Gathered Thread’s carefully curated poultry marinade will pack the perfect flavor into this year’s bird. Photo: John Robinson
In the depths of the pandemic lock-down, independent and small-scale farmers suffered deeply as outlets for their goods scaled back or shut down entirely. There were reports of thousands of pounds of unsold produce rotting in fields while grocery store shelves remained empty, and tanks of perfectly drinkable milk being dumped down the drain.
Amidst the uncertainty, Local Food Hub, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing access to fresh, locally grown food, created a drive-through farmers market to safely reconnect growers to the community.
“Hey, wait a minute! We know all of these local farms,” says LFH Communications Director Portia Boggs about coming up with the idea. “We know this community. We can connect them.”
Since the spring of 2020, Local Food Hub operated the drive-through market on Wednesday and Friday to great success. One of the format’s strengths is its online, pre-ordering system. Shoppers know exactly what they’re getting and vendors know how much food to prepare, which cuts down on waste and allows people to place their orders while literally looking in their pantry.
“Farmers can guarantee that they will have what you want in advance,” says Boggs. “Since our market is pre-order only, there is zero waste for them, and that is something they really appreciate.”
Local Food Hub also covers all costs associated with running the market through a combination of grant and individual donations, allowing vendors to take home 100 percent of their sales. “It’s a really big deal for them,” says Boggs. “During COVID, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that most of our vendors were dependent on the drive-through market to just be able to survive as a business. This market is living proof of the power of local food systems.”
For the winter season, LFH will be open only one day a week. However, there will be a special one-off Everything But The Bird market on Wednesday, November 24, to give shoppers an opportunity to buy farm-fresh goods for their Thanksgiving dinner. With almost 800 different items from 46 vendors, the food hub is putting everything on the table.
For the full shopping experience, go to localfoodhub.org/market Pre-orders can be placed online at localfoodhub.luluslocalfood.com, and pickup is from 4 to 5:30pm at Seminole Square Shopping Center on your selected day. Here is a short list of highlights that will make your turkey day especially tasty.
Room for pie and sides
Here is a short list of market highlights that will make your turkey day especially tasty.
Caromont Farm cheese The popular goat-cuddle haven is offering a cheese-and-more assortment box with a selection of three seasonal cheeses, crackers, and homemade jam or honey.
Bellair Farm Acorn and spaghetti squashes that can be easily adapted to any recipe or used to create something brand new are at the top of Bellair’s fall specialties list.
Phantom Hill Farm Phantom Hill returns to the market with its signature microgreen blends, which can add color, flavor, and nutrition to almost any dish. Or, if you prefer to do some growing at home, the farm offers a grow-your-own shiitake mushroom log. Keep it in a damp, shady area of your yard and reap the delicious rewards for four or more years.
Gathered Thread The market does not sell turkey, but the poultry marinade packet from Gathered Thread includes basil, garlic scapes, oregano, thyme, summer savory, sage, and rosemary, which make for a fragrant, flavorful bird (or plant-based protein if you wish).
The Pie Chest Offload some of the T-day stress by outsourcing your baking this year. Go rogue at The Pie Chest, where the cider-glazed pumpkin cake is a gourd idea.
Spring is springing, in its Virginia way, with perfect breezy days becoming more frequent every week. For many locals, the annual return of chirping birds means rolling out of bed early on Saturday and heading downtown, to the City Market. The beloved market has been in action since 1973, providing an opportunity to shop for fresh produce and farm-raised meats, but also a chance to “see and be seen” as much of the community shops, eats, and mingles.
However, much like the rest of us, the City Market has been forced to adapt as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even now, as vaccinations and decreasing case numbers give the public reason to look forward with hope, City Market is not sure when it will return to “business as usual.” It is clear that the ability to quickly adapt to changing conditions in the community and frequently adjusted guidance from local government is a key strategy at this point in time.
Once the market returns to in-person shopping, it will be welcome news indeed. Since April 2020, when it was announced that the market would be switching to a drive-through model, shoppers have been required to preorder their produce online and then drive up in their vehicles on Saturday mornings for contactless pick up. This new model is open to any vendor registered with the city, providing a wide array of options as well as allowing shoppers to continue to do business with preferred vendors. Of course, while the ability to buy from local farms is greatly welcomed, the change meant a temporary end to browsing in person, picking up a freshly cooked breakfast or coffee on Saturday morning, and the social aspects of attending the market.
The pivot has not been without challenges. The market has had to shift locations multiple times in response to fluid government regulations and local closures—it started at Pen Park before moving to Darden Towe Park and then to Charlottesville High School.
According to City Market Manager Justin McKenzie, “The biggest challenge was migrating vendors and customers online. The shift from an in person…to an online system, where products have to be created/posted and customers have to register and purchase time slots, was difficult at the beginning.”
Although the Charlottesville City Market certainly deserves kudos for its work these past few months, it actually wasn’t the first to establish the online ordering, drive-through market model. That distinction goes to the Local Food Hub, a nonprofit founded in 2009 with the goal of connecting area independent farms directly with consumers and increasing access to fresh, local food for food-insecure communities. Quickly recognizing the needs and challenges that COVID-19 presented, the Local Food Hub announced the establishment of its contactless pick-up market on April 1, 2020, “due to small farms and food businesses challenged by stay-at-home executive orders.”
The Local Food Hub market and the City Market operate similarly, and both of them currently utilize the same online platform for ordering. Pick up for the Local Food Hub market occurs twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays at the old Kmart parking lot off Hydraulic Road (with some small adjustments made recently to allow the Blue Ridge Health Department to set up a large tent in order to distribute COVID-19 vaccines). While the Local Food Hub features a smaller number of vendors, the organization notes that vendors are specifically chosen for quality and to provide a good assortment of products, but also to minimize overlap that could decrease individual vendor profits.
It’s worth highlighting that Local Food Hub vendors receive 100 percent of their sales without any fees taken out. In fact, the online ordering platform allows shoppers to also pay fees incurred by the vendors for credit card processing and the online platform. This highlights the nonprofit mission behind the market, but many may be unaware that it means the organization operates the market at a loss. For those who wish to support these efforts, donations to the Local Food Hub are always welcome, and you can “buy” market support while you are doing your weekly shopping.
Take a walk
If you’re hankering for the in-person market experience right away, the IX Art Park Farmers Market still allows customers to wander the premises, letting everyone check out what’s fresh, what looks good, and what might inspire the perfect menu. Held on Saturday mornings, the focus is on a more traditional outdoor market experience that doesn’t require advance ordering (although online ordering for pick up is available). In addition, there are fresh prepared food options available from food trucks and some of the vendors.
The IX Park market was founded in 2018, previously existing as a way of bridging the winter months when the City Market was closed. However, due to its popularity during the pandemic, the market was continued past March last year, and ran through the rest of 2020. In January 2021, the market resumed for its fourth season, and quickly announced that it will again continue through the year.
The organization behind this market is Market Central, a nonprofit that “advocates for local food, farmers’ markets, and strong connections between the producers and community.” While it does charge vendors fees to rent space, it relies on donations for much of the work at the market and in the broader community. In addition, Market Central is able to provide SNAP and SNAP Match incentive coupons through a partnership with the Virginia Fresh Match program.
Cecile Gorham, co-founder and chair of Market Central, observes, “Both customers and vendors have appreciated and favorably responded to the opportunity to safely walk through our outdoor space for essential and nutritious food. Families seem to enjoy the opportunity to safely get outside.”
A recent visit to the IX market showed many precautions being taken: posted signs, hand sanitizer stations, widespread mask wearing, strict social distancing, and touch-free transactions. Perhaps more importantly, it revealed fresh produce and meats, a bevy of favorite food trucks, and many neighbors supporting local farms and businesses. Not only do these markets keep dollars in the local economy and promote community, but, through the inspired work of the city and nonprofits, they also help bring food to many who truly need it. As Gorham is proud to point out, during the pandemic “it has been important for vendors and customers to have options to connect for local food. Local producers have filled in food shortages with fresh, high-quality products.”
Vendor spotlight
Good eats
In addition to fresh eggs and produce, Sussex Farm is known for freshly prepared Korean food and a wide variety of kimchi. Jennifer Naylor, affectionately known as “Mama Bird” to those who frequent her stall, says it’s been challenging to provide fresh food and an alternative to grocery stores. “I think it’s an absolute necessity for people to consume what’s local and fresh to boost their immune system during times like this,” she explains, “Now, the market has become a place to go for safe, healthy, local food and fresh air.”
No more feeling crabby
Sweet Jane’s Kitchen offers Maryland-style jumbo lump crab cakes, both ready to eat and to take away and cook at home. Owner Alyce Johnson says they experienced an overall decrease in engagement this past year, but they’re “grateful to still be operational and hopeful for the upcoming season. The local community’s commitment to supporting local businesses has been really encouraging.”
Sharing is caring
Offering a wide variety of organic produce, fresh eggs, and meats each week at the IX market and the Local Food Hub market, Bellair Farm has become well known in Charlottesville largely as a result of its community-supported agriculture program. “Business has changed a lot,” says Michelle McKenzie, who credits the quick pivots by the markets for being instrumental in helping get through 2020, “We saw record sales…from farmers’ markets, which helped offset reduced income from events on the farm.”
Whisper Hill Farm offers many items that are popular among shoppers, including fresh garlic and a wide variety of peppers. Prior to 2020, most of the farm’s business was at farmer’ markets, but one result of this past year was an increase in its CSA, from 30 members in 2019 to 250 members in 2020. The farm has just opened up an additional 200 members shares for 2021.
Perfect pear
Myo Quinn found her way to Charlottesville from New York City when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Shortly after, Quinn met Holly Hammond of Whisper Hill during a visit to the IX market. The duo became fast friends and fast business partners. Their joint venture, the recently launched Pear, offers sweet and savory baked goods at the IX.
Still truckin’
Opened in the midst of the pandemic, Basan food truck is a staple presence at IX market, which is the only market that currently features food trucks. The menu offers an interesting mix of ramen, Korean fried chicken, and some amazing and ever-changing specials, based on Asian street food. Co-owner Anna Gardner explains, “Market Central has been absolutely wonderful trying to work with vendors and adapt safety protocols to all of the changes.” Co-owner Kelsey Naylor adds, “the farmers’ market scene has been incredibly helpful for us. It allows us to serve people in a setting where they can really spread out, or take food home, which helps minimize risk for all involved.”
Lee O’Neill of Radical Roots Community Farm is one of many local farmers who has had to get creative with her business and distribution plans this year. Photo by John Robinson
At this point in the season, farmers have planted potatoes and strawberries. They’ve sown radishes, carrots, beets, and kohlrabi. They’ve transplanted broccoli and onions from interior pots to outdoor beds, and any day now, they’ll put in the warmer-weather crops like corn and peppers.
But as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads throughout Virginia, Governor Ralph Northam’s stay-at-home order has shut down farmers’ markets and restaurants, and local farmers have had to rethink how to get food to their customers…and how to maintain their income to ensure there’s a harvest next year.
“At this time of year, we have a lot invested in the ground and not a lot of cash on hand,” says Jim Marzluff of Sweet Greens Farm in Scottsville. “Those first few markets are really important to us.”
More than half of Sweet Greens’ revenue comes from local farmers’ markets. “It’s such a good way to sell produce in this area,” says Marzluff.
That number’s even higher—95 percent—for Whisper Hill Farm, also in Scottsville. “We’re going to have tons of produce,” says farmer Holly Hammond.
Hammond and Marzluff plan to put what they’d normally sell at the market into community supported agriculture shares. Both farms had moved away from the CSA model in recent years, but right now, it seems like the best option to feed customers and financially sustain the farms.
Though they understand the dire importance of practicing social distancing, farmers, who already adhere to very strict food safety standards, are frustrated by the new rules. Lee O’Neill of Radical Roots Farm says that markets could likely observe even stricter measures than grocery stores—limiting how many people are in the space at once, allowing only farmers to touch the goods—and so she wonders why the markets are not also considered essential.
To help fill the gap, Local Food Hub is offering a drive-up, no-contact micro-market. Customers can go to the organization’s website to order locally produced fruits and veggies, milk, eggs, cheese, meats, and more. At the pickup location, LFH employees and farmers place the bagged order in the customer’s trunk.
And starting Saturday, April 11, the City Market will switch to a “City Market To-Go” model, operating from 8am to noon on Saturdays until further notice. Customers can sign up for an account, place an order online, and choose a 30-minute pickup window. During that time, they’ll be able to pick up their bag from Pen Park.
Farmers say there’s also been increased interest in CSA programs from customers over the past two weeks, particularly from those who are anxious that there might eventually be a food shortage.
Bellair Farm, located just outside of Charlottesville, is perhaps unique in that its business model is based almost entirely around a CSA program, which farm manager Michelle McKenzie says could provide enough produce for 700 families for its 22-week duration. (A half share, enough for the average-size family, costs $390 for the season, about $17 per week.) While Bellair won’t have to adapt its business much, it will stop its market-style CSA pickup and switch to pre-packaged bags that customers can retrieve quickly.
Radical Roots will also offer a few CSA shares this year to make up for its lost market business, and it’s participating in Local Food Hub’s micro-market, but O’Neill expects her farm’s “saving grace” will be its wholesale business with area groceries like Feast!, Integral Yoga, and Whole Foods. There’s no guarantee, though, that customers on tight pandemic budgets will opt for the slightly more expensive, locally grown organic tomato, rather than the cheaper, corporate farm-grown one. “Usually we can’t produce enough” for the stores, says O’Neill, but she imagines this year could be different.
Since fall 2019, when this photo was taken, the Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville, which grows and distributes produce to public and subsidized housing communities, has lost more than 80 percent of its planting-bed space. Photo by Zack Wajsgras
While most area farms work out how to distribute their bounties, one farm located in the heart of Charlottesville worries it won’t have enough food for its consumers’ needs.
The Urban Agriculture Collective of Charlottesville offers city residents the opportunity to collaboratively grow and harvest organic produce that is then distributed at no cost to public and subsidized housing communities, “people who might not otherwise have access to fresh produce,” says Richard Morris, farm and foodroots program director at UACC.
During the 2019 season, UACC’s three gardens, located at the Friendship Court, South First Street, and Sixth Street housing developments, had a combined 25,000 square feet of vegetable-bed space. But with the Friendship Court and South First Street spots slated for redevelopment, UACC was only able to plant at Sixth Street—4,400 square feet of bed space—for the 2020 season.
“We’re down, but not out,” says Morris. With less than one-fifth of its previous planting area to work with, he says they’ve employed some intensive growing techniques, such as vertical planting.
As unemployment rates soar, Morris expects that those members of our community who are already food insecure (about 17 percent of the city’s population) will have greater demand for produce…and that more of our neighbors will become food insecure in the coming months.
He hopes that other, larger farms and distributors with excess produce might donate it to the UACC’s new Harvest a Bushel for the Community program.
Overall, farmers say they want this moment to help the community understand the reliability, and thus the importance, of local food. It’s part of their mission, after all, to feed their neighbors.
“For me, having this very clear, outlined mission of what my role is in this crisis has brought me more peace than anything else in this time,” says McKenzie. “Knowing that I’ve got a job to do, and my job is to grow food, safely. That’s what I keep returning to.”
Dining decline
Farms that supply to area restaurants, and not just individual customers, face enormous challenges, too. As restaurants have either closed completely or switched to carry-out and delivery models, they’re not cooking as much, which means placing fewer, if any, orders with small farms.
Around half of Free Union Grass Farm’s business comes from local restaurants. This year, farmer Joel Slezak planned to raise 2,500 ducks and sell 90 percent of them to local restaurants. But a few weeks ago, orders from restaurants “disappeared overnight,” and Slezak canceled his duckling order. Instead, he’ll raise chickens and laying hens, whose meat and eggs, respectively, are easier to sell to home cooks via the farm’s website. Slezak says he’s had increased interest from individual customers, and despite the loss of his restaurant clientele, business is booming. He does worry that at some point, individual customers will run out of money and not be able to afford local food prices, which tend to be higher than those at grocery stores.
Ara Avagyan of Double H Farm has some worries, too. From December through May, his farm relies entirely on restaurants for its income. “That’s just enough” for the Avagyan family to pay the bills and keep the lights on. He continues providing to restaurants throughout the spring, summer, and fall, but he relies on farmers market sales of leafy greens, eggs, pork, and more, for the money to feed his livestock: dozens of cows, hundreds of pigs and chickens. Double H has pivoted to direct-to-customer sales through its website, and is selling to small groceries like Integral Yoga, but Avagyan says only time will tell if that model will be successful.
This article was updated Wednesday, April 8 to include information about the City Market To-Go, announced April 7.
Bellair Farm’s Jamie Barrett says joining CSAs gives community members an opportunity to join farmers on their journey.
To-may-toes. To-mah-toes. ’Maters. No matter what you call them, if you want to be slicing into the freshest ones around come summer, you’ll want to sign up to participate in community-shared agriculture. And now’s the time to do so.
The community-shared agriculture (or CSA) model of farming, which developed in North America in the 1980s, is fairly simple: Community members buy in to a farm and pay in advance, which funds the farm upfront during the seed-buying-and-planting season. As crops are harvested, community members receive their prepaid share of them throughout the growing season.
Both farmer and consumer reap many benefits from this model says Jamie Barrett, farmer at Charlottesville’s Bellair Farm. It’s a guaranteed source of income for farmers and a guaranteed source of food for the consumer, and by eliminating the middleman of the market, a CSA typically means lower prices for the consumer and more money in the pocket of the farmer, says Barrett.
A number of local farms offer CSA programs, and with more than 700 shares up for grabs between them, there are plenty of opportunities to join. Shares can be hefty, so consider your family size and veggie consumption habits when signing up, and go halvsies with a friend if you need to.
Cost: $20 per week per adult; $4 per week per child. Atelier offers both pay-in-advance and pay-as-you-go models.
Pro tip: Atelier Farm works a bit differently than other CSAs in the area. Members pay by family size, then come to the farm and pick whatever vegetables, herbs and flowers they need. Farmer-owner Austin Mandryk promises some not-so-common CSA items like corn and edamame, and more than 100 different varieties of tomatoes in the summer.
Pickup: Waldorf School (Mondays), St. Anne’s-Belfield School (Tuesdays); Meade Park Farmers in the Park and at the farm (Wednesdays)
Cost: $650 full share; $375 half share
Pro tip: The Bellair Farm CSA works market-style, where members mix and match from pickup site offerings to fill their bags each week. Members can also visit the farm once a week to pick their own flowers and herbs.
Pickup: Wednesdays, at the farm and at a house in Charlottesville’s Starr Hill neighborhood
Cost: $595 delivery; $540 farm pickup
Pro tip: Farmer-owners Heather Coiner and Ben Stowe bake sourdough bread in the farm’s wood-fired oven and include a loaf in each weekly share. In July, there are blackberries.
Pickup: Barracks Road and in the Belmont neighborhood in Charlottesville; pickups in Staunton, Waynesboro, Fishersville and Crozet as well
Cost: $280 small share; $480 large share
Pro tiop: This “farmer’s pick”-style CSA offers shares that include berries, melons and local fruit. Malcolms Market Garden CSA members can also enjoy a discount at the Staunton Farmers Market and pick-your-own strawberries, flowers and pumpkins on the farm.
Pickup: Wednesdays, 4-6pm at Albemarle Baking Company
Cost: $500; each weekly share fills a half-bushel basket
Good to know: Now in its 14th season, the Radical Roots CSA program is one of the longest-running in the area. It’s done market-style, where CSA members show up to the pickup and choose produce from that week’s harvest.
Pro tip: Radical Roots specializes in greens, offering a salad mix every week, all season. CSA members get to choose an herb each week, too.
Dates: April through November, split into three seasons
Pickup: Mid-week, at the farm and a to-be-determined location in Charlottesville
Cost: Check Sweet Greens Farm’s website for updated pricing and pickup information.
Pro tip: Sweet Greens offers a separate flower CSA, as well as some “farm bucks” shares where, the more $50 punch cards purchased at a time, the more money saved ($95 for two cards saves 5 percent; $440 for 10 cards saves 12 percent) when shopping at the farm’s Charlottesville City Market and Farmers in the Park market stands.
Good to know: For this market-style CSA, customers pay $450 upfront for $525 of credit to spend as they wish at any of Whisper Hill Farm’s market stands. Farmer-owner Holly Hammond keeps a register with customers’ balances that is updated every week as they pick up their produce.
Tim Henley’s peach crop at Henley’s Orchard was already threatened before the latest cold blast and snow.
Rammelkamp Foto
Last month was the warmest February on record with an average temperature of 47.7 degrees, based on numbers from the McCormick Observatory dating back to the 19th century. While many are happy to ditch their winter coats early, a nice day this early in the season is a nightmare for some farmers.
“It’s really going to affect us badly,” Tim Henley, owner of Henley’s Orchard in Crozet, said last week. “I’m expecting this next cold blast is pretty much going to wipe out all of our peaches.”
On Henley’s 1,000 acres of farmland, 25 acres are reserved for growing 35 varieties of apples (including fan favorites such as Albemarle Pippin and Black Twig), and 18 acres are reserved for more than a dozen types of white and yellow peaches. With recent warm temperatures pushing 80 degrees, a majority of the buds in the peach reserve at Henley’s have already bloomed, or at least swollen to a fragile state. Cool temperatures, even just at night, could kill them for the whole season.
And it’s happened before. During a good year, Henley says he and his team produce between 4,000 and 5,000 bushels of the pitted fruit. Last year, due to similar conditions, they had none.
“It’s fairly depressing,” he says. “We just try to be optimistic. We’ll probably get a lot more apple trees pruned this year than usual,” he adds, because they likely won’t have to spend time thinning peach crops.
Over at Bellair Farm, an 850-acre plot 11 miles south of downtown Charlottesville, the warm weather isn’t all bad news.
Farm manager Jamie Barrett says he usually starts selling community supported agriculture shares in mid-May, but if temperatures continue to stay up, he may be able to start earlier. Because he grows mostly annual vegetables, (think: eggplant planted seasonally, not apples yielding from the same trees each year), warmer weather means an opportunity to get out into the fields earlier to prep for the growing season.
“We can get things in the ground a little earlier,” he says. “For us, there are certain crops like strawberries we worry about. And our garlic is taller than usual this time of year. A hard frost might knock that back.”
Barrett planted his strawberries last spring because they take a year to bear fruit.
“We should expect that to start in May or June and we’ll begin picking at that time,” he says. “If they start blooming now, and it gets real cold at night, we’re going to lose those blossoms and lose our strawberry crop. It’s always something we worry about. It’s just getting harder and harder to manage things with the weather being so volatile.”
And though most of the Bellair crops will be okay, he sympathizes with the orchards that are getting hit.
“The peaches and the apples are not coming in like they’re used to. It all comes back to the weather now,” Barrett says. “It’s great if people can have that in mind and really support those local businesses when they need it.”
Jerry Stenger, the director of the climatology office at the University of Virginia, doesn’t have good news for the farmers hoping to ward off a frost. In fact, he says the worst is yet to come.
Through the end of February, the area had seen only 2.9 inches of snowfall, when an average for that time period is more than a foot—about 14 inches. The snow that started March 13 added less than an inch to the season’s accumulation.
“We’re not anywhere near free of the snowfall season,” he says. “This time of year, chances of getting more measurable snow are about 50-50. This is not too bizarre and it’s not unexpected that we’ll have some more snow coming along.”
Stenger points to early March 2013, when 15.5 inches of snow were dumped on the city.
But it won’t be too much longer before we’re in the clear, he says. “Now by the time we get to April, the chances of any decent snowfall are really diminished.”
Feverish February
Is it time to break out the shorts and tank tops? Information gathered from UVA’s McCormick Observatory ranks last month as the hottest February on record.
February 2017: 47.7 degrees on average
Average February temperature: 39.1 degrees
Winter snowfall through end of February: 2.9 inches
Average winter snowfall through end of February: 14 inches
February 2017 seventh driest on record: .78 inches of precipitation
Average February precipitation: 3.07 inches of precipitation
