By Cathy Veit
A Farmers Market in the middle of winter? Yes! Farmers gathered in the Morristown High School cafeteria to sell their goods at the fourth annual Winters Farmers Market on Saturday. The event was organized by Margaret Noon of Slow Food Northern NJ.
The farmers sold grass-fed beef, cheeses, beautifully crafted artisan bread, vegetables, apples and cider, pastries, aromatherapy sachets, honey and beeswax candles, eggs, chocolate, and chicken pot pies.
Photos by Cathy Veit. Please click icon below for captions.
Slow Food is the opposite of fast food, Noon explained. The vision of the organization is for people to eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it, and good for the planet. Slow Food is a global grassroots movement; Slow Food USA has over 200 chapters.
Among the more unusual products for sale on Saturday were logs inoculated with fungal tissue that will grow shiitake mushrooms. Farmer Ian Blanchard gives workshops on growing mushrooms, in addition to selling them.
A PITCH FOR MORRISTOWN’S COMMUNITY GARDEN
Shaun Ananko, the farmer at Grow It Green Morristown’s Urban Farm at Lafayette, urged visitors to show their support at Tuesday’s council meeting, on Feb. 14, for a grant to protect the Early Street Community Garden from redevelopment and save it as open space.
Mayor Tim Dougherty supports the project, said Kathy Haake of The Trust For Public Land. Now the council’s approval is needed. If permission is given, TPL will submit a grant request to the State’s Green Acres program to conserve the land.
The plan is to push the garden plots back to allow for a public area with benches where people can view the garden and socialize with others from the community.
“This land used to be a litter-strewn lot, and is now a beautiful garden to look at,” Haake said. Movie nights and pot luck dinners are held at the garden, and high school students learn about beehives maintained by Farmer Shaun.
The council meeting starts at 7:30 pm at town hall, on 200 South St. If you cannot attend, you can e-mail your thoughts to 3rd Ward Councilman Stefan Armington, via www.growitgreenmorristown.org.
READ MORE ABOUT THE EARLY STREET COMMUNITY GARDEN
