See you in 2013!

It has been an amazing season. We celebrated milestones and some great achievements this year, including our fifth anniversary, being named one of the favorite small farmer's markets in the United States, being featured in top farmer's market photography contests, and more. Through it all, we've shared wonderful Saturdays -- and fantastic food -- with you. Thank you for sharing your Saturdays with us.

We are particularly grateful to our many enthusiastic, tireless volunteers -- you really keep us going! Special thanks to Mayor Mike Callahan, our board members and the volunteers -- young and young-at-heart -- who give their time and energy week after week. Special thanks also to the Town of Cheverly and the Town staff for making us part of the community...we know exactly how lucky we are to have you. We're also terribly grateful to Turkey Trot and ChvProm for very generous donations -- we will use them to make Cheverly Community Market even better in the future!

To our fantastic vendors -- the biggest pool we've ever had -- thank you! This season has been a joy, and we are so lucky to have each and every one of you. We want you all back next year! (We'll be in touch early in the new year about applications, etc.)

We'll be taking a well-deserved break now...planning has already begun for our 2013 season and we'll be offering some special things in the off-season, so keep checking the website and our Facebook and Twitter feeds. Of course, we'll be sharing all sorts of good things with you here on the blog, too, including news from the farmer's market conferences and more. And we'll post photos from Holiday Market on Flickr, as well as continuing to add recipes, tips, techniques, ideas and more over at Pinterest...it doesn't really sound like we'll be taking a break at all! There are a lot of ways to stay connected with us over the winter months, and we hope that you'll do just that!

The first day of our 2013 season is Saturday, May 4, 8am to noon and we can't wait to share another Saturday morning with you. See you at the Market!

At Holiday Market: Kaylala Organic Apothecary

We are so very happy to welcome Market favorite Kaylala Organic Apothecary back to Cheverly Community Market this weekend! Cheverly resident Alison Brown Hjembo makes amazing skincare items, and she'll be bringing the full array of all natural, organic, handmade body products. This month, Kaylala features Hand Candy Lotion Bon-Bons in three scents. They're perfect for winter dry hands on the go.  Stop by the table to try one out!  These make great gifts for teachers, nurses, friends and family.

Holiday Market: The biggest Cheverly Community Market yet!

Okay, we have to confess: this is a bittersweet time of year at Cheverly Community Market. It's been a wonderful season and we've eaten amazing food and discovered wonderful local artisans, met so many incredible people, and kept up with friends that we've made throughout the years. We're tired. We're ready to spend some time with our families and take a little break from this Market business, but we also hate to see the season draw to a close and we look forward to May 4, when we'll be greeting you with spring produce and all sorts of wonderful things.

Help us ring out 2012 and celebrate the season of giving this Saturday from 9am to 1pm at Holiday Market. It's even bigger than our Thanksgiving Market -- over 45 vendors and community groups, plus entertainment -- and we can't wait to share the morning with you! Please remember, these are all real, local people, so sometimes schedules are subject to change!

FOOD
Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea
Benny's Fruit Stand/Rebert Farm
Cafe Ambrosia
Cakes and Confections Bakery
Cheverly Breadbasket
Cheverly Girl Scouts (hot chocolate!)
Classic & Carefree Bake Shoppe
Honestly Homemade
Martha's Jams
Mississippi Earl's Bayou BBQ
Shlagel Farms
Simple Pleasures Ice Cream
Two Oceans Seafood
Waltz Family Farm

WINE
Elk Run Vineyards
Running Hare Vineyards

GIFTS
Azur Soleil Organics
Bahari Deco Crafts
Bingles Accessories
Crystal Lal Jewelry
D&D Affordables
Denise Brown Painting & Woodwork
Gigi's Quilts
Hats by Anne
Helen Crosskey
Karen Wright
Kaylala Organic Apothecary
Little Peeps
M&S Paperworks
Mystic Waters Soap
Nelson Kelley Lather Craft

Pax River Alpacas
Piglet Publications
Profusions of Glass
Rob Studer, Tilemaker
Rox & Glitter
Slippery Crockery
Steampunk Metropolis
Studio 617
Teresa Castracane Photography
Tot Tartans

GREENERY/DECORATION
Boy Scout Troop 257
Mayne's Trees (Cheverly Community Market)
New Starts Farm

COMMUNITY GROUPS
American Legion Auxiliary Unit 108 -- canned food drive
Cheverly Girl Scouts -- Santa's Helpers Shop

ENTERTAINMENT
Making Gin
CPRC Storytime featuring The Bear Stays Up
Special Visit from Santa Bear!

Get the very best ingredients for your holiday meals, do a lot of holiday gift  shopping, buy Market Gift Certificates for your friends, take a chance on our raffle, and spend a wonderful Saturday morning with your friends, family, and neighbors at Cheverly Community Market. 

We want to thank everyone who makes our special Markets possible -- especially Mayor Mike Callahan for his tireless efforts and wonderful attitude, the Department of Public Works, our amazing volunteers, our vendors, and you, our customers. This truly is a community and we're proud to share this day -- and every Market day-- with you. Thank you.

See you Saturday at Holiday Market! 

At Holiday Market: Keep It Local

This holiday season, Keep It Local! Buy gifts from people you know, from artists who live close, and support your local economy.

New Starts Farm

Shlagel Farms

Waltz Family Farm

Cheverly Breadbasket

Gigi's Quilts

Tot Tartans

D&D Affordables

Bahari Deco Crafts

Profusions of Glass

Hats by Anne

Pax River Alpacas

Music at Holiday Market: Making Gin

Please help us welcome our band for Holiday Market, Making Gin, back to Cheverly. They were with us in July and they were so good that we asked them back! 

Riverdale Park's Mike Sevener and Hyattsville's Jim Groves are Making Gin. Mike and Jim have been jamming together for a decade or so, covering music from blues to jazz to rock...even a little blue grass. While Jim sticks to guitar and vocals, Mike plays guitar, banjo, harmonica, bass, tres, mandolin, uke and pretty much anything with strings...and he sings, too! 

Join Making Gin this Saturday at Holiday Market for a great morning of music -- you'll be sure to hear something you love!

At Holiday Market: Bingles Accessories

We're very glad to have Bingles Accessories' mother-daughter creative duo Alex and Phoebe Carter with us again for Holiday Market! Alex and Phoebe make wonderful earrings, key fobs, rings, cufflinks, hair ties, and bracelets inspired by a combination of beautiful fabrics such as Sari fragments and natural elements such as sand dollars, mounted on silver plated rings and earrings. The pendants come with a choice of necklace, silk rope or leather. Perfect, stylish handmade gifts or something to collect for you!

At Holiday Market: Simple Pleasures Ice Cream

We're very lucky to have perennial Market favorite Simple Pleasures Ice Cream with us this Saturday! They'll have perfect flavors for the season --  Vanilla, Chocolate, Chocolate Oreo Mint, Egg Nog, and Kahlua Amaretto -- so you can enjoy a cup or cone while you're shopping or, if you have amazing willpower, buy a quart and take it home to savor after dinner. Either way, you're in for a wonderful treat!

At Holiday Market: The Bear Stays Up...and a Candy-Cane-Bearing Bear!

Please join us on Saturday at Holiday Market for a very special children's story: Karma Wilson's The Bear Stays Up, illustrated by Jane Chapman. CPRC's Anna Smith will read this delightful story which follows a group of woodland friends as they prepare for Christmas celebrations and try to keep their hibernating friend awake just a little longer...

We'll also have a very special visitor -- a Santa Bear bearing candy canes for children! Storytime -- and Santa Bears visit -- will take place around 10:30am, during our featured band's break.

At Holiday Market: Christmas Trees

One of our favorite Market traditions -- actually a Cheverly tradition now -- is our kilted Christmas tree men: Don Tyler and Rob Hansen helping customers with their trees. While most of our trees are spoken for, thanks to pre-ordering, we do have a limited number of additional trees available on Saturday morning. We are once again offering beautiful trees from Mayne’s Farm in Middletown, Maryland. Choose from lovely fragrant traditional Scoth Pines or Douglas Firs, ranging from 5' to 8'. Proceeds benefit Cheverly Community Market and help us to prepare for our next season. 

Scotch Pine

6’-7’ $32 (+$2.75 credit handling fee)

7‘-8’ $38 (+$3.00 credit handling fee)

Douglas Fir

6’-7’ $45 (+$3.50 credit handling fee)

7’-8’ $55 (+$4.00 credit handling fee)

If you pre-ordered, prepaid orders will be ready for you any time during our Holiday Market on December 8 from 9am to 1pm. If you reserved a tree, please pick it up from 9am to 11am on December 8 and pay for it at that time (via credit card or check made out to Cheverly Community Market). Any non-prepaid trees not picked up by 11am on December 8 are put up for general sale, first-come first-served. Please make sure to bring your receipt with you to Holiday Market on Saturday, December 8, at the Cheverly Community Center. Please note that your credit card payment includes a small handling fee to offset costs and support Cheverly Community Market's ongoing mission. 

At Holiday Market: Cheverly Girl Scouts

image via WiWord

This Saturday while you're shopping for wonderful food and gifts at Holiday Market, warm up with a steaming cup of hot chocolate from the Cheverly Girl Scouts. They'll also have homemade cake pops decorated just for the season...yum! Are your young children looking for special gifts that they can purchase for grandparents, siblings or favorite cousins? The Girl Scouts will also be selling items from their Santa's Helpers Shop  (they're also selling prior to Friday night's tree lighting). Hot chocolate in the Community Center Library, and Santa's Helpers in the Conference Room with our other fine community groups...make sure to stop by!

At Holiday Market: Steampunk Metropolis

Steampunk Metropolis is the creation of Kim and Angie, two women from two different generations who love all things vintage, handmade and fantastical. They work together to run two online vintage shops and one handmade shop, collaborating on selection, construction and just a little destruction along the way.

What is “Steampunk”? It’s best described as a sub-genre of science fiction that traces back to the 1980’s and 1990’s. Readers of H.G. Wells and Jules Vern expanded the use of fantasy and imagination to the industrial era in both the American “Wild West” and the British Victorian era. Alternate portraits of history are created and include steam powered fantastical devices and retro-futuristic uses of industrial inventions of the 19th century. Popular in Britain, and other European countries, it’s now making wide inroads in the US. Steampunk is intergenerational, fantastically fun and has a fan base of men, women and even families.

The Steampunk Metropolis philosophy is simple: they want to reuse, repurpose and re-LOVE every item they come across, whether as a 'new' vintage find or a repurposed wearable item. Steampunk Metropolis is Kim and Angie's latest venture, taking broken watches, clocks, radios and workshop cast offs to make time inspired jewelry, accessories and décor. Every item they create is a unique blend of vintage and re-purposed materials which come together to form pieces that appeal to both men and women.

In their first year, they've attended several local markets, street festivals, and arts promotional events. We’re strong supporters of the “buy local” business model. Marketing, promotions, business consultants, technical and artistic training are all provided by local small business owners and independent talents. Please help us welcome Kim and Angie -- and Steampunk Metropolis -- to Cheverly Community Market this Saturday!

At Holiday Market: Martha's Jams

Add a little sweetness to your holidays with Martha's Jams! Cheverly's own Martha Allen brings lovely homemade jams and preserves, including fresh apple butter, cranberry ginger, red rasberry, and many more to us for Holiday Market. These are great on toast, in holiday cookies, and a well-known secret ingredient in marinades! hey'd also make a great gift for your favorite cook, so stock up on Saturday!

At Holiday Market: Cakes and Confections Bakery

We are very, very lucky to have Cheverly's  Julianne and Michael Brown with us at Holiday Market. You may know the Browns from around town, or you may be lucky enough to know them from the amazing Cakes and Confections Gourmet Bakery in Annapolis. This critically acclaimed shop has been a secret with many of Cheverly's best celebration hosts -- they make amazing cakes and cookies for many a local event!

image via Incredibly French!

This holiday season, order special treats from Cakes and Confections for your own table. From the very popular traditional bûche de Noël (sponge cake rolled with your choice of almond hazelnut or rasberry buttercream and decorated with a Christmas design) to scrumptious pumpkin rolls, classic Smith Island cake, bread pudding, iconic pies, cheesecakes, and other items, you'll enjoy amazing desserts that will have your guests raving. Get the full list of holiday dessert specials here. Julianne will bring samples to Holiday Market (as well as some treats to purchase onsite...lucky us!), so you can taste then. On the other hand, if you've already tried these delights, order now!

You may either order directly from Julianne at Holiday Market on December 8,  or email or call anytime (410-757-7100). When you order, please let Julianne know if you are a Cheverly resident: Cakes and Confections is offering free deliveries to Cheverly residents only. Deliveries will be made on Christmas Eve, so you'll be getting beautiful, fresh desserts. Everyone else will need to pick up from the bakery in Annapolis.

At Holiday Market: The Little Peeps Emporium

Looking for something special for your favorite girl? Visit The Little Peeps Emporium at Holiday Market this Saturday! Find perfect jewelry for all your favorite girls...at any age! The Little Peeps Emporium offers whimsical, durable jewelry for kids. All pieces are made with glass beads from the Czech Republic & Japan, and carry an unconditional lifetime guarantee. For the grown-ups, they offer a selection of earrings, wrap bracelets, and necklaces. Pieces are all handmade using nickel-free sterling silver and copper, often combined with an eclectic mix of beads, from semi-precious stones to Fair Trade paper beads from Uganda.

Make sure to stop by and visit Elsa Spezio and Little Peeps at Holiday Market...and get something wonderful for the ladies in your life!

At Holiday Market: Helen Crosskey

Longtime Market favorite Helen Crosskey makes wonderful clothing, art and jewelry. Her work is beautifully detailed and the craftsmanship is really impressive. Visit Helen at the final Market of 2012 and find gorgeous gifts that will be cherised -- and used -- for years to come!

At Holiday Market: Piglet Publications

Looking for a wonderful, creative gift for children this holiday season? Piglet Publications makes "story kits" for children and parents. It's basically a craft kit that comes with a hard-leaved board book and lots of different 3D and colorful media to create interactive, personalized and textured stories. They also come with story lines and instructions for creating peek-a-boo flaps. 

These would make great gifts...or car trip activities to keep the back seat occupied all the way to grandmother's (or grandfather's) house! Visit the Piglet Publications website for more information and examples, then stop by their table this Saturday at Holiday Market!

At Holiday Market: Benny's Fruit Stand/Rebert Farm

Well, we're at the end of the local growing season and our farmers are preparing for the winter months ahead. They're already thinking about what you'll be eating ext summer, but let's enjoy the produce of the final harvest of the season now. At Holiday Market, Benny's Fruit Stand/Rebert Farm will bring us gorgeous apples: Pink Lady, Fuji, Granny Smith, Stayman, and Golden Delicious. They'll also have sweet potatoes, white potatoes, winter squash, onions, celery, and delicious fresh-pressed cider.  Additionally, people have asked about buying apple crates -- this Saturday they will be for sale for $4.00 each. These beautiful wooden crates are a deal, so come early and stake your claim!

 

Don't forget -- we feature hundreds of recipes and ideas for your Market produce purchases on Pinterest. Find stews, salads, pies, and all sorts of ideas and inspiration for your winter menus, and start to look ahead to seeing the Reberts and all those lovely fruits and vegetables again in the Spring!

At Holiday Market: Studio 617

It's a real treat to welcome Baltimore's Studio 617 back to Cheverly Community Market for Holiday Market! Bryan will have all the regular wonderful stuff -- sunflowers, dragonflies, butterflies, hummingbirds, fish, and silhouettes, including cats, flying pigs, and bats. He'll also have the seasonal items like Rudolph, snowmen, and gingerbread men. These pieces are wonderful additions to many homes in Cheverly -- and we hope yours, too! They also make great gifts, so make sure to stop by and visit Bryan this Saturday!