4MRMarket Report: "Produce Has Arrived!" Edition

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market returns after a two week Easter and Spring Break hiatus. We've had vendor applications rolling in, and we'll be introducing some new and exciting vendors as the market makes its triumphant return this Sunday, May 1st.  Plus, work on the renovated community use building is nearly complete, so come take a peek.

First off, the list of confirmed vendors:

• The Stifler Beef Farm aka "What's For Dinner Now" (Shenandoah) - Natural, locally farm-raised black angus beef (flash frozen for convenience).
• Pleitez Produce (Northern Neck) - A full range of locally grown produce, herbs, and more.
• Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, VA) - Organic value added products plus baked goods, smoothies, lemonade, and more.
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria) - A range of baked goods.
• Roberto's Produce (Northern Neck) - Locally grown produce and potted plants.
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).

We'll be loaded with plenty of produce this weekend as at least fresh asparagus, greens, and lots of fresh herbs are all in season with more crops coming every weekend. Not to mention potted flowers, herbs, tomatoes, and other plants to take home and begin your own little backyard farm.

If your bike needs a tune-up or anything else, bring it out and let VéloCity help.  VéloCity's mission is "to encourage a vibrant and inclusive cycling community by providing a non-profit, volunteer operated, do-it-yourself workshop for building and maintaining bicycles along with training, rides, and events to empower interaction, skills, fun, and freedom." They will be on hand with bike stands and tools to empower riders with DIY bike repairs, showing off 4MR Park as the hive of bicycling activity it is.

We also have a few featured items this week.  Newcomer Patowmack Farm has a phenomenal Elderberry Syrup that they say is worth the cost of admission (which is free, but you get the idea).  Also, Bread & Chocolate will be bringing along a range of artisan breads in addition to their normal pasty display.  For the shopper that wants to save on a bulk beef purchase, the Stifler's heard you loud and clear:

At the request of our customers, we are now offering discounted beef packages. Stop by to visit us to get more information and to place your order for pick up the following week.  Details on this week's discount package can be found on our website at www.whatsfordinnernow.com

So get out of bed and get over to 4MRMarket. We're open from 8am-1pm, so you can make it before of after church if that's holding you back. The weather is calling for a pleasant 70 degree day, and what better time to have a morning beverage and pastry at the Market Lounge to get you in the shopping mood.  Tell a friend, bring your neighbors, and lets get the market season started right!

_______________

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

4MRMarket is open every Sunday from 8am until 1pm from May through October in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. 

(click here for directions)

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/

Or contact us at: 4mrm@arlandria.org

The Arlandrian Brief: "Things to Do" Edition

It's Spring. It really is. Finally. It's time to get outside and have some fun . There are certainly a lot of things to do. And lots of opportunities for shopping, eating and/or partying. 

The Big Flea. The MV Big Flea, is this Saturday, April 30th at the Mount Vernon Rec Center on Commonwealth Avenue in Del Ray. Rain or Shine! Organizers have collected an entire warehouse of amazing items this year: furniture, baby stroller and kids gear, electronics, household items, collectibles, jewelry and more. The MV Big Flea doors open for early admission at 8am ($10) with general admission (free) starting at 9am. At noon, everything is half off and at 2pm everything left over is 100% FREE! The event benefits the Mount Vernon Community School PTA. 

Native Plants. The ParkFairfax Native Plant Sale will be held Saturday from 9am to 2pm at 3601 Valley Drive. Fourteen or fifteen vendors from five states (VA, MD, PA, WV, and SC) will be present.

Restaurant Cook-off. On Sunday, May 1st, the 9th annual Carpenter's Cook-Off will be held from noon to 3 pm.at The Birchmere. More than 20 area restaurants offer their finest tastings at one of Arlandria's best family fun events. Some of the restaurants serving up food include: BRABO, Bread and Chocolate, Fish Market, Pork Barrel BBQ, Overwood, Southside 815, The Majestic and the Wharf Restaurant.  In addition to the fine food the Carpenter’s Cook-Off offers a lot of  fun and great live music as together we all raise money to support homeless children and families at Carpenter's Shelter. Purchase tickets online or call 703-548-7500 ext. 226.

Cinco de Mayo. And coming soon on Thursday, May 12th from 6:30 to 9 pm at Jack Taylor's Alexandria Toyota is the FIESTA CINCO DE MAYO 2011 to benefit Alexandria Neighborhood Health Services and the Arlandria Clinic. To volunteer, become a host, sponsor, or for information contact Nyrma Hernandez at cincodemayoalex@aol.com

4MRMarket. And don't forget, this Sunday marks the return of the Four Mile Run Farmer's and Artisans Market from 8am to 1pm at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue. More info to follow.

"Arlandria": What're all the Foos about?

"Arlandria" Gets A New Theme Song.

Last week with the release of the new Foo Fighters album Wasting Light, the lame-stream media just caught on to what we reported several months ago, when the hardcore Foo-sers among the twitteratti sent us a heads up about the track listing: there's a new (soon to be hit) song entitled "Arlandria".

Local attention about this news has focused on the kind of details that our celebrity-fueled news tends to nowadays: where local-boy-turned-rock-star-wunderkind and Foo Fighter bandleader Dave Grohl went to school, ate lunch and shopped for late night Mentos and Slurpees. Most seem to have missed the point that Dave et al recorded two Grammy-award-winning albums just up the street that have contained more than just one local reference. The Foos first mentioned our neighborhood on one of these locally generated albums in the lyric to "Headwires" from 1998's There is Nothing Left to Loose. "The Sun is on Arlandria" they sang.  It's been the motto for The Arlandrian ever since.

Still others decide to diss the reference:

"ARLANDRIA: The red-headed stepchild of Mount Vernon Avenue. It has neither the smug boutiqueness of Del Ray nor the understated poshness of Arlington Ridge. But one thing Arlandria has that these others do not: A FREAKING FOO FIGHTERS SONG NAMED AFTER IT."

On behalf of red-heads and stepchildren every, we bristle at the use of that pejorative, while at the same time shaking our collective heads at the author's confusion. If anything the song is an anthem against such attitudes. Or it is for us. We're not likely to bump into Grohl in line getting a sandwich again anytime soon, but we'll ask if we do. Rolling Stone says there are references to "the responsibility to leave things better than when you came in – all over this album." Carpe Diem. Acres of Diamonds. Stop Wasting Light. An expression of the ethos of our community. We're proud to be in such good company. We love the reference and we love the song.

As for a review of the music, you're unlikely to find one. But as the adage goes, "writing about music is like dancing about architecture." And in 21st Century you don't have to settle for reviews, you can check it out for yourself. With apologies to M. Jagger, today's music has gotten on the cloud. Foo Fighters have put "Arlandria" and the entire Wasting Light album up on the web for all to stream for free.

Arlandria by Foo Fighters

Or you can see the live performance of "Arlandria" from the Daily Show earlier this week. Or this live video performance of the entire album Wasting Light. Or a 110-minute concert from the Late Show with David Letterman's Ed Sullivan theater (complete with this poignant introduction about recovering from heart surgery from Letterman for his favorite song from his favorite band). And if that's not enough, there's no reason not to go back and visit this 1995 performance of Weenie Beenie, perhaps on your way to Weenie Beenie.

The Daily Show - Exclusive - Foo Fighters - Arlandria
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

4MRMarket Report: "Coming Again Soon" Edition

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market has been on a hiatus for a couple weeks in April, including this coming Easter Sunday.  However, we'll be fully back up and running on May 1, with a host of new and returning vendors in the fold!

A slow growing season, high fuel prices, and typically thin holiday crowds have made it tough for a few of the market vendors to attend. But produce is beginning to come into season and the market will be back in full force starting May 1. Market Management would like to apologize if our closure this coming weekend puts a hitch in anyone's Easter plans. 4MRMarket promises a lot of good things to come, so please get ready for the big May 1 re-opening!

May is going to be an exciting month.  There are a lot of changes in store and there will be a lot of activity at Four Mile Run Park this summer. 

Exciting new vendors join 4MRMarket.  

Bruce Wood, the owner/operator of Dragon Creek Seafood and Produce, LLC has signed on to sell at 4MRMarket when it returns on May 1st. Dragon Creek is the supplier for a variety of seafood to a number of high-end restaurants in the Metro area. His list of offerings includes: live crabs, shucked and unshucked oysters and clams, and list of local fish too long to remember. Bruce isn't just a purveyor. He's an aquaculture expert intent on bringing better health to our beloved Chesapeake Bay. A recent National Geographic article about Bruce and his ecological practices, explains it this way:

Bruce Wood, owner of Dragon Creek Seafood and Produce in Montross, Va., has seen the effects with his own eyes. When he started his aquaculture operation, in a creek that empties into the Potomac and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, 10 acres of nearby river were too polluted to use for oyster farming. Not anymore. It helps that he's using a variety of oyster bred for its tolerance to low salinity waters and disease, which means that even in environments too harsh for wild oysters, his commercially-bred ones can begin filtering the water, improving the environment, and eventually "hopefully reconstitute the native oyster," Wood said.

Exciting things happening in May.

In other news, 4MRMarket begins accepting Credit Cards and EBT/SNAP (formerly food stamps) on May 1!  In line with making the market affordable for everyone, EBT/SNAP users will receive double dollars for the first $10 spent each week.  The new credit card option will enable all our small producers to operate on a more level playing field with big box stores. We're excited to help enable this for all the little guys. And as customers, you won't have worry about whether or not you have any cash on Sunday mornings, just bring yourself and your plastic and load up on groceries for the week.  The market will sell t-shirts and reusable bags in coming weeks, as well!

Exciting changes to Four Mile Run Park

Also, keep May 15th in mind. That is when the ribbon cutting is scheduled on the renovated Four Mile Run building. Volunteers will be out the next few weekends ensuring that this will happen. Please join us, especially on May 6th, Spring for Alexandria.  Join a team or create a team and help us get it done.

Come on out!

Remember, to keep the market growing, we need more customers. Don't just come out yourself, invite friends and neighbors along and make a morning of it.  Have coffee or tea and a little something for breakfast before grabbing a mix of healthy, local produce, meats, and other surprises. 4MRMarket sets up seating and shade and welcomes you to linger and enjoy the day. The more people that come out, the more vendors will join the market.

_______________

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

4MRMarket is open every Sunday from 8am until 1pm from May through October in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. 

(click here for directions)

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/

Or contact us at: 4mrm@arlandria.org

4MRMarket Report: Market Closed This Week

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market will be closed this Sunday.

With Spring Break and the upcoming holiday, the market would be short vendors and market management wants to ensure that when patrons make it out to the market, it is worth while for everyone. Produce is beginning to come into season and the market will be back in full force in the coming weeks, with several vendors joining up May 1. Market Management would like to apologize if this puts a hitch in anyone's Sunday plans this week.  

Remember, to keep the market growing, we need more customers. Don't just come out yourself, invite friends and neighbors along and make a morning of it.  Have coffee or tea and a little something for breakfast before grabbing a mix of healthy, local produce, meats, and other surprises. 4MRMarket sets up seating and shade and welcomes you to linger and enjoy the day. The more people that come out, the more vendors will join the market.

Exciting things happening in May.

In other news, 4MR Market will begin accepting Credit Cards and EBT/SNAP (formerly food stamps) on May 1!  In line with making the market affordable for everyone, EBT/SNAP users will receive double dollars for the first $10 spent each week.  So don't worry about whether or not you have any cash, just bring yourself and your plastic and load up on groceries for the week.  The market will sell t-shirts and reusable bags in coming weeks, as well!

Also, keep May 15th in mind. That is when the ribbon cutting is scheduled on the renovated Four Mile Run building. Volunteers will be out the next few weekends ensuring that this will happen. Please join us, especially on May 6th, Spring for Alexandria.  Join a team or create a team and help us get it done.

_______________

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

4MRMarket is open every Sunday from 8am until 1pm from May through October in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. 

(click here for directions)

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/

Or contact us at: 4mrm@arlandria.org

4MRMarket Report: "Come Out, We're Open Again" Edition

Sunday, April 10th, 8am-1pm, the Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market is open once again!

We're adding at least two vendors this week over last week, Bread and Chocolate and Vera's bakery.  Here are our 5 confirmed vendors for week 2:

• The Stifler Beef Farm aka "What's For Dinner Now" (Shenandoah), 
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria),
• Roberto's Produce (Northern Neck),
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray). and
• Vera Pastries.

Also, every week 4MRMarket will feature VéloCity. A bicycling cooperative established earlier this year in Old Town, VéloCity's mission is "to encourage a vibrant and inclusive cycling community by providing a non-profit, volunteer operated, do-it-yourself workshop for building and maintaining bicycles along with training, rides, and events to empower interaction, skills, fun, and freedom." VéloCity will be on hand with bike stands and tools to empower riders with DIY bike repairs on a bi-weekly basis, showing off 4MR Park as the hive of bicycling activity it is.

4MRMarket will grow in the coming weeks as many of our produce vendors begin harvesting in mid-April and other vendors get their products and schedules set for the season.  This week, come enjoy a breakfast pastry and a coffee on what should be a beautiful spring day in our Market Lounge, then get your garden ready for spring with potted plants from Roberto's Produce and grab some top quality beef for a Sunday cookout from Stifler Farms.

Remember, while the volunteers that set up and run the market are here for free, the vendors are here because this is their livelihood.  To keep them coming back, you have to come to the market and get your friends and neighbors out.  Help make our 100% volunteer run market great and our community even better!

(PS...Nick Partee will be on hand if folks want to stop and say hello.)

AND IN CASE YOU MISSED IT!!  Check out the news from our recent post:

4MRMarket Report: "Watch this Space" Edition

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market has a lot of exciting news for the upcoming 2011 season, set to begin on the first Sunday in April (April 3rd). 

Last season was a great start. While there were ups and downs, and Sundays seemed to have bad luck with weather (how can every Saturday be so nice and every Sunday be either rainy or boiling?), last year was just the start of the snowball headed down the mountain. This year, there is a LOT coming to the market that will make the market stronger, more attractive to customers, and more inclusive for the everyone in the community.

Continue reading The big news.

_______________

The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

4MRMarket is open every Sunday from 8am until 1pm from April through October in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. 

(click here for directions)

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/

Or contact us at: 4mrm@arlandria.org

Scenes from a Renovation: Work begins at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue

This morning, a local contractor, Whiting Turner, pulled together a volunteer team from their staff to do the first round of the volunteer work on the soon-to-be community building at 4109 Mt Vernon Ave.

The work included pulling up tiles (they have power tools for this), cleaning the interior walls, and patching the effice on the exterior where the Duron signs used to be. This prep work will allow the building to be painted at the Spring for Alexandria event on May 6.

Several members of city staff were there to oversee and help along with several fans of the park and the farmers market. Stuff is happening. Watch this Space.

Help Kickoff Old Duron Building Renovation Tomorrow

A local contractor, Whiting Turner, pulled together a volunteer team from their staff to do the first round of the volunteer work on the soon-to-be community building at 4109 Mt Vernon Ave. They are working on it tomorrow morning, Saturday, April 9 at 9:00am. While this conflicts with the stream clean-up in the area, it would be great to get a few volunteers out from surrounding neighborhoods.  It would be both to get more work done faster and to validate the volunteers from the contracting company that are taking an interest in our neighborhood.  Plus there's free pizza if you stay until the end.

The work includes pulling up tiles (they have power tools for this), cleaning the interior walls, and patching the effice on the exterior where the Duron signs used to be.  This prep work will allow the building to be painted at the Spring for Alexandria event on May 6.

Several members of city staff will be there to oversee and help.  Fans of the park and the farmers market, this would be a great way to get a sense of "I helped this happen" as the park improvements and community building renovation kicks off.  Dedicate as little or as much time as you want, just come out ready to apply some sweat equity to your community.

Here is the information from Alexandria Open Space Coordinator Laura Durham:

Meeting Time: 9:00 am
Location: 4109 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria
What to Bring: Must Bring -- Yourself and your enthusiasm
Optional -- Any gardening tools that would be helpful for the outside work.
Optional -- Any cleanup tools -- brooms, dustpans, etc. -- for inside cleanup
What will be provided: I will have a cooler of bottled water and soda
Steve Walker is arranging with Sunbelt a motorized scraper for the VCT removal
Tim Garland is bringing the trash bags
I have weed killer & spray bottle
WT is providing the Dumpster
Steve and I will bring ladders 

I believe that we should be wrapping up between 12 and 1:00; there will be pizza for the volunteers at the end.

Alexandria Kills Pedestrian Crossing at Glebe Road

"The whole thing was just surreal," said Arlandria resident Melissa Garcia, upon hearing the news. "It looked like everything was moving right along and this just came out of nowhere and broadsided us."


One of the most frustrating aspects of the implementation of the 2003 Arlandria Plan has been the decade long challenge trying to initiate the few modest investments in the streetscape called for by the plan.  As we discussed before, $500,000 were earmarked back then to bring in some basics like better bus stops, crosswalks, trashcans and intersection improvements.  A few things happened, even if they were only half measures, but most did not.  The most heavily used bus stops can't accommodate shelters (not enough room). There's no place for bike racks. The problems go on.

For the last few years, however, the focus of the spending the capital improvement money has been on the intersection of West Glebe Road and Mt Vernon Avenue, a crossing residents have long considered problematic.  

After a good bit of study, the plan for improving this intersection grew to also include a crossing at nearby West Reed Avenue, as both intersections were historically accident-prone. The streets are in such close proximity that the engineers felt the improvements needed to occur in tandem.  A year ago, the preliminary costs estimate of improving both intersections came to about $300,000 -- well within the monies alloted in 2003. Neighborhood residents, glad to finally see some utilization of the funds, were heartened at that news and gave these constructive, cost-effective projects their blessing. 

The momentary euphoria was not to last.  Arlandria residents more recently received news that was not so good.  At the January meeting of the Arlandria Plan Implementation Group, City staff informed the neighborhood that the much awaited improvement plan for the West Glebe/Mt Vernon Avenue intersection had come to a screeching halt.  What had been vaunted as a well considered plan to...at long last...provide a safer pedestrian crossing, had suddenly been deemed unfeasible. Improvements would have to await redevelop of the surrounding properties --nothing was currently possible without infringing on private property.  And what's more, the price tag had also escalated beyond the City's means.  

The $300,000 that was originally all that was needed to make improvements to both the West Glebe and West Reed intersections, was now necessary to install just the crosswalk at West Reed Avenue. The project, conceived originally as merely a secondary part of a larger, more important holistic enhancement, had instead taken the main stage. The 2003 Capital Improvement Funds - touted as being driving force in Arlandria's revitalization - were now to be spent mostly on a lonely, isolated,  and somewhat pathetic (albeit very nice) crosswalk.

The prognosis for the West Glebe pedestrian improvements is uncertain. City staff are adament that funds will not be available for such a project for a very long time. Redevelopment of the nearby properties...now a prerequisite for pedestrian safety...is held up in similar uncertainty, with economic feasibility studies showing that construction is not financially viable and property owners complaining that the City government is making unreasonable and inequitable demands. The pedestrian crossing at West Glebe Road might not be dead, but it is in an indefinite coma. Don't bring out the crash cart, it's going to take more than the defibrillator to bring it back to life.

"You used to say I couldn't save you enough, 

so I've been saving it up, I started saving it up. 

And when you said I couldn't give you enough, 

I started giving you up, I started giving you up." 

-from"Arlandria" by the Foo Fighters

Meanwhile, new spending projects are filling the City's Capital Improvement Plan should the Commercial Add-on Tax for transportation projects become a reality this Spring. The City has spent twice the amount of the Arlandria funds on JUST the plan for the Waterfront. And the $11.5 Million surplus from the $18 Million that Virginia gave Alexandria to support redevelopment along Eisenhower Avenue has also found other beneficiaries. Up against competition like the $600,000 Fairy riding the Frog, West Glebe Road no longer makes the cut. (If you would like to donate to the Save Arlandria Fund, please contact us here at the Arlandrian.)

April Fool's Day brings about a whole lot of joke headlines. Maybe our double entendre is in a similar vein as those.  Or maybe it's really too sad to be funny...even if you were to read it in a comic strip.

Excerpted from Warwick Village Voice, March 2004