Highland Farmers’ Market To Hold Winter Market

Farmers’ Markets are most often thought of as a warm weather only event, but not so this year in Highland County. We spoke with Cornelia Granbery, Local Foods Coordinator for The Highland Center in Monterey to learn about the upcoming event which goes against that warm weather norm.

“We’re here today to talk about a Winter Market we’re hosting this Friday at The Highland Center. It’s essentially a kick-off for Wintertide – it’s an indoor market, and it will be inside The Highland Center this Friday, December 1^st, from 4:30 – 6:00 pm.

“We have about 10 vendors joining us – we have local meats, poultry, trout, eggs, maple syrup, baked goods, crafts, and believe it or not, seasonal produce – Riven Rock Farm, Fireside Farm, Allegheny Mountain Institute, Mountain State Trout, Bruce’s Syrup and Candies, Back Creek Farms, Melissa Moyers with her baked goods, Claire’s cakes and Cookies, and Especially For You jewelry. Also, Allegheny Meats is celebrating their fifth anniversary, and they’re joining us representing Allegheny Meat’s Market – they’ll have a sampling of some local meats from the area. They’re open Monday through Friday selling bison, beef, pork and lamb from a variety of producers in the region, so you can stop by Monday through Friday, 8:00 – 5:00pm.

“The Winter Market is hosted in partnership with Allegheny Meats Market, made possible through a USDA grant and Local Foods Promotion Program encouraging strengthened local meat sales in the region.”

Ms. Granbery provided contact information for those wanting to learn more.

“We are encouraging folks to join our mailing list – you can hop on The Highland Center’s website, www.thehighlandcenter.org and head over to the farmers’ market page and join our newsletter. We only send out when we have updates or events coming up, so that’s a great way to stay informed. Also, you can find us on Facebook – you can also contact The Highland Center at 540-468-1922, or e-mail me – my e-mail address is farmersmarket@htcnet.org “

As a former manager of the Highland Farmers’ Market myself, I was curious about her impressions after her first year at the helm.

“Overall, this was a wonderful market year – comparing our sales this year to 2016, we actually had a 36% increase in total vendor sales, so I think in general, I’m seeing that as a very positive thing, and that is a big reason why we wanted to host this winter market, is to just maintain and work off the momentum of the season – vendors still have products to sell, we want to provide that opportunity for them to interact with customers – especially with the holidays coming up. I know I’m running low on local products, so I’m certainly encouraging folks to come out and stock up before the holiday season.”