This Week at the Smart Markets Bristow Farmers' Market

This Week at our Bristow Market
Sunday 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Piney Branch Elementary School
8301 Linton Hall Rd.
Bristow, VA 20136
Map

Dear Shopper,

We have been hearing from Piney Branch parents and others in our new community that many of you were not aware that we are indeed open all year at the school. But we are open, and we have been there every Sunday thus far this year in all kinds of wind and weather.

Tyson Farms is represented by Max Tyson Sr. and his son; they are still bringing their own apples from their West Virginia State-provided cold-storage facility, and as of last week they were still picking collards and kale in their fields. They are also bringing root vegetables including potatoes and some winter squashes.

B&D Poultry is bringing freshly processed chicken -- whole and parts -- and wonderful country eggs: chicken, duck, turkey, and little quail eggs.

We also have on hand every week fantastic Piedmontese beef which has been branded as Angelic Beef by farm owner Doug Linton. If you want to sample the beef before you buy, you can pick up lunch at the Taste of Local food truck that Doug brings with him. Lauren Forsythe, a local Prince William County chef, cooks up the “best burgers ever” (according to a well-known national morning show host) with Doug’s beef. She also offers a soup of the day for taking home and her very special and slightly spicy marinara sauce. Kustomkoffee is sold by the cup and bag -- you may remember Arka from our previous location. He is still roasting with a shiny new roaster but sends his product to market with Doug. Ask about it if you do not see it.

And always smiling Shelby brings us dessert and other savory goodies in the form of cake pops, big slices from her cake of the week, tarts, quiches, and something new every week. She also brings dried apple snacks, called schnitz by my Mennonite relatives, and she sets up a hot chocolate bar every week.

Every other week, we also host Hakim Dunston and his BBQ machine, from which emanate the best smoked meats around; the ribs and brisket are succulent and seasoned just right and the pulled pork, pulled chicken and sides are great too.

Last but not least, we welcomed back last week Heritage Kettle Korn from a winter hiatus. Stop by for a sample made now with local popcorn supplied by a Pennsylvania farmer.

We don’t look like a summer season market because our vendors are only permitted to sell what they grow, but it won’t be long -- probably mid-April before we begin to bring back Jose Montoya, Luis Gutierrez, and the guys from Fossil Rock Farm with plants for your own gardens, and early spring vegetables. Can strawberries be far behind?

See you at the market!

From the Market Master

I saw something in The Washington Post last Sunday that gave me pause and hope for the future of the small food-business entrepreneur.

On Small Business is a weekly blurb written by J.D. Harrison for the Post business section that last week asked a panel of young entrepreneurs where they expect to see a leap in start-ups and additional competition this year. Erik Koester, founder of Zaarley, a web-based services company, included the following in his response: “The food industry is a huge slice (forgive the pun) of consumer spending. Today’s customers are becoming more conscious about what they eat, where they eat it, and how they themselves prepare it.”

This says something about you as much as it predicts a business trend. I see it at the markets every week and in the emails I see each day. And it is good to see that so many people are curious about how to eat healthier. That’s always an amazing thing for me to put into print or say, because I have always thought of eating as what we do to stay alive and be healthy, along with getting enough sleep and exercise. How simple is that?

We have been enticed away from that simplicity by all sorts of sirens promising us convenience, manufactured sleep, no-pain workouts and supplements instead of food. Recent research is finally reminding us that nothing beats the natural and age-old preventive techniques: food, sleep, and activity.

I have always viewed education as part of the Smart Markets mission along with recruiting and nurturing small food entrepreneurs. The education is directed at you, the shopper; the nurturing is for those home cooks who have love, talent, and skills to share that can help educated shoppers enjoy healthy, unadulterated food when they cannot cook themselves.

But it certainly seems that the answer to most of our ills goes back to cooking at home. I’m working hard this winter to secure the services of Annie Sidley and others who will be available to offer free nutrition advice and classes about cooking, home canning, and food preservation. Plan to spend some time at the market starting in April learning for free what others charge a small fortune to share.

We want you to become more conscientious about what you eat (locally grown, additive-free food) and where (your own home), and we are here to teach you how to take all that great produce, meats, eggs, and dairy and prepare simple, healthy meals for your family or just yourself. In the dead of winter, think asparagus, early greens, and strawberries. The seeds and plants are going into greenhouse soils even as I write.