Farm fresh makes Festival debut

Local produce comes to Waldorf shopping center

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GARY SMITH Tracie Gilroy and Casey Schlagel unload Schlagel Farms produce during Saturday’s Waldorf farmers market. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Area farmers set up under tents and tarps in the parking lot next to Wendy’s, cattycorner to Panera Bread, to sell in-season wares at the county’s lone producers-only market.

The market’s recent grand-opening celebration featured sno-cones and balloons among the baskets of local produce and jelly jars filled with jewel-toned homemade preserves.

So far, the market has been pretty successful, said Diane Maguire, Festival’s property manager with development company Madison Marquette.

The brainchild of the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Committee’s So. Maryland, So Good program, the market is one of the latest offered in the region.

Another popular market is held in La Plata, also on Wednesdays and Saturdays, in the parking lot near the Charles County courthouse.

The market in Waldorf features only locally grown items.

‘‘It is a producers-only market,” said Tina Eaton, the Waldorf market organizer and a local farmer. The produce sold at the Waldorf market comes from local farms in Pomfret, White Plains, Nanjemoy, Waldorf, Charlotte Hall and other Southern Maryland areas and is usually at the peak of freshness.

‘‘This is the freshest out of the garden,” Eaton said. ‘‘They pick the day of the market or the night before. It is the quality that consumers are looking for.”

While the shopping center remains open while undergoing renovation, Maguire said the market draws shoppers in and bolsters communication with customers.

‘‘It’s good community relations,” she said. ‘‘It gives people another chance to come into the center.”

The location is also a sweet one for Waldorf shoppers.

‘‘People are glad to see you,” Eaton said.

‘‘It’s such a nice thing for the community to stay local and buy local. There were so many people in Waldorf that were not given the opportunity to buy fresh produce. It’s slowly catching on.”

Charna Brooks stopped by the market Saturday with her son, Andre, 3, and her mother, Patricia Greenhill, to pick up fruit and vegetables.

While Brooks used to frequent another farmers market farther from her Waldorf home, the newly opened market at Festival is closer and easier on gas.

‘‘Their prices are better and the produce is better,” said Brooks, comparing farmers market produce to that sold in grocery stores. She also appreciates knowing where the food she prepares for her son comes from.

Eaton pointed out that farmers at the market can tell consumers the ins and outs of their farming practices, if and what type of pesticides are used.

The market also sells only what is in season and able to thrive in the area.

Right now, that means peaches, blackberries, blueberries and plums are center stage at the market. Cantaloupes are going to be coming soon. String beans, corn, tomatoes, cabbage, kale, collard greens, sunflowers and herbs are also being sold.

You won’t find any pineapples or bananas at the Waldorf producers-only market.

Manning the D&S Farm stall, Laura Gragan helps her father, Dan, with the sales. Gragan said they also participate in six other markets. One of the perks of fresh-from-the-farm food is knowing that flavor will be on the menu.

‘‘Everything is fresh picked that day or the day before [the market],” Gragan said. ‘‘When it is processed, it takes out all the flavor. Here, it is literally straight off the tree.”