Message from the Market Manager: What's Ahead

How can we already be closing in on August?! It seems like school just got out, and here we are getting ready for Fall. Incredible! We have lots of great stuff to take you through this month and into September -- Market Manager BarbaraListon has some details to share with you...

August at the market is going to be SO exciting! The great combination of well timed sun and rain has made for bountiful crops and a rainbow of fruit and vegetables. Stop by the market table to pick up some recipes to using some of our local products. Products are at their most plentiful early in the morning, so try to come by early for the best selection.

Our featured wineries for August will be Elk Run on the 13th and Cygnus Wine Cellars on the 27th. This will be Cygnus’ only visit during our regular season. Mystic Water Soap will also be at the market on the 13th, while Kaylala Organic Apothecary will have all their natural products on the 27th.

Al Pong’s family will continue to have interesting plants at their stand for all you backyard farmers. Benny’s market’s luscious stone fruit is always a favorite. Looking for sundrenched fresh flowers? Emma Dudley of C&E Farm always has blooms that make any Cheverly gardener jealous. Shlagel Farms produce offerings keep getting more bountiful by the week - corn, tomatoes and melons will be August stars. Martha’s Jams continues to capture the color and taste of summer in her mouth watering jams – a perfect compliment to the Cheverly Breadbasket’s wide variety of healthy bread.

We have been able offer an amazing variety of sausages thanks to Simply Sausage. Stop by and sample Stanley’s latest offering. The Waltz Family Farm is now offering hormone-free chicken in addition to their wide variety of grass and grain fed beef, lamb, and pork. Their kielbasa is a barbecue staple. Like fish? Two Oceans Seafood is filleted, fresh frozen and cryopacked…ready to pop on the grill.

Now that the corn and melons are at the market, take advantage of our over-sized reusable Cheverly Community Market logo shopping bags. They are available at our market table. Stop by to say “Hi,” add your e-mail address to our list, offer suggestions and to pick up market recipes and local market brochures. We also have additional information about the WIC and FMNP programs.

It’s not too early to begin thinking about our holiday Markets on November 19 and December 10. They require a specific registration. You can find the applications on our website. We welcome licensed food vendors, crafts persons, wineries. Our Harvest and Holiday Markets take place inside the Community Center. Help us spread the word.

Of course, we'll also have more great music from Charles & Kelly and activities from great community groups, including CPRC storytime, Master Gardener Plant Clinics, Friends of Lower Beaverdam, and more! We're happy -- and very excited -- to share all this good stuff with you!

Our Thanksgiving Market is just 10 days away!

It's almost here -- our third annual Thanksgiving Market. We're lining up some amazing vendors (with more signing on every day), including old favorites and great surprises! You can get the very latest news on our vendors for this special event by visiting the blog frequently over the next week and a half. Help us spread the word! Click the Thanksgiving Market logo above for a downloadable flyer. Please share it with your friends, neighbors, coworkers... The Thanksgiving Market will be full of wonderful treats, and we want to share with as many people as possible! And if you're a vendor interested in coming to our special Markets, download the application.

See you at the Thanksgiving Market!

Cheverly Community Market is on, Rain or Shine!

We've been unbelievably lucky with the weather this season -- a few sprinkles and a few Markets that we had to prepare to be indoors but the sun smiled on us. A whole season outsiude has been a great treat! Tomorrow, the forecasts indicate an 85% chance of rain. Our vendors are prepared to be inside or out, and we hope that you'll support them by showing up, too, rain or shine. If it's raining, we'll be in the Community Center. It's nice and dry, and you can hang out and listen to the band, enjoy fresh coffee and pastries and celebrate the end of our regular Market season with us. Once again, we're asking for community volunteers to help with setup and breakdown. If you can lend a hand early (7:00am) or stay at the end (noon), we'll be very grateful. Cheverly Community Market relies on our great volunteers to keep things running, and when we have the Market indoors, we need extra help.

See you tomorrow -- RAIN or SHINE -- at the Market!

Cheverly Community Market on the Avenue: Roll Call

We have an amazing group of vendors and community groups for you this Saturday, 8:00am to 1:00pm, on Cheverly Avenue and in Legion Park. This Market celebrates Cheverly and the many wonderful people in it, and we're thrilled to be in the center of town!

Vendors

Shlagel Farms

Rebert Farms/Benny's Fruit Stand

C&E Farm

Clan Stewart Farm

Eve's Cheese

Simple Pleasures Ice Cafe

Martha's Jams

CUMC Fair Trade Coffee Tea Gifts

ChevBrew

Cheverly Breadbasket

Running Hare Vineyards

Radix Farm

New Starts Farm

Mystic Water Soaps

Rose Fennel Pottery

Linda Priebe

Music

Soul Revolver

Community Groups

Mayor Julia Mosely

Town Council

American Legion

Cheverly Parent Resource Center

Cheverly Green Infrastructure

Progressive Cheverly

Friends of Lower Beaver Dam

Judith P. Hoyer Montessori and Early Childhood Center

Boy Scouts

Matt Williams

Cheverly Tree Commission

(For information on vendors, groups, parking, street closures and more, scroll down to recent blog posts.)

More great vendors announced for our big Market on Cheverly Avenue!

We're really looking forward to tomorrow morning's special Cheverly Community Market on the Avenue. We know you are, too. We've got some fantastic additions to our Saturday lineup, including our new coffee vendor, ChevBrew. Dan Scott will be brewing up coffee from Rockville's Mayorga Coffee Roasters, so we're in for a great treat. He'll also have juice for the kids. Stop by for a great cup of coffee and make sure Dan feels welcome tomorrow morning! We're very pleased that the Boy Scouts will be joining us, as will local student Matt Williams, who will be conducting a science experiment during the Market. Stop by and find out what he's doing! Judith P. Hoyer Montessori and Early Childhood Center school will have special activities for the kids, including a scavenger hunt and mini-pumpkin decorating (with mini pumpkins from Rebert's Farms.) The Cheverly Tree Commission will be on hand to discuss Cheverly's beautiful green canopy with you. You never know what else is in store -- make sure to come to Cheverly Community Market on the Avenue to experience the whole thing! It looks like we're in for a cool early Fall morning with temperatures in the 60s, so bring a sweater (and lots of bags to carry the wonderful fresh produce, meats, breads and other treats our vendors have in store for you!) On the off chance that we have rain, we'll be in the Community Center (inside at our regular Forest Road location), but the plan right now is Cheverly Avenue between Inwood and Forest, with extra parking at Cheverly United Methodist Church. We want to thank our many volunteers -- as well as the Public Works staff -- for making this special event possible. And we're very grateful to CUMC for providing overflow parking space.

See you Saturday on Cheverly Avenue!

Special Town Market THIS Saturday!

We're looking forward to a very special Cheverly Community Market this Saturday, 8:00am to 1:00pm. We'll celebrate our town -- the groups and people that make it a wonderful home -- with our regular vendors plus some special guests. And Cheverly's very own Beatles tribute band, Soul Revolver, will be playing -- that's a very special treat. In addition to community groups (including the American Legion, Cheverly Parent Resource Center, Cheverly Green Infrastructure, Progressive Cheverly, Friends of Lower Beaver Dam), and Judith P. Hoyer Montessori and Early Childhood Center will be on hand (they'll even have an activity for kids), as will Mayor Julia Mosely and members of the Town Council. And, of course, we'll have our great vendors...where would we be without them? This Market, we're very happy to welcome Radix Farm, a new small Prince George's County Farm started by Kristin Carbone, who has worked for several years with Clagett Farm in Upper Marlboro. We're also very pleased to welcome back returning vendors New Starts Farm, Mystic Water Soaps, Rose Fennel Pottery, musician Linda Priebe, and for their second Market, Running Hare Vineyards of Calvert County. We are always so fortunate to have our regular vendors -- Shlagel Farms, Rebert Farms/Benny's Fruit Stand, C&E Farm, Clan Stewart Farm, Eve's Cheese, Simple Pleasures Ice Cafe, Martha's Jams, CUMC Fair Trade Coffee Tea Gifts, and Cheverly Breadbasket. This will be a great Market full of wonderful treats -- we're so excited to share everything with you! Remember: for this very special Market, we'll be located on Cheverly Avenue and in Legion Park. The town is closing Cheverly Avenue between Inwood and Forest for the event. Please be considerate of your friends and neighbors and consider walking. If you do need to drive, there will be parking available in the CUMC parking lot on Forest Road. Please be mindful of friends, neighbors and other area residents!

We look forward to seeing you at the Market on the Avenue this Saturday!

Join us for a SPECIAL MARKET, Saturday, September 26

Bring your family, neighbors and friends for a very special Cheverly Community Market, Saturday, September 26, on Cheverly Avenue. A portion of our main street will be blocked off between 8:00am and 1:00pm. In addition to our wonderful regular vendors (and the premiere of our new coffee & tea vendor), you'll be able to visit with local artists, community groups and our Town Council and Mayor. We'll also have a very special performance by Cheverly's own Beatles cover band, Soul Revolver (featuring members of our house band, the Hot Noodles) and more! We look forward to seeing many community members -- and anyone who cares about Cheverly -- for this truly "community" market.

This is a BIG month at Cheverly Community Market

We're filling September with Markets -- we hope you'll fill your kitchen with produce, meat, seafood, jams and more! * Saturday, September 5: This Saturday, we'll celebrate Labor Day weekend with a special Market. Get great food for your own celebrations, whether you'll be in Cheverly or somewhere else. * Saturday, September 12: Our Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer your questions and share their knowledge about fall gardening and more. And of course, you'll be able to get more of the delicious things you find at every Market. * Saturday, September 26: The Market will move to Cheverly Avenue for a special Community Market, 8:00am to 1:00pm (we've extended our regular hours for this special event!) Mayor Julia Mosely and Town Council will host an "open house" for residents, so stop by and chat. We're looking for other organizations, artists, schools, and local businesses to host tables. Interested? Contact Market manager Crystal Lal for details.

We're On, Rain or Shine!

Just a reminder that Cheverly Community Market is on, rain or shine! If it's rainnig Saturday morning, we'll be inside the Cheverly Community Center, 6401 Forest Road. If it's sunny (and keep your fingers -- and toes -- crossed for sun), we'll be in our regular location (parking lot outside the Community Center.)

One way or the other... See you Saturday at the Market!

Another Way to Help Cheverly Community Market Win!

This season, there are some great ways for you to help Cheverly Community Market spread the word that we're here...and maybe even win a prize or two! We've already asked you to show your support by voting in the American Farmland Trust's America's Favorite Farmer's Markets contest. Now we're asking you to take a minute to vote for us in the LocalHarvest Love Your Farmer's Market Contest:

Care2 will donate $15,000 to farmer's markets through this contest, with prize money ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. Each week a market wins $250 at random, and there's a random drawing (tote bag) for voters, too. Please click on the button above and share your love of Cheverly Community Market. We do appreciate your support!

Vote for Cheverly Community Market!

Do you love our Market? We need your help! The American Farmland Trust is sponsoring a contest highlighting the best farmer's markets in the United States...we'd like you to vote for us! One large, medium, and small farmers market will win the title of America’s Favorite Farmers Market in 2009, and the winning markets will each receive a free No Farms No Food ® tote bag giveaway for their customers. By partnering with farmers markets, American Farmland Trust is encouraging consumers to consider the importance of farmland and to support local farmers. Let's put it another way: there is no local food without local farmland. Please take a minute to vote for Cheverly Community Market as your favorite small farmer's market. We appreciate your support!

Local Food Needs Local Farms.

"Bounty" doesn't begin to describe today's treasures!

Going through all the photos from this morning's Market, I am amazed by the quality and quantity of produce and products available to us today. In a word: amazing. It really is possible to get enough fresh, local food to carry your family through a week (or two!) at this Market, and the season has only just begun. We hope that you stocked up today! Of course, we want to thank the many volunteers and vendors who make our Market happen. Growing a local non-profit requires literally thousands of hours of labor, and we're fortunate to have a group of people who feel that local is important, and that supporting small, local farmers, ranchers and other sellers is vital to the health of our community. THANK YOU! We also want to thank our terrific house band, The Hot Noodles. Our Market would be bland without your musical talents -- we're thrilled to call you our very own! (Remember, the full band is playing at Cheverly Swim & Racquet Club's Adult Night tonight starting at 8:00. It's still not too late to get tickets!) Photos from this morning are posted on our flickr page. Have photos, stories or recipes you'd like to share? Contact us. Thanks again for making Cheverly Community Market such a special place!

See you soon at the Market.

A great, relaxing Saturday at the Market

We had a great time this morning...hope you did, too! Although the air is getting a little muggy, it doesn't dampen the spirits of our vendors or volunteers. If you missed today's Market, you can see what happened here:

Of course, you can always see our Market photos -- or add your own -- to our flickr page.

We'll be posting lots of updates from our vendors, information from our herbologist, recipes and more, so keep visiting our blog and website, and follow us on facebook or twitter. We'd love to hear what you're doing with your Market treasures, too, so feel free to drop us a line!

What a great opening to an exciting season!

Thank you to everyone who attended the first Market of the 2009 season, and a very special thank you to the vendors and volunteers who made such a spectacular day possible! The weather was perfect, the band sounded great and there were amazing treats to eat and drink with friends, either at the Market or at home. We're already looking forward to our next Market! We are trying to reach people in many different ways this year, including our listserv, flickr pool, facebook group, twitter and whrrl. Saturday's Market was a featured story on whrrl, a site where people can share multiple takes on an event. Please take a look at our first Market story (forgive the spelling errors, though...I was typing on an iPhone and trying to keep a four-year old from eating an entire quart of strawberries, an effort which failed. They were really good strawberries!) This week and next, we'll be posting new photos on flickr, new vendor profiles on the blog and new recipes to our website. We also have news coming soon about some very special events at the Market. And, of course, late next week we'll list all the vendors for our June 13 Market, which will feature our first Cheverly Garden Club Plant Clinic. Keep visiting us online for interesting reading and the most up-to-date information on Cheverly Community Market! Late update: We were also mentioned on examiner.com!

2009 Market Vendors...

We are very excited to announce three (3!) new produce vendors this year, all bringing fruit to the Market: Schlagel Farms -- they'll bring their luscious strawberries to our opening Market Swann Farms- Peaches Reberts Farms- Third generation farmers growing an amazing variety (Sugar peas, peas, onions, red beets, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, lima beans, cantaloupes, watermelons, sweet corn, strawberries, black berries, red, yellow, and black raspberries, blueberries, red and white potatoes, sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, patty pans, jack be littles, bird house gourds, gooseneck gourds, cucumbers, spaghetti squash, acorn squash, butternut squash, buttercup squash, lakota squash, blue hubbard squash, pumpkins, egg plants, apricots, peaches, nectarines, dark and white sweet cherries, sour cherries, 8 types of plums. Apples include: Lodi, Tansparent, Summer Rambo, Ginger Gold, Gala, Honey Crisp, Macintosh, Cortland, Jona Gold, Golden Supreme, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Stayman, Northern Spy, Banana, Smoke House, Grimes Golden, York, Rome, Sweet Paradise, Jonathan, Granny Smith, Empire, Zestar, Starks Delicious, Fugi) In our poll last year, the overwhelming request was for more produce, especially fruit, so we're really pleased to bring these three producers to you. In addition to our new friends, many of our old friends will be back this year: Cheverly United Methodist Church Fair Trade Gifts and Coffee Martha's Jams Cheverly Breadbasket featuring Firehook and Moctec Tom Baldwin/New Starts Farm Joanne Romano/Golden Leaf Pax River Alpacas Rose Fennel Pottery Basignani Vineyards Elk Run Vineyards Al Pong (Produce & Plants) Clan Stewart Farm Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea Simple Pleasures Ice Cream (And, of course, this list will grow in the coming weeks!) And, of course, Cheverly Community Market is very pleased to offer music by our very own house band, The Hot Noodles. We can't wait to get a pastry and a cup of coffee, pull up a chair and enjoy the band! And getting the best local produce, plants, bread, seafood, meat and other provisions? Cheverly Community Market can't be beat! Finally, make a note of our extended hours: 8:00am to noon. We frequently stayed open after 11:00am last year, but this year we're making it official. Many more updates in the coming weeks as we prepare for our opening Market (May 30). You can follow us on facebook or twitter for the nitty gritty...

See you (very soon!) at the Market

Busy, busy bees!

Cheverly Community Market is doing all sorts of things to get ready for the upcoming season. One thing we're doing: using various communication technologies to share updates and experiences with you in many new ways. This year, in addition to the stories you'll find here on our blog and the wealth of information on our website, we'll share all sorts of news on twitter and our facebook group page. We'll also be liveblogging the Market on Whrrl. We think you'll have a lot of fun with these fantastic tools, learn more about how the Market works behind the scenes and get to share in the experience when you can't be there in person. Of course, you'll also be able to see Market photos and share your own on flickr or get updates in your email via our listserv, too. The point is that we want share Market information with you in the way that's best for you. (If that's crayon and paper, I'm sure we can find someone to do that, too.) We hope you explore these venues and share your thoughts and Market experiences with us.