Saint Mary's University Pop Up, March 11: It takes a village to fill a market table

Yesterday was the second annual Saint Mary's University Farmers' Market, which was conveniently on a Wednesday, so it fit into our markets schedule and we were able to attend.  I'm glad, because it was a great day!
The event was in honor of Sustainability Week, and it was great to see so many students and faculty out for the event.  The event was well-organized, led by student Angus MacDonald and Tony Charles, Director of the School of the Environment.  When I arrived (with a handy map and photo of the building from Angus), there were about a dozen volunteers who used their muscles and student energy to lug all the produce into the room-- what a treat!  They also provided free beverages for vendors, and parking passes.  All the little details were looked after, so commendations to Angus, Tony, and the team of volunteers for making it a great day!  In the farmers' market vendor world, these little details make a big difference in the ease of the day.

There were some questions about GMOs and Organic, and I was happy to answer them-- but the biggest questions were about production.  I often stand behind the market table and find this to be the case-- the general assumption is that I personally grew or made everything on the market table, which is flattering, but not the case!  Noggins is a fruit, mainly apples, farm, I explained to interested students and staff, but we work closely with our sister farm (TapRoot Farms) who grows many of the veggies we sell (pea shoots, squash, turnip, cabbage, organic apple juice).  TapRoot Farms is owned and operated by Noggins Farm owner Andrew's daughter Patricia and her husband Josh.  Our neighbouring valley farmers also have specialties that we are glad to be able to support-- such as Valley Mushrooms, who produce stellar mushrooms (which are a specialized crop that makes sense for one farm to produce, not every farm); den Haan Greenhouses, who grow stunning tomatoes and cucumbers in their heated greenhouses-- even in March!-- so that we can provide these locally-produced goodies on our table.  We also work with Greg Gerrits from Elmridge Farm (also at the Seaport on Saturdays) for his wonderful carrots, rainbow carrots, beets, parsnips, and sweet potatoes.  The parade of gorgeous juicy apples, delicious sweet apple cider, and crunchy apple chips on the table are all ours, and it takes a team of people to bring them to market: to name just a handful in the family: Dwaine, Andrew's son in law who manages the orchards and orchard staff, his daughter Carolyn who manages the farm, Melissa who runs the warehouse, over a dozen year-round staff and 20 to 30 seasonal workers, and of course, Mr. Andrew Bishop himself, an amazing man passionate about marketing, efficiency and production, to oversee it all.  My job selling and talking about all this produce is just one piece of the picture, for it takes a village of farmers to fill a market table, especially in the year-round markets!


So, you can now see that our market table is more about the community of Annapolis Valley Farmers than at first glance.  I love when we are able to come together with other communities, like the Saint Mary's University Community, to pull off something really special.  It was clear from the careful organization of all the little details yesterday that the students and staff at Saint Mary's are well-informed and supportive of the local food economy, and I speak for all of the people behind Noggins Corner Farm when I say we were honored to participate! 

Here's a copy of our winter markets schedule, I handed out lots of these yesterday as well:
Where to find us!