at Landis Realty's ribbon cutting ceremony and asked him what he thought of the protests, and let him know that some folks here in town perceived that he was denying knowledge of PATH, and even it's very existence. Neither are of course the case, but the vibe he was sending was definitely one of distancing himself. The Governor's ribbon cutting speech drifted to the PATH topic, and the Parsons Adovcate then interviewed the Gov for a good 30 minutes.

The more he is challenged on this position, the more he may come to recognize that it isn't fair to play possum to a project as potentially invasive as PATH. From what I've seen and read, Governor Manchin needs to take a more concerned position regarding this project. At the event in Canaan and previously he has said he "has no dog in this fight," but I have trouble accepting that notion when there is so much impact to reconcile. I would think that the state of WV would specifically need its leader to watch over this project and ensure that the voting citizens are not on the raw end of the PATH deal.

Parking lot

The design for the lot is drafted and will realign parking to be parallel to the building rather than nose to the building. This will keep the front side of the building relatively free of bumpers and metal mass, for easier access and more flexibility for our retailers.

There is some design discussion out there concerning angled vs 90 degree spots. We'll go with 90 degrees to allow bidirectional traffic through the lot. The idea is to impose a minimum amount of order (in keeping with other things Davis, no?). There are recommended bay depths and turnaround widths which we are also incorporating. I will try to provide for one ADA spot up front, though I'm sure it will get plenty of use by the not-so-wheel-chair-bound.

With the new design we plan to eliminate parking opportunities on WV32 (William Ave) along the property frontage. It is less safe and looks like hell as well. We will also border some of the lot's perimeter with log guard rail that will stop thru-traffic, retain errant drivers and pedestrians, yet allow snow plows to move snow through them.

The grass island out front will be made narrower and longer along William Ave. It will feature a stone monument with a wood signage backdrop and uplighting. Each store will be listed directory-style (uniform size) in it's preferred font.

Access to the lot will still consist of two points but their widths will be narrowed to control traffic. The access road to the back of the building will exit the lot near the volley ball court and the other de facto roadways adjacent to the lot will be blocked off with log pole guard rails.

This is the plan. Any inputs are always appreciated.

Leaf Peepers Davis 9/25-9/27

Below is the anticipated schedule of events for 2009. The official schedule to be published as established...but this should give you an idea of what the weekend holds!

http://www.myspace.com/leafpeepersfestivalwv

Revised elevation and floor plan....

What we're working on now

Showing us the way to the market

If you have ever engaged in mountaineering then you know how much harder it is to break trail in the snow than to follow behind the one who did. Kick steps and plunge steps get tiring fast! The Elkins farmers market has done a professional job of blazing the trail for how to do a small market in this region. They have bylaws, officers and a good number of farmers and food crafters involved. Already the lead farmers and organizers have given me some valuable guidance in how to make the Davis market successful. The more people I talk to, the more I learn of micro-farmers in our area. Due to the climate there are certain crops that do particularly well; broccoli is an example.

I learned that some day a pavillion will be an important element of making the market convenient for farmers and attractive to community members. I also learned that organizing and promoting the markets can interfere with the seasonal work demands of being a farmer, making the help of a non-farmer all the more important. This summer we'll be under tents with no bylaws, no officers and will really just be feeling our way forward.

The Elkins market web site outlines the types of goods generally sold during each month, but they also poll their farmers each week to prepare a bulk email listing the specific crops coming to the next market. The local Chamber of Commerce forwards the market email to their list increasing coverage even more.

After a trial summer of sporadic markets with hopefully a growing roster of candidate members, we will create a similar web site for market customers. You will be able to subscribe to the market update letter and see if the bok choi will be in or whether there will be roaster chickens available, for example.

Another element of a robust farming and crafting community is retailing. Businesses such as the Trail Mix in the Valley are establishing relationships with the boutique growers to be able to offer some of these goods on a retail basis. A given farmer in the region might retail their eggs routinely, and take eggs along with greens or fruit to sell directly at the farmers market. There are different health department codes for retail vs farmer's markets as well.

The message I'm gleaning so far is, "This is not only desirable, but it is achievable."

Save the Blackwater Canyon fundraiser

Friday July 10th in the Valley there will be a fund raiser with mountain music, auctions, and special guests Congressman Mollohan and Governor Manchin. The fund raiser will be held at the home of Steve White, the developer of Aspen Village near the base of Timberline ski area. Details at http://saveblackwater.org/CanaanHP2009.html

Also hosted by:
Diane Baisden and Sam Jinks
Diane and Roscoe Beall III
Pat and Judy Bowling
John and Debbie Brown
Jim and Laura Cava
Sheila Coleman-Castells
Donna and Carroll Cook
Cooper & Preston, PLLC
Tom and Paula Flaherty
Buck and Kathe Larkin Geary
Steve Haid and Jennifer Taylor
Tom and Stacy Halloran
Rita Haverty
Fred and Tracy Herz
Rose Marie Herz
Mike and Julie Lee
Kim Landis and Butch Nelson
B.J. and Jeri Nibert
Harriett and Paul Nusbaum
Frederick ‘‘ Doc’’ Reichle, M.D.
Geraldine Roberts. Esq.
Darrell and Debbie Rolston
Bobby and Annie Snyder

Mountain bike festival

The first mountain bike festival was last weekend. It was organized by Davis' own Sue Haywood. http://susanhaywood.blogspot.com/