Spring’s coming to Falls Church Farmers Market

The calendar may show spring, but the air had a distinct winter chill Saturday morning at the City of Falls Church Farmers Market.

Customers bundled up in winter coats, scarves and hats to shop at the 20 or so booths set up in the parking lot of City Hall. They chatted with farmers and merchants, while picking out everything from mushrooms to apples, fresh pasta to fresh herbs.

Saturday’s market marked the end of winter hours for the year. Starting April 2, the market will be open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon. And in a few weeks, the pace will pick up even more for the start of the regular season. From May 7 through the end of October, more than 45 vendors will be selling their goods and produce to Falls Church families every Saturday.

“Our peak, in terms of customers, is July and August,” said Howard Herman, General Manager of the Community Services Department and Director of Recreation and Parks for the City of Falls Church. ”At the height of the season, we have over 45 producers.”

Herman said producers come from within a 125-mile radius to Falls Church. Farms in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware make the trip to provide a variety of fresh goods throughout the year.

“You could actually do all of your grocery shopping here,” Herman said. “Anything you can get at the grocery store, you can find at our market.”

With the start of the regular season, the Falls Church Farmers Market will begin its 28th year. Herman, who will retire from city service April 1, was instrumental in founding the market all of those years ago. He takes great pride in the way it has grown from six to 10 producers to the large event it is today.

“It’s kind of a passion of mine,” he said. “It’s great to watch it grow from struggling the first three to four years to being so successful today we have a rather lengthy wait list of vendors wanting to come.”

One of those vendors who has seen the Falls Church Farmers Market grow over the years is Sunnyside Farm and Orchard out of Charlestown, W.Va. The farm runs a year-round stand and was selling a variety of produce – lettuces, potatoes, even bright red cherry tomatoes from the greenhouse – on Saturday.

Jim Huyett, owner of the farm now in the fifth generation of his family, said his season peaks with the arrival of peaches “on or about June 26.”

“Peaches are the number one seller,” he said, adding that the blueberries, strawberries and raspberries his staff will pick and sell before that are also popular.

He sells at farmers markets throughout the region and says each one has its own personality. “They’re all different in their own way,” he said. “This is a good market. We see a lot of families here.”

Huyett said he liked the laid-back pace of the winter market because it allowed him to chat with customers and explain how farming works. And a winter workday at the farm only runs 10 to 12 hours, he said, as opposed to the 14 or 16 hours he’ll log daily during the summer months.

As someone who loves farming and talking about farming, Huyett couldn’t think of a better way to spend a chilly Saturday morning. “When you get right down to it, what else are you going to do in the middle of winter,” he asked.