Smart Markets News: Oct. 6, 2008

This is the first installment of what we hope will be a weekly update on Smart Markets.

October 4th was our first Saturday at Oakton with our new hours, and we are looking forward to seeing more families with children at the market now that we have accommodated your busy Saturday schedules. And we are happy to do so — we are here to serve you and your community — and besides, with these hours we won’t be setting up in the pitch dark by November! Please note that the hours of the Oakton market are now 10am-2:00pm.

We will be without Miss Sophie for a few weeks at Oakton, but she will return soon from her travels ready to work with children of all ages — and only she knows what you will be making next! But from our many sessions with her already, we do know that it will be a great lesson in kitchen techniques and nutrition — and that what you make will be really delicious. She will be back with us October 25th at 11:30am and November 8th and November 22nd, also at 11:30am.

We also want to announce that we will be converting our Oakton market to a year-round market, and we will be absorbing some of your favorite vendors from other farmers’ markets when the regular season ends this month. We will be open all of November (except for Thanksgiving weekend) and all of December, and we will then take a few weeks off in January. After that we will try to be open every Saturday through April, but you will need to pay attention to the website on bad weather days, as we will have a “Bad Weather Policy” to protect our vendors and shoppers.

We are hoping to attract at least one cheese vendor — I really want cheese in that market to complement the wine. And we will definitely have more produce, coffee, Rob from Community Gardens with his wonderful micro-greens, and Cavanna Pasta. And much more!!

And we will continue our activities throughout the winter, meeting and teaching in the church when necessary.

We will be entering a great partnership with the new Passion Fish restaurant opening later this month in the Rolls Royce building. They will be buying from our market, and we will be working with them on cross-promotional activities throughout the winter (they hope to buy from us at the winter market and come for demos too) and especially when the summer season opens next year. The chefs are so excited to have us so close by — they see it as a natural partnership. And after working all year to draw the other restaurants in the Reston Town Center, we know that most other restaurants in Virginia do not consider it a “natural” — at least not yet. So we are thrilled with the prospects for our market and our vendors.

We are planning a “Trick-or-Treat” at the market event the night before Halloween for the little ones. Children under six will be welcome to come and visit each vendor for a treat and to parade around the market in their costumes. Pictures will be taken for a scrapbook and will be made available the next week for parents who want copies.

At Fair Lakes October 22nd at 4:00pm, don’t forget to bring the kiddies to our Barnes and Noble Story Time. The children will hear stories from some of the best books on fall foods and farming, do a simple craft and then meet the farmers and other vendors and hear how the foods are grown and made. And there too, there will be treats for each child.

And please note that the nutritionist from Kaiser Permanente will be on site October 8th at Fair Lakes to hand out information about healthy living for families with children and to answer your specific questions about meeting the nutritional needs of your very own picky eaters.

And don’t forget to stop by and visit the Market Master table at each of the markets for nutritional and preventive health information from Kaiser Permanente and as always to pick up seasonally appropriate market recipes.

That’s it for now. Have a great week and don’t forget to visit a farmers’ market near you this week. Do it for your family and do it for the environment too!

—Jean Janssen