'Buy local' movement creating more small-scale sellers

Heaps of blackberries, fresh off the vine, lie moist and plump in their cartons. Peaches overflow from wooden boxes, soft to the touch. The tables are piled high with sweet corn, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash.

It’s the height of summer, prime time for produce in Central Virginia. On Saturday mornings, the Lynchburg Community Market buzzes like a beehive.

A downtown institution since 1783, the community market stagnated in the 1950s, as it was overshadowed by rise of supermarkets and suburban development.

In recent years, the market has made a comeback, spurred, in part, by the national “buy local” movements and the increasing numbers of small-scale, organic farms.

The momentum is seen well beyond Lynchburg. In nearby Nelson County, two open-air markets opened this spring, and the Nelson Farmer’s Market Co-operative in Nellysford is at maximum capacity with 52 vendors.

Like the Lynchburg market, these markets offer a full-sensory experience, from succulent fruits to live music to friendly faces. Most of all, they serve as a gathering place for the locals and a destination spot for visitors passing through.

Last week, The Burg ventured to Nelson County to check the markets out. Each one offers its own charms.

Here’s a rundown on what we found.

Wednesday Market in Lovingston
The mountains of Nelson County are green and steamy in the late afternoon sun. Just off U.S. 29 in Lovington, about 10 vendors sell local produce and handicrafts in a gravel parking lot by the Nelson County visitor’s center.

The market is small but growing, with a core of dedicated vendors. Most of the produce is organic and hyper-local, grown on farms just a few miles down the road.It was launched in the spring with help from the Nelson Farmers’ Market Co-operative, which runs the bustling Saturday morning market in Nellysford. Now it is run independently of the co-op, open from 3 to 7 p.m. through the fall.

Each vendor has a story, and most are more than willing to chat about their growing methods, the benefits of supporting local farmers and the lure of Nelson County.

There’s Tall Cotton Farm in Afton, run by Bill Shutte and his wife Patti Riker. The couple sell pasture-raised, grass-fed chicken, beef and pork. Their stand is decorated with photographs of their farm and animals. As customers meander past, Goober, their shaggy-haired dog, snoozes under the table,

Shutte used to be a high-end carpenter but decided to make the switch to farming 14 years ago and has never looked back. He passion for small-scale farming and the organic movement runs deep. Beyond the benefits to the local economies, he touts the person-to-person relationship it breeds between farmer and consumer.

“If you buy local, you can look and talk to your food,” he says.

A few tables away, the fresh-squeezed lemonade is selling fast at Joy Gedeon’s table, Golden Girl Products.
Gedeon tends a 1.5-acre garden at her home in Afton, which is situated on the side of the mountain. A retired teacher, she is an artist and New Age healer who brings spirituality to her gardening.

“Our garden is a little special. We work with nature spirits and plant by the moon.”

Gedeon donates her surplus produce to a local food kitchen. She is not focused on making money, just growing a lush garden and connecting with the community. She is enthusiastic about the potential for growth of the Wednesday market.

“Each week it gets a little bit better and more well-known,” she says.

Schuyler Market
The Schuyler market, located in the outskirts of Nelson County, is a tiny operation with a big dose of small-town spunk.

Today, there’s a bluegrass duo playing old-time ditties. There are free cups of locally roasted coffee for anyone who shows up. And there’s Deborah Kushner and Buck Whitehurst — the market organizers — who greet all of the customers who pass through.

When the market launched in the spring, there were five to nine vendors each week, selling a variety of produce and crafts. This morning, the term “market” is a generous one.

There are just two vendors: farmers Chris and Jessie Carter and crafter Helen Moyer.

Despite the lean showing, the vendors and organizers are undeterred.

“We’re doing this the no-frills way. We just want people to come,” Kushner says.

The market takes place from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday mornings in the parking lot next to the Walton Mountain Museum, Schuyler’s biggest — and only — tourist attraction, based on the classic TV show. The market attracts mostly locals, and some traffic from the museum, which opens at 10 a.m. on Saturdays.
The Carters, who raise vegetables on land in Faber and Covesville, appreciate the intimacy of the Schuyler market. It gives them the opportunity to interact with each customer. Plus, today they have monopoly on vegetables.

“It fits for us. It’s tiny, and it’s in our community,” Jessie Carter says.

“We’re the only vegetable people, so we sell a lot of what we bring.”

Next to the Carters is Helen Moyer, who sells an array of crochet pieces and beaded jewelry. This is Moyer’s second week at the market, and her first experience selling her crafts.

“It’s just the two of us, holding down the fort,” she says, adding that she plans to stick with it and see if it grows.

The market is set to run until October, though that could change based on demand and availability of vendors.

“We will evolve; it will be whatever it becomes,” Kushner says.

Nelson Farmers’ Market Co-operative
About 15 miles from Schuyler, the Nelson Farmer’s Market Co-operative hums with activity. Nestled at the base of the Wintergreen Mountain in Nellysford, it rivals the Lynchburg Community Market in size and popularity.

By late morning, the market is still going strong. Dozens of visitors mill through the open-air market, pausing at vendors and chatting with friends.

Bluegrass music wafts through the air from the live music tent, which is at the center of the action. This week it’s Mississippi Leg Hound, a three-piece outfit from Nellysford. Two small children dance in front of the stage, oblivious to their surroundings, while the adults sit on nearby benches, watching the show.

Visitors can find a bit of everything at the market: organic vegetable, meats, cheese, high-end crafts, fresh breads, pastries. Everything sold there must be produced directly by the vendor, and all vendors live within 75 miles of Nellysford.

The vendors offer a slice of Virginia.

There’s Donna Kincaid of Beech Grove, a clay artist who sells folk and functional pottery.

There’s Gary Scott of Shipman, a retired telecommunications worker who now sells organic produce from Twin Spring Farms.

There’s David and Miriam Miller of Stuarts Draft, who offer a spread of freshly-baked breads, pies, cakes and other sweets.

The market has been a standby in Nelson County since 1997. In the past three years or so, it has taken off, says market manager Sherri Huffer, who sells hand-spun rabbit yarns, angora fibers, knits and other specialty items. It is at capacity, with 52 vendors, and attracts a steady stream of loyal customers.

“There are times you can’t see down the tents, it’s so packed full of people,” she says.