Hungry shoppers can chow down on one of Jessica Danielle’s freshly baked biscuits slathered with butter when the Spotsylvania Farmers Market opens for the season at 8 a.m. Saturday.
Danielle is the owner of Biscuit Batch, two of the market’s new vendors that will sell products, produce and plants at the VDOT Commuter Lot at the intersection of State Route 3 and Gordon Road in Spotsylvania County. The Navy veteran is a private chef who competed on Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.”
Biscuit Batch will sell a variety of breakfast and lunch biscuit sandwiches, along with packages of biscuits and Danielle’s homemade jams and preserves.
Also new to the market will be Plush Crispies, a home business specializing in gourmet crispy rice treats in flavors ranging from classic to “celebration,” as well as cocoa chip and coconut. All are gluten-free.
“We might be adding another vendor,” said Market Manager Danie Payne. “We’re processing the application.”
Spotsylvania has two farmers markets, and the one at the commuter lot is the largest. It will run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through Dec. 17 and features 46 vendors. They will sell local vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, breads, honey and plants. There also will be locally roasted coffee, freshly squeezed lemonade, pies and pastries, pickles and jams, salsas, kettle corn and barbecue.
The other market won’t open until May 4 and will run from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesdays in front of Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center, 4600 Spotsylvania Parkway. New this year will be Cafeto Espresso, which serves a variety of coffee drinks, teas, frappés, milkshakes and lemonades; North Side Growers, a local farm that specializes in gourmet mushrooms as well as seasonal vegetables and fresh herbs; Meli’s Micros, which raises organic microgreens including sunflower and speckled pea; and Always on My Mind Farm, which sells duck eggs.
“We’re really excited about those,” Payne said of the duck eggs. “We’re getting a lot of inquiries about those so we’re happy to find somebody to bring them in.”
Spotsylvania’s markets are among the nine farmers markets in Fredericksburg and the surrounding counties of Caroline, King George, Stafford and Spotsylvania, according to the Virginia Farmers Market Association. Most open this month and several have a handful of vendors that operate year-round. COVID-19 rules have been relaxed since the pandemic has ebbed, and masks are no longer required. Farm market managers suggested checking market websites for the latest rules.
Here’s what’s happening at other local markets:
STAFFORD COUNTY
Long Family Markets, which opened for the season April 3, will operate from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sundays through November in the back corner of the Staffordboro Commuter Lot off State Route 610.
“We are averaging around 70 businesses on site each week,” said Robin Long, the market’s owner. “Our artisans rotate through, so each week you will find something a little different in the marketplace.”
New vendors this season include: Always Flavored with its lineup of hot sauces; Back Pocket Provisions, which sells several varieties of Bloody Mary mixes; Marcos Produce, with its display of local produce, flowers and plants; Meli’s Micros; Mr. Willies BBQ, a seller of barbecue sauces; and Nuevos Comienzos, which serves up pupusas and other Latin foods.
Other new vendors are: Olive Branch Gardens, which sells cut greens; The Pickle Factory with various pickled vegetables; Split Decision Desserts, which specializes in vegan cookies; and The Herbalist’s Assistant, which offers natural skin care products.
In addition, Bookmobile Fredericksburg will offer free books, local author J.S. Furlong will read interested listeners a 5-minute story, and several artisans will sell their original artwork.
“We still feature a weekly chicken hunt for Mr. Cluck Cluck and have added an alligator observatory area (with a blow-up alligator in the retention pond adjacent to the market area) as well as having socially distanced activities and games set up throughout the market during the season,” Long said.
FREDERICKSBURG
The Fredericksburg Farmers Market, which wraps around the Prince Edward and George street sides of Hurkamp Park, will open April 16. It will be held from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday through October.
The market will have 30 vendors every Saturday selling produce, meat, microgreens, honey, mushrooms, hot sauces, breads and other baked goods, cold-pressed juices, coffee, freshly squeezed lemonade and kettle corn. New this year will be Xquizit Specialty Coffee Roasters & Brewers, Witty Roots hot sauces and The Little Green Garden, which sells a variety of organic microgreens.
“We’ll have additional vendors on the second and fourth Saturdays set up inside Hurkamp Park,” said Paula Meredith, the market manager. “Among these vendors we will have the Roaming Stone, a knife and tool sharpener.”
Biweekly vendors will include Birds, Berries and Buttercream, selling homemade cakes, cupcakes and cookies, with vegan options; BriBakes, a candy maker and baker offering handmade chocolates and vegan, soy and nut-free options; Butterfly Greens, which sells microgreens; Carter-ly Sweet’s baked goods; Landless Farmer, which sells annuals and houseplants; Nieces Delicious Delights with cheesecake, seasonal pies and pickled items; and Rustic Bakehouse, which carries quick breads, muffins and dog treats.
“One of our vendors, Elda Gardens, will be bringing their food truck to the market on occasion,” Meredith said. “They will be serving breakfast and lunch options that consist of products they raise/grow on their farm. Their food truck will be parked on the corner of William and Prince Edward streets when they are at the market.”
Art in the Park will return in May and will be held on the first and third Saturday of the month in conjunction with the Farmers Market.
MARY WASHINGTON HEALTHCARE
Mary Washington Healthcare will have two weekday markets this year, mainly for those who work at its hospitals in Fredericksburg and Stafford County, although the public is also invited to shop there.
The one at Mary Washington Hospital, 1001 Sam Perry Blvd., will be held the second and fourth Fridays of the month from May 2 through September. It will be located outside the main entrance.
New this year will be a market at Stafford Hospital, 101 Hospital Center Blvd., in the traffic loop next to the Emergency Department. The Stafford market is being added on a trial basis, said Pamela Nimeth, Mary Washington Healthcare’s wellness coordinator.
Both markets will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and feature three vendors: C&T Produce, Little Irv’s Bakery and Berie Croft Farm.
KING GEORGE COUNTY
King George Farmers’ Market will kick off the season April 30. It will be held from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Oct. 29 at King George Middle School, 8246 Dahlgren Road.
It will have 31 vendors this year, including eight newcomers. They are Amiee’s Sandwiches, a food truck selling plant-based fare; HappyMore Naturals, which sells natural remedies and fermented foods; Huckleberry Bath Bombs, Kaziville, a food truck serving hot dogs and other fare; Sweet Izzy’s Kettle Corn; The Herbalist’s Assistant; and Victoria’s Back Road Bakery.
“As usual, community days are on the first Saturday of every month (the first one is May 7),” said Agostinho Caldeira, the market manager. “We also have special events. On June 18, we are hosting our third annual Father’s Day beard competition and also, in July, our annual art show.”
CAROLINE COUNTY
Caroline County is home to a couple of farmers markets: the Bowling Green Community Farmers Market and the Route 639 Farmers Market in Ladysmith.
Bowling Green’s market opened April 2 in front of the Atlantic Bank Union Bank Building at North Main Street.
“It was cold, but we had people out. People were excited, so that was good,” said Cheryl English, one of two market managers. “It will get better and better as it warms up and more is available.”
Vendors will be there, selling everything from plants and produce to baked goods and crafts, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday through October.
“We do have a couple new vendors and maybe a third. Produce will be there, but we won’t have much until May,” English said.
New vendors will be jewelry maker Beth Austin and Samantha Jessie, who sells jams, jellies and all kinds of berries.
Two flea markets will be held in conjunction with the market this year. One will be held May 21 and the other will be in August.
“We’ve been doing it as a way to bring people into Bowling Green,” English said. “We’re just cheerleaders for Bowling Green. It’s such a cute, little town.”
The Route 639 Market opens May 12 at 7278 Ladysmith Road in Ruther Glen. It will be open from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Sept. 22. Vendor applications are being accepted, said Caldeira, who manages the market in addition to the one in King George.
SNAP AND WIC
Beneficiaries of two government programs will once again be able to stretch their dollars at local farmers markets. They include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which will match up to $30 of purchases of fruits and vegetables.
“We’ve been doing this for 10 years for most of our markets,” said Candice Armstrong, executive director of Virginia Community Food Connections. “Things have really taken off. More people have heard about the program, and with the option to shop outside, a lot of people with SNAP realize their benefits go further.”
She oversees seven markets in the Fredericksburg region. Last year, people used their electronic benefits cards to make a total of $179,000 in purchases at those markets and got an additional $165,000 in matching incentives provided by federal grants.
VCFC also has a partnership with the Rappahannock Area Health District to help those in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children. They can get Veggie Vouchers worth $15 each week at farmers markets to use for purchases there.
“We’re trying to do another big push to get the word out and serve more than last year,” Armstrong said. “Last year, we gave out 541 vouchers for over $8,000. That was across all markets. It was difficult to get the word out because WIC program was virtual and moms weren’t coming in to talk face-to-face.”
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