4MRMarket Report: "Squash and Farm Raised Pork, Oh My!" Edition

T-shirt sales to benefit 4MRPark

That's right, this week all kinds of summer squash are coming into season. Not only that, but Stifler Beef Farm is working with a fellow livestock farmer and will offer Pork starting this week!

Plus, don't forget to salivate over all the other fresh, local produce and herbs (greens, strawberries, asparagus, and many other items that are now in season!), made-to-order crepes and smoothies, baked goods, grass-fed beef, heritage chicken eggs, and a host of other goodies.

And don't forget our artisans. Uncommon Knits makes excellent quality hand woven and sewn products, and we may have one or two other TBD artisan vendors this weekend!

Here is who you'll find at 4MRMarket this week: 

• The Stifler Beef Farm aka "What's For Dinner Now" (Shenandoah) - Natural, locally farm-raised black Angus beef, and now fresh, farm raised Pork, too! (all flash frozen for convenience)
• Pleitez Produce (Northern Neck) - A full range of locally grown produce, herbs, and more.
• Herban Avenues at AHHA Ranch (Lovettsville, VA) - Herbal remedies, heritage breed chicken eggs, and a variety of herbs.
• Patowmack Farm/Divine Foods (Lovettsville, VA) - Crepes and Smoothies made-to-order, plus organic, value added products.
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria) - A range of baked goods.
• C&T Produce (White Oak, VA) - A huge selection of locally grown produce.
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Brewed coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).
• Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA) - Artisan Cheese, plus Pennsylvania honey.
• Uncommon Knits (WV) - Handwoven linens made with 100% cotton and hand-stitched hems for your kitchen, dining room and bath.

4MRMarket officially launched the SNAP/EBT program this month week for market purchases. In a collaborative project with the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria and Inova Health System, SNAP participants are now able to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and other goods at the farmers market. As part of this project, Inova is sponsoring a "Double Dollar" program that doubles the first $10 SNAP participants spend at the market. 4MRMarket is the first farmers’ market in Northern Virginia to accept SNAP.

Four Mile Run Market is now selling t-shirts in many sizes and colors - proceeds go towards improving Four Mile Run Park and keeping the market going strong.  Ask a market manager if you'd like to make a great local fashion statement.

Please support your volunteer-run neighborhood farmers market.  We can't do it without neighborhood support!  Also, volunteers are always welcome to help find musicians to play the market and to help book the community tent with City agencies, non-profits, etc.

_______________

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: "In The Swing of Things" Edition

This market report is a little later than we'd planned, but the market is in full swing right now!  There's a great market today, and Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market will be open until 1pm.  Four Mile Run Market is now selling t-shirts in many sizes and colors - proceeds go towards improving Four Mile Run Park and keeping the market going strong.

Come out and enjoy the fresh, local produce and herbs (including greens, strawberries, asparagus, and many other items that are now in season!), made-to-order crepes and smoothies, baked goods, grass-fed beef, heritage chicken eggs, and a host of other goodies.  Here is who you'll find at 4MRMarket today:

• 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.
• Herban Avenues at AHHA Ranch (Lovettsville, VA) - Herbal remedies, heritage breed chicken eggs, and a variety of herbs.
• Patowmack Farm/Divine Foods (Lovettsville, VA) - Crepes and Smoothies made-to-order, plus organic, value added products.
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria) - A range of baked goods.
• C&T Produce (White Oak, VA) - A huge selection of locally grown produce.
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Brewed coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).
• Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA) - Artisan Cheese, plus Pennsylvania honey.
• Uncommon Knits (WV) - Handwoven linens made with 100% cotton and hand-stitched hems for your kitchen, dining room and bath.

The market is playing host to three community serving groups providing information and raising support for different initiatives today.  Domion Power's Green Power initiative, Alexandria's Bike and Pedestrian focussed Local Motion, and Friends of Warwick Pool are all here to spread their message and help make Alexandria a better place to live.

4MRMarket officially launched the SNAP/EBT program last week for market purchases. In a collaborative project with the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria and Inova Health System, SNAP participants are now able to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and other goods at the farmers market. As part of this project, Inova is sponsoring a "Double Dollar" program that doubles the first $10 SNAP participants spend at the market. 4MRMarket is the first farmers’ market in Northern Virginia to accept SNAP.

Please support your volunteer-run neighborhood farmers market.  We can't do it without neighborhood support!  Also, volunteers are always welcome to help find musicians to play the market and to help book the community tent with City agencies, non-profits, etc.

_______________

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: "Ribbon Cutting" Edition

Mayor Euille touches up the new paint job.

This Sunday, May 15th, is going to be yet another exciting big day at the Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market because it will mark a major milestone in the revitalization efforts that 4MRMarket is proud to be a part of. This Sunday the City of Alexandria holds a Grand Opening Ceremony for the Four Mile Run Park and Community Building.

Mayor Euille and City Council will be on hand at 1pm to dedicate the renovated community building located at our market site, 4109 Mount Vernon Avenue, whether it's rain or shine. The building will be open for market goers to tour starting at 11am.

The City acquired the open space properties at 4109-4125 Mount Vernon Avenue including the former Duron Paint store building in 2007 and the activist group of architects, Architects Anonymous, donated their time to develop a plan to preserve the building through environmentally sustainable design. The newly renovated building will be open seasonally and will feature a new, large entrance and stage area on the north side, accessible restrooms, a small workroom, and a large open area that can be used for a variety of uses.

With the help of contractors Whiting Turner and Sherwin Williams/Duron Paint, who donated time and materials, as well as the volunteer efforts of a large number of citizens and local residents, the building and the surrounding spaces are now well on their way to begin fulfilling the visions of the improved Four Mile Run Park.

As usual, Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market will be open Sundays from 8am to 1pm. And In conjunction with the grand opening of the building, 4MRMarket will officially mark the launch of SNAP/EBT for market purchases. In a collaborative project with the Partnership for a Healthier Alexandria and Inova Health System, SNAP participants will be now able to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables and other goods at the farmers market. As part of this project, Inova is sponsoring a "Double Dollar" program that doubles the first $10 SNAP participants spend at the market. 4MRMarket is the first farmers’ market in Northern Virginia to accept SNAP.

Volunteers painting the building

Come out and enjoy the fresh, local produce, baked goods, grass-fed beef, heritage chicken eggs, and a host of other goodies.  Here is who you'll find at 4MRMarket this Sunday:

• 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.
• Herban Avenues at AHHA Ranch (Lovettsville, VA) - Herbal remedies, heritage breed chicken eggs, and a variety of herbs.
• Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, VA) - Organic value added products plus baked goods, fresh lemonade, and more.
• Bread and Chocolate (Arlandria) - A range of baked goods.
• C&T Produce (White Oak, VA) - Locally grown produce.
• St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Brewed coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).
• Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA)

Please support your volunteer-run neighborhood farmers market.  We can't do it without neighborhood support!  Also, volunteers are always welcome to help find musicians to play the market and to help book the community tent with City agencies, non-profits, etc.

_______________

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

New Park Uncovered At Spring for Alexandria

Before and After

When the City of Alexandria purchased 3550 Commonwealth Ave from Dominion Power, they had Open Space funding available and a goal of expanding park space, but they didn't really have a plan for it. That wasn't a bad thing -- just removing the blighted, out-of-use electrical substation on the property and planting grass in its place was an aesthetic improvement -- but it left a blighted, vacant lot.

While various options for the park remain open (in previous posts we discussed a fenced in dog park), in the interim, a team of volunteers decided last year to start the process of turning the property around by installing a large garden on one corner. For just $200, using garden cast-off plants donated by neighbors and mulch from cut-down, unhealthy, storm-battered trees formerly used to screen the old substation, it started to resemble a park.

A hot summer wiped out a few of the transplanted shrubs and flowers, but thanks to an on-site water supply and diligent work by volunteers, most of the garden made it through the first year.  And fortunately, a team of a dozen or so Alexandria parole officers and one air quality specialist volunteered their time during Spring for Alexandria to recover the garden out from under a truckload of weeds. The team even managed to plant a small donated maple tree, which will hopefully be the first of numerous trees taking root.  View a slide show of the volunteer clean-up day below (NOTE: if you're reading this as email, you may need to click the link to the article to see the slide show):

Throughout the clean-up visitors and onlookers made several commitments to the park. Parks staff, seeing the derelict state of the remaining evergreen trees, said the City would remove the rest...and mow the site more regularly since the garden is being hidden behind an 18" wall of grass and weeds. The outgoing City Manager and his interim replacement said they would find a little money in the budget to come up with a landscaping plan. I guarantee that would not have happened if neighbors hadn't devoted time and energy trying to make something of the site. The City sees and appreciates the effort and wants to leverage the volunteer support with a little funding.

View of former electrical sub-station that became the park.

It shouldn't be forgotten that without these volunteer efforts, the stalled park improvement might have continued the decline into blight. We know that cleaning up the site has already improved safety:  Last year, when volunteers were removing some of the trees on the site and thinning out the bottom branches of others, a woman expressed her gratitude for making the area feel more secure. She relayed the story of having her purse stolen by an assailant who had hidden among the trees and attacked her when she was waiting for the bus.

So thank you, Spring for Alexandria team. With your help, we'll make a park of this otherwise unplanned site, yet!

4MRMarket Report: "Keep it Local" Edition

With the market season now in full swing, we invite all of you that haven't yet stopped by this season to keep it local. Who knows where the produce you buy from your grocery stores comes from, and we guarantee supermarket beef isn't nearly as good as the grass-fed variety that reminds you what it's supposed to taste like. Nor are the grocery store eggs half as good as ones from happy pasture-raised, heritage breed chickens.  Do you ever bite into a 3 day-old muffin and wished you'd saved the calories for something more worthwhile?  Well, we have the cure for what ails you.

Come out and enjoy the fresh, local produce, baked goods, grass-fed beef, heritage chicken eggs, and a host of other goodies.  Here is who you'll find at 4MRMarket this Sunday:

• 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.
• Herban Avenues at AHHA Ranch (Lovettsville, VA) - Herbal remedies, heritage breed chicken eggs, and a variety of herbs.
• Patowmack Farm (Lovettsville, VA) - Organic value added products plus baked goods, fresh 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) - Brewed coffee, tea, and a few extra goodies.
• VéloCity Bike Co-op (Old Town) - Bike repair (see below).
• Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA)

4MRMarket features a few products for you each week to keep you aware of all the great things you can get at the market.  Here are this week's featured selections:

Patowmack Farms offers some excellent goodies for Mom or whoever you know with a sweet-tooth. "Patowmach Crunch" is English toffee coated in chocolate and dipped in crushed almonds. Their "Chocolate Caramel Tart" is soft caramel beneath a layer of chocolate ganache in a tart shell garnished with 23K gold leaf. 

Herban Avenues at AHHA Farms brings herbal remedies, including some great natural remedies for mosquito bites and poison ivy from herbalist and owner, Laura Davimes.

Remember, 4MRMarket now welcome EBT/SNAP (formerly food stamps), plus we double your dollars for the first $10 of market purchases (charge $10, get $20 to spend)!  Last week, we piloted the program to great success. This week, please spread the word to anyone you may know that is enrolled in EBT/SNAP!

Please support your volunteer-run neighborhood farmers market.  We can't do it without neighborhood support!  Also, volunteers are always welcome to help find musicians to play the market and to help book the community tent with City agencies, non-profits, etc.

_______________

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