Ocean City Today
JUNE 29, 2012
LIFESTYLE 71
Fresh fruits,veggies and eggs available at markets countywide healthy plants make healthy people,’” he said. “I have a couple of feet perimeter around my garden where I mow, but inside my garden I just leave it alone. What comes up, comes up, and Mother Nature takes care of the rest.” Elise Jett, of Holly Hill Homemade Goods in Parsonsburg sells her baked goods and other produce that she makes from natural ingredients. “This is our first full-time year,” she described, “We visit six markets a week, I bake everything out of my farm kitchen, and we can everything ourselves.” Most of her baked goods come from family recipes and trial and error, but most importantly, they use all local fruits and vegetables as ingredients. From local honey, to ducks and chickens on her farm, everything sold at her stand comes from the area. “It’s great to have return business, loyal customers, and tourists alike come and enjoy,” she said. While most of the farmers of the area grow everything naturally, others are USDA Certified Organic such as Dave and Cheryl Wiley of Herbs, Spice, Everything Nice of Selbyville, Del. Dave described the process of being certified as “very difficult” and requiring “lots of paperwork and record keeping. “We really try to go the extra mile and educate the community about the benefits of buying local. It’s very rewarding to have someone you sold something to last week come up and you’re thinking, ‘Oh no, something went wrong!’ and having it be
OCEAN CITY TODAY/NATHAN LENOX
Stefanie Barfield of Chesterfield Heirlooms, above, tends her stand of heirloom vegetables she describes as “old world versions of modern vegetables.” (Above right) A carton of Holly Hill Homemade Goods’ duck eggs which are picked from the nest and put into cartons by hand.
exactly the opposite, they say, ‘Man I loved that heirloom squash,’ or ‘Those tomatoes were delicious!’ It’s great to help the community learn how to support itself.” Dave also does not use any insecticides. Instead, he gets beneficial insects that prey on bad bugs with hopes that if his crops provide a compatible environment, they will transfer with the plants from the greenhouse to the field when he plants them. Other benefits of local farmers’ mar-
8th Annual
Thursday T hursday and and Friday Friday y September S eptember 20 20 & 21, 21, 2012 2012
the new T ssupport To upp pport t he n ew Ocean City Center Forr Th Arts O cean C ity yC Ce nter F Fo The e Ar A Art rts ts
www.artleagueofoceancity.org www.art artleag eagueofo foceancit a ty y.o org g
kets that one may not expect are people like Tiffanie Nichols, who attends the Berlin Farmers’ Market free of charge as a Master Gardener. Nichols is there as part of the University of Maryland Extension and she answers questions about pests, plants, problems and their solutions. Each day she welcomes about 15 to 20 visitors who come to her with issues they might be having, or simply what to do with something. “People come up to me with questions
from, ‘How do I get rid of this bug in my garden?’ to ‘What kind of stuff should I make with this herb?’ or even landscapers who ask me, ‘What plant would really brighten up this lawn?” she said. Some of the other farmers have taken advantage of Nichols and her bright red stand by playing a game Elise Jett of Holly Hill called “Stump the Tiff” where they bring her questions and problems to try and stump her. “The most important thing I want to publicize is that I’m here as a service to the community,” Nichols emphasized, “I’m here to help them and everyone else and it’s free. I’m here to help the community with any plant problems they might have.” A list of farmers markets throughout Maryland is available online at http:// visitmaryland.org/Events/Pages/Maryl andFarmersMarkets.aspx.