Blog Post

No Place Like Home - An Open Letter From the Popcorn Lady

  • By Ann Young
  • •
  • 01 May, 2020
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Who could forget those iconic words...."Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore"....anyone feeling that way lately?
Transported to another land where everything is different and not "normal." Afraid and Alone with only your dog? Aaah but just like Dorothy finds out, she's not alone and she has so many people that love and care for her. I hope each and everyone of you are feeling that love now more than ever.

I would like to take a moment of your time to introduce myself and share my experience at the Garrettsville Farmers Market.
My name is Ann Young, maybe better known as the "Popcorn Lady". I started a little popcorn business in the Summer of 2018, called Pershing's Popcorn and my first farmers market "gig" was right here in Garrettsville. I live just down the road in Lake Milton, so while I am not an official Garrettsvillian, I feel very close to this little town.

I remember reaching out to the market manager, Sara Hill to see if they might have a spot for me and much to my surprise, she said YES right away! Little did I know how special this market would become to me. It's been a place to learn, grow, make mistakes, make friends and just have fun! I want everyone to know how special our market manager and vendors truly are! Sara puts in endless amounts of energy to try to help each vendor succeed and each customer to leave happy (which is no small task). She has helped all of our businesses grow by allowing us a safe space to be ourselves and offer our products. And BOY do we have products! I don't even know where to start! The freshest fruits and vegetables, warm bread, farm fresh eggs, sweet corn, local maple syrup products, delectable pastries, handmade soap, homemade cheese, delicious pasta, of course fresh hand popped kettle corn and more!! I know I do not speak just for myself when I say, there is nothing we love more than serving you and although the market may look and feel a little different this year, we will be there to welcome you with our various goods. We need you and we hope that you know that we will all do what we have to do to keep you safe and hope that you do the same. If we band together, I truly believe this year has the potential to be our greatest market yet because truly...there's no place like home. See you Soon!

The Popcorn Lady

Letters From Farmers - An Open Letter From Matt Herbruck

By Matt Herbruck, Owner, Birdsong Farm • 22 May, 2020

At Birdsong Farm we are really excited for the upcoming third season of the Garrettsville Farmers market. Sara and the rest of the group have done an amazing job of putting together a quality weekly market in a great downtown location. We’re proud to join with some of our fellow local foods producers to bring you the best our area has to offer.

For a small farm like ours direct sales at farmers markets are really the key to our survival. We strive to offer varieties of produce that you can’t find easily other places, and we love to educate our customers about our organic and regenerative growing practices. It’s the opportunity to build a relationship with the customer and the community that makes a farmer’s market so important. In the case of our farm, we love the idea of planting, tending, and harvesting our crops and taking them LESS THAN ONE MILE to the Garrettsville market to share with the town. What could be more local?

As the owner of Birdsong Farm I want to thank the folks who make it a habit to come out to the market every Thursday. Your interest and support make it possible to continue to push the boundaries of what I can accomplish as an organic farmer. In 2019 I completed my transition to a no till farming operation while maintaining my USDA organic certification. We are adding berry crops and more perennials to our offerings and constructing more high tunnels for cool weather production. I can spend the time and money that these efforts require knowing that I have great support from all my farmer’s market communities. It’s so important for us to work together to improve our food system, our environment and our town and we couldn’t do it without you. I look forward to seeing you all again Thursday evenings this summer, and please consider bringing a friend along with you!

     Matt Herbruck
 Owner
 Birdsong Farm

The Opposite of Rancor

By Ryan and Karly Lind, CopperHawk Farms • 28 May, 2019
We've been subtly trained to find delight in our dissatisfaction. And so, we practice bitterness without awareness. The bitterness does not alter the behavior of those with whom we disagree; bitterness changes us. Last season I grew some red romaine in our hilltop garden. It looked gorgeous, but it tasted like milkweed. To cure it, one must play a long game of honest observation, short-term work-arounds, and long-term solutions, which are built over seasons, not days.

Regenerative Agriculture

By Matt Herbruck • 10 May, 2019
In dry terms, Regenerative Agriculture is a system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. Regenerative Agriculture aims to capture carbon in soil and above ground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric accumulation. To Matt it's more than that, but it can be simpler than that. He explains more in his blog post here.
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