It’s pretty hard to grow leafy green vegetables around here right now– all that snow, sleet and Arctic wind take their toll.
But you should find plenty of protein at the new Winter Farmers’ Market, said Paul Miller of Sustainable Morristown.
Beef, fowl, eggs and cheese are among the items anticipated when the monthly market starts on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2014, at the Fosterfields Living Historical Farm, at 73 Kahdena Road in Morris Township. Hours are 10 am to 2 pm.
More than a dozen vendors from the area have signed up. Tassot Apiaries and Valley Shepherd Creamery will be familiar to fans of the Morristown Farmers Market, operated by the Morristown Partnership from June to November each year.
Each purchase at the Winter Farmers’ Market supports “the local food movement, the local economy, nutritional eating, and vibrant communities,” according to the website of Sustainable Morristown.
The nonprofit is co-organizing the winter market along with the Foodshed Alliance Farmers’ Access Network and the Morris County Parks Commission.
Future dates are Feb. 9, March 9, April 13 and May 11. Admission to the winter market is free for shoppers.
Paul said the idea was inspired in part by Slow Food Northern NJ, which has held a well attended one-day farmers’ market in each of the last four winters.
If the extended winter market catches on, Paul said, area farmers will have greater incentive to erect greenhouses and grow more crops year-round.
“Farmers won’t grow more product until they see places to sell it. We’re trying to provide the infrastructure,” he said.
The winter market also is another way to get shoppers to think more sustainably, Sustainable Morristown Coordinator Erin Guthrie.
“You can vote three times a day with your fork,” Erin said. “You can go to big-box supermarkets, or you can support a local farmer.”
