by Colin W.

Legacy Farms Apprentice

This Summer, Legacy Farms began setting up farm stands in various parts of northern Virginia with the aid of their partners. They’ve been selling a variety of items from flowers and herbs straight from the Legacy Farms garden to products including salsa, juice and even kettle corn. Some apprentices and mentors have also been helping out during farmers markets. So let’s take a look at what they’ve been up to, and what’s to come, which includes two more artisan holiday markets, one in November and another in December.

This Fall, I visited two of Legacy Farms’ farmers markets. The first one was at a brewery known as Bear Chase, located in Bluemont. The second farmers market took place in Ashburn at House 6 Brewery. The vendors working alongside Legacy were selling a variety of foodstuffs. There were sauces, crackers, popcorn, juices, honey, and a lot more. Popcorn and juices were the most popular items Legacy sold at Bear Chase, while the market at House 6 sweet honey and spicy sauces were popular. I picked up some goods while I was at each market, getting popcorn and crackers at Bear Chase and more popcorn and hot sauce at House 6.

If you’ve been keeping up with my Green Thumb blog and Legacy’s garden, you may be questioning how Legacy Farms is able to produce popcorn, honey, and juices despite never once mentioning corn or beekeepers. To put it simply, Legacy isn’t making these; but their partners and local businesses are. For example, Roots to Rise has been partnered with Legacy for some time. Legacy provides vegetables and herbs to Roots to Rise, and they have a process for fresh-pressing our produce, and mixing it with fruits to create delicious juices. Legacy, in turn, sells juices produced by Roots to Rise at their markets to huge success. I even worked on growing some of the veggies that go into the juices. You may remember my article on beets, for example! Or the time I tried Roots to Rise juices in my first article for this series.

Legacy at House 6

At the House 6 market, I picked up some absolutely lovely flowers from the Old Soul Flower Company. Their flowers looked so beautiful I first thought they were fake, but after inspecting them up close I found out they were real flowers. I spoke with the Old Soul Flower Company’s owner and those running the Legacy Farms booth, and they gave me some interesting information. 

Legacy Farms and Old Soul Flower Company

Legacy and Old Soul are beginning to work together, so next year you’ll be able to pick up even more dazzling flowers alongside the juices and popcorn. And they are partnering on Legacy Blooms CSA (community supported agriculture) shares right now. When you buy into the CSA, you support Legacy Farms’ work, fund the garden, and get 16 weeks of bouquets delivered to your door from May-August. Sign up for the CSA here!

Legacy at Bear Chase

These farmer’s markets aren’t just a way to drive proceeds towards a non-profit. More importantly, they’re a way for apprentices to gain real work experience. At Bear Chase, there were a couple of apprentices whom I’d never met and got to chat with. Simon and Scott were really nice and their presence gave the market a friendly, cozy vibe. Also present at both markets was the focus of my previous article, mentor Ian Shaholtz. Ian was running a stand alongside Legacy, selling his homemade salsas and sauces along with tortilla chips. One of the items he was selling was Liam’s Legacy, a hot sauce named after a summer apprentice who had an affinity for spicy food.

Wrapping Up the Year

Legacy Farms has almost wrapped up its weekly farmers markets for the year, but you can still order live Thanksgiving herb gardens on their site (for pick up or delivery). And there  will be two more holiday markets at House 6 in Ashburn on November 22 and December 13. Check Legacy Farms’ website events page or Facebook page to stay up to date.

Thank You for Reading The Green Thumb

Trying to balance writing this article with schoolwork has been challenging since it’s my senior year. I’m heading to college next year, and am unsure if I’ll be able to return to working and writing for Legacy Farms. Working this job has given experience that I wouldn’t be able to get working a drive thru or stocking shelves at any other job. I learned the importance of deadlines, how it feels to grow a plant and harvest it, and the joys of getting paid for my work.

Having a summer job working in the garden and writing for the non-profit has meant a lot to me. I’ve met some great people, got to try new foods, worked hard in the summer heat, and I’ve even got some great job experience that’ll help me with my career path. 

Most importantly, though, I want to say thank you to my readers. Thank you for reading my articles, whether you’ve read them all or this is the first one you’ve seen. Even if you’ve only read a paragraph or a sentence, it means so much that you’d take time out of your day to read something I wrote. Whether you're a friend or a family member or a co-worker, I’m glad that I’ve been able to foster an audience writing about beets, kale, and my experience working at Legacy Farms.