Second in Four Farmer’s Markets happening in Hot Springs

Bath County’s Farmer’s Market new schedule this summer includes Saturday, August 6th. That will be the same Saturday as the “Hi Neighbor Day” in Millboro, but there are just enough hours in the day for residents of the area to take in and enjoy both events.

At the market, the wares are fresh and local, and the artists, or farmers easily share how and why they created them.   Market goers browse cut flowers, fresh produce, handmade jewelry, rustic wood furniture, and much more.  I listened in while regular vendor Maureen Kane gave some tips to a visitor on planning for a cutting garden.

“Well here in Bath County we have a lot of deer, so the first thing we want to do is to deer proof your cutting garden as much as possible.”   Maureen recommends iris, and gives what I consider the best qualification for any garden plant.

“So they come up every year, and they don’t need too much attention” She also encouraged the visitor to use lots of herbs in the cutting garden.

“They bloom really nicely. So here in my bouquets you’ll see quite a few of my herbs. This is oregano; this is catnip. I have apple mint; I have chocolate mint, and all sorts of herbs that are really good for the bees.”

In addition to drawing in the bees, Maureen mentioned one of the species that helps turn a garden into a bird sanctuary too.

“Purple coneflower, it’s a great cutting flower. And it’s also great all season, into winter because these coneheads form these beautiful seedpods, you can use them for arrangements, but if you leave ‘em outdoors, earlier in the summer it will be the goldfinches, and then later on it will be the chickadees.”

Another vendor at the Bath Farmer’s Market is Skunk and Owl Designs. After the derechio in 2012 Matt and Linda Cauley were left with a lifetime supply of salvageable wood on their Millboro area farm. They produce tables, benches, and other special items inspired while they work.

Linda Cauley,

“We always feel like the wood speaks to us. So we’ll look at a piece of the wood as it comes off the mill, and see a pretty grain in it that’s interesting, and then it goes from there.

The other half of the design team agreed. Matt Cauley,

“Well lots of times the wood determines what it’s supposed to be, and we just look at the natural configuration of the wood, because we work with rougher pieces of wood, and the design just comes out of what we see. It’s almost like magic.”

Now, by the sixth of August, magic might also include tomatoes, peppers, squash, or even some corn? There will also be barbeque, baked goods, and live music. That’s Saturday, August 6th in Natural Retreats Park in Hot Springs from 9 until 1:00.   For more information, call 839-6644, or visit the market’s website.

 

Story By

Bonnie Ralston

Bonnie Ralston is the Assistant Station Coordinator at WVLS and a Highland County news reporter. She began volunteering at Allegheny Mountain Radio in the fall of 2005. In 2006 she became an AMR employee and worked in Bath County for eight years as the WCHG Station Coordinator and then as the news reporter there. She began working in radio while in college and has stayed connected to radio, in one way or another, for more than thirty years. She grew up in Staunton, Virginia, while spending a lot of time on her family’s farm in Deerfield, Virginia. She enjoys spending time outside, watching old TV shows and movies and tending to her chickens.

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