| DECEMBER 19, 2010 -- The farmers market isn’t just for summertime anymore.
Every Saturday until April (excluding Christmas and New Year’s Day), there will be a Weston Winter Farmers Market from 10 to 2 at the Norfield Grange on Goodhill Road.
The market is being sponsored by the Norfield Grange and the Gazy Brothers Farm in Oxford.
In addition to fresh fruit and vegetables offered by the Gazy Farm, the market will also offer a wide variety of food and gift items from other vendors and supporters of locally grown food.
Each week, the Grange will also sponsor a different civic organization that will be allowed to sell coffee and keep the proceeds.
“This is the first time we have had something like this at the Grange and we hope it will be successful and become an annual tradition,” said Norfield Grange member Lyn Kimberly.
The market will provide Westonites a unique opportunity to see and enjoy working artisans of New England. There will also be holiday gift items for sale.
Representing Gazy Farm are the market’s organizers, Lexi Gazy, who calls herself “a farmer’s wife,” and Dawn Allen. “Our goal is to complement, not compete with the summer farmers markets. We see this as a nice winter alternative,” she said.
Ms. Gazy started a winter farmers market last year in Norwalk. But this year she decided to hold it in Weston in support of the grange. “We are harvesting year round and this year we decided to raise awareness of granges in order to keep them viable,” she said.
Ms. Gazy said she has a deep appreciation for the grange concept. “The grange was the first agricultural organization in the country and was founded for fellow farmers to get together. So it is nice to go back to our roots,” she said.
In addition to commercial sellers, one of the featured vendors at the market will be an organization called Roses for Autism. “Roses for Autism has partnered with Pinchbeck Roses in Guilford, the largest glass greenhouse grower in North America. The group sells roses that were hand picked by students who volunteer at the Pinchbeck Rose Farm educational facility,” Ms. Gazy said.
She noted that the roses are grown in the old-fashioned way, renowned not just for their beauty but for their wonderful fragrance. “A lot of roses nowadays have no smell, but these roses are amazing, they smell as good as they look,” she said. The farm is also selling fresh cut lilies at the market.
Vendors
In addition to Roses for Autism, other vendors at the market include:
• Gazy Brothers Farms, featuring salad mixes and greens, root vegetables, squash, apples, and a wide variety of potatoes.
• Daffodil Hill Growers, featuring apples, vegetables, homemade jams and jellies, all natural, custom baked dog biscuits made from human grade ingredients, maple syrup, honey, Christmas centerpieces, handmade and decorated wreaths, and forcing bulbs for indoor flowers.
• Goat Boy Soaps, featuring soaps and other products from the milk of their own goats.
• Eagle Wood Farms of Barkhamstead, featuring top quality pork and beef products, including Portuguese chorizo sausage and no-hormone raised veal.
• Pemaquid Seafood from Maine, featuring fresh Atlantic caught lobster and shrimp.
• Bistro Du Soleil of New Canaan, specializing in prepared products such as sauces, applesauce, and pestos for entertaining.
• Beldotti’s Bakery of Stamford, featuring pesto, mozzarella and a variety of old style European and Italian crusty breads.
• The Whistle Stop Bakery of Ridgefield is offering a selection of pies, cakes, and cookies.
• Izzi B’s of Norwalk, as featured on the Martha Stewart Show, is selling allergy-free cupcakes.
Some of the vendors will also be selling holiday gift baskets.
Ms. Gazy said she hopes Mirabella’s Cheese Shop of Westport will be joining the market in January. The Winter Farmers Market at Norfield Grange will run until April 16, 2011.
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