Opening Day 2010

Opening Day of the Market....eagerly anticipated, and anxiously awaited.

With the opening of an open-air Market the first weekend in April, the weather is always a major factor. In the many years of the Staunton/Augusta Farmers' Market, we have had freezing temperatures, rain and even SNOW! The beautiful spring days are a rarity.

The 2010 opening day was unbelievable. The weather was beautiful....un-seasonably warm and sunny. The customers arrived in droves. There were a lot of vendors, and a lot of variety for sale. If a perfect opening could have been planned, this would have been it.

There is a big construction project going on in downtown Staunton. Projected completion: October 2010. It started at the Wharf and will continue through town. The Market committee and all the downtown shopkeepers have been concerned about the effect on business. It didn't matter a bit this particular Saturday!

Every week at the Market is an adventure. The weather plays a HUGE factor. If it's nice, the customers come....if it's nasty, the Market can be a rather lonely place. Here's to beautiful weekends!

Spring is Springing!

Nothing says "SPRING is here!" quite like the first time the animals go out on grass. After this past winter when they spent more than two months in a very limited area surrounded by snow, we knew the sheep would be anxious for the green grass of Spring.

I did not anticipate how "happy" they would be to have the open space and relative freedom of the paddock. At first the lambs weren't interested in the grass....they were FREE! The leaping and running continued until they were all quite winded and panting heavily.

Now, if we could feel the same joy about all the spring work around the farm....