Heart and Hand House Garden Market Just Keeps On Growing
By BEN SIMMONS, Staff WriterArticle Photos
Locally grown fruits and vegetables are now available at the Heart and Hand House of Philippi's Garden Market, located on Main Street in Philippi. The Garden Market, now in its 16th year of operation, opened July 7 and will be open through September.
Garden Market Manager Georgia Allen said 39 growers have signed up thus far to sell their produce. She said more than 80 growers typically participate each summer.
"Things are going real well," Allen said. "We have a nice variety for this early, no tomatoes or corn, but we've got a good amount of items. We have a lot of fruit - apples, plums and peaches. We also have free-range eggs and salt rising bread and multi-grain breads."
The Rev. Robert Wilkins, executive director of Heart and Hand House in Philippi, said the market is doing well, but many crops have suffered from the heavy rain this spring.
"There was just too much water, too fast," Wilkins said. "The gardens have been slow to respond. Many of the farmers have had to replant some things twice, so some of the stuff is way behind. Looking at past years, we're down about 2/3 as far as volume of vegetables on display for this part of the season."
Wilkins said the number of growers has not decreased, just the amount of inventory. He said the number of growers has actually increased because they have begun coming from other counties to drop off their excess produce.
"Our growers are starting to come from other areas than just Barbour County," Wilkins said. "They might not use us exclusively, but they use us in addition to their local garden market. It's worth their time to come. Part of it has to do with we are open more than other markets and they don't have to worry about selling it themselves. We provide it as a service to them. They don't have to stay with the produce. They can just drop it off and we'll market it for them."
Wilkins said one of the goals of Heart and Hand House is to provide healthful nutrition to the community. He said the Garden Market helps the organization achieve that objective. He said most folks who participate in the Garden Market are local farmers who typically grow a crop for their family.
"We are trying to help the families that are already struggling monetarily with their budgets by buying and selling at the market," Wilkins said. "They don't have to have a big farm. Most of our folks are doing this with their surplus. They raise the food for their family and sell the rest at the garden market, to pay for seeds and other stuff, so they can recoup some of their expenses."
Wilkins said the market has recently received a grant for the USDA to purchase a freezer and refrigerator. He said those items will help them provide a larger variety of food items including eggs, bread and honey.
"The refrigerator and freezer will allow us to do some additional things," Wilkins said. "Now we will be able to preserve the produce a lot longer, and expand the shelf life of the produce we have. We can also broaden the variety of things we can offer."
According to Wilkins, one thing that makes the Garden Market unique is the peculiar varieties of fruits and vegetables that customers can purchase.
"Our niche that is the different from the grocery stores is that our local growers offer many unique items," Wilkins said. "You can get some strange squash or unique varieties of tomatoes or beans, that the family might like or have a real taste for. You are going to have people trying new things that they may not have had the opportunity to taste before."
The Heart and Hand House Garden Market accepts West Virginia Farm Market Nutrition coupons, as well as Women Infant and Children (WIC) vouchers. The market is open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, call 457-1295.
