Nothing says hello holidays like a little shopping, delicious local seasonal food and wreath making! Bring your friends for an afternoon of fun at the beautiful and historic Huguenot Springs, home of the 2016 Purveyor of the Year, Manakintowne Specialty Growers. Shop original work by local artists, check out the silent auction and prepare to get crafty for the wreath making workshop. Bring your own snips and garden gloves, all other supplies and accessories provided.
Come find out what’s new in solar energy for your farm, residence, or business. Learn about the latest in solar panel technology, ground mount options, REAP grants and federal tax credits. We’re excited to share with you how quickly your initial investment can give you energy independence.
The Center For Rural Culture is excited to offer this class as part of their Homesteading Series.
Saturday November 12, 2016 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Grace Episcopal Church 2955 River Road West
Goochland, VA 23063
JOIN THE CENTER FOR RURAL CULTURE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH FIRE, FLOUR & FORK FOR AN EXCITING CULINARY ADVENTURE!This year the 2016 Purveyor of the year, Manakintowne Specialty Greens, hosts Dutch & Co and Tom Power of Fat Canary as they bring the farm…. literally….to your table.
Sunday, November 20th, 1 p.m. and Farm Tour at 11 a.m.
Just as Gus Portokalos declares in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, “give me a word, any word, and I show you how the root of that word is Greek.” So it is true for our favorite fall squash-like fruit- the pumpkin! The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon which is Greek for “large melon!” The French later changed it to pompon which was later changed by the British to pumpion and finally arrived in North America with the colonists and became widely known as the pumpkin!
With the rains of recent weeks, the pumpkin harvest is plentiful this year. Be sure to check out My Manakin Market this Saturday for locally sourced pumpkins (of course,) apples, pears, butternut squash, winter squash…the produce goes on and on! See the list below.
And what a harvest we are having (if the farmers can manage to get out there and pick in-between storms)! We were fortunate here in Virginia not to have lost all of our pumpkins in the hurricane… Speaking of pumpkins – we have baking pumpkins! This week, we also have butternut squash and lots of other lovely winter squashes, fresh parsley and cilantro, green beans, beets, radishes, Arugula, peppers (including specialty varieties), a few tomatoes (slicing, cherries), zucchini, cabbage, sweet potatoes, potatoes, eggplant, fresh herbs, heritage apples, fall raspberries.
We have one producer who will be bringing in some apples from other Virginia farms, as it is extremely difficult to produce applies in this area. They will also have Asian pears and plums from the Appalachian Valley. We have a great selection of meats, including grass-fed beef, pastured pork, lamb and poultry.
We’ll have cheese this week from Night Sky Farm – come and try a sample! Our selection of baked goods includes breads, muffins, specialty cookies, focaccia, pies, quiches, and even pizza crusts!
We also have honey, candy, homemade spices, specialty nuts, jams, jellies, local wines and lots of other delicious Virginia Grown items available at My Manakin Market!
Live music this week is the Willow Creek Band, featuring a variety of bluegrass, gospel and Americana.
Special health fair this week only! Visit the website for more information www.mymanakinmarket.com
My Manakin Market is a member of the 35 Mile Drive Association- www.35miledrive.com
Ever been to Field Day of the Past? Located just off the Rockville/ Manakin exit on I-64, near the Rte 288 interchange, is a festival unlike any other. Part country fair, complete with carnival rides and fair food, and part historical heritage event with antique cars, tractors and machinery, Field Day takes place in a village setting with paths for easy strolling. How will you know you are near? Just look for the American flag flying high over the tree tops. Don’t miss out on this great family event!
Field Day of the Past mixes the warm, down-home atmosphere of the county fairs of yesteryear with exhibits and displays of museum quality. Historical displays and exhibits, re-enactments, tractor and truck pulls, small engine displays, arts and crafts, flea market, antique and modern construction equipment demonstrations, a log cabin with ongoing heritage craft demonstrations can be experienced throughout the weekend. Volunteers demonstrate the daily routines of the life of a family surviving in early rural Virginia which include wheat and peanut threshing, meat smoking, the making of sorghum molasses, washing clothes, canning, saw milling and other chores.
Permanent exhibits and structures include a working United States post office, a 1930’s grocery store and garage, fire lookout tower, blacksmith shop, wood wright shop, ice house, gold mining equipment, Pullman railroad car and engine buildings.
Field Day of the Past is a member of the 35 Mile Drive Association www.35miledrive.com
Only a few more days left until the South African Food & Wine Festival! South African wine makers Tyrell Myburgh of Joostenberg Wines and MAN Vintners and Gordon Newton Johnson of Newton Johnson Wines will be here to represent their wines. We have amazing entertainement, great food and a Market Tent filled with wonderful South African spices, arts & crafts. Even the good weather we ordered is on it’s way!
Join us!
For a celebration of South African culture, wine, food & music!
Taste and purchase South African wines, from rare finds to iconic blends
Live South African music and dance performances by JuxtaPower and friends
Discover the exotic, multi-cultural cuisine of South Africa
Shop The Market for spices, arts & crafts imported from South Afirca
Enter for a chance to win two round trip tickets to South Africa, compliments of South African Airways!
Artist Spotlight: David Jenkins
David Jenkins – musician, singer, songwriter. Called the “White Zulu” from Empangeni, South Africa, David is an acknowledged master of traditional Zulu maskandi music. Read more on our festival Web site!
Artist Spotlight: Nomsa Mazwai
A SAMA award winning artist, Nomsa weaves the rhythms and melodies of jazz, afrocentric, drum ‘n bass, electronic and neo soul music into her own unique style. Visit Nomsa’s Web site and take a listen (we love them all, especially “Nguwe.”)
What about the weather?
So far, it looks good! Mostly sunny Saturday with only 10% chance of rain – a little higher for Sunday. Check weather.com with our Gum Spring zip code 23065 or look for weather updates on Grayhaven’s Web site. Remember Gum Spring weather can be quite different from D.C., Richmond or Charlottesville. The event is on rain or shine!
Purchase Tickets
Save $5 per ticket by ordering in advance (ends Thursday.) Visit our festival Web site to purchase:
After a hiatus……drumroll please…..35-Mile Drive Presents Visit Goochland is back! We can’t think of a better way for a grand re-opening than to celebrate at the Manakin Farmer’s Market this Saturday, September 12th 9-1.
Join us for a special book signing of On Richmond’s Wheel by Aynsley Fisher and Tom Houff– our hot-off-the-press new book celebrating cycling in Richmond. The book shares Richmond’s extensive cycling history dating back to the late 1890s and the high wheels and brings us up to the eve of the greatest bike race in the world– the 2015 UCI Road World Championships.
We share the inside scoop on how Richmond came to win the bid for host city, and how, once the dust settles and the 1,000+ cyclists and their teams from 70 countries, 500 international media and nearly half-a-million fans have returned to their corner of the globe, Richmond will continue to emerge as one of the country’s top bike-friendly towns.
The book showcases stunning photography of iconic Richmond cycling scenes by noted photographers Jesse Peters, Chris Johnson and Wayne Dementi.
We believe– not that we are biased, of course– that ORW is a must-read for cycling enthusiasts, history buffs, Richmond natives full of good old RVA pride, our hometown peeps and tourists looking for a timeless souvenir from their experience at the Worlds. BTW, our foreword writer, Virginia native Ben King, will ride for Team USA. Woo hoo! Stay tuned for more info or follow us on FB at 35-Mile Drive Presents Visit Goochland.
35-Mile Drive at the Virginia Tourism Summit in Richmond, Virginia
On behalf of 35-Mile Drive and tourism in Goochland County, Jenny Liesfeld and Aynsley Fisher attended the VA-1: LoveWorks Conference. The two-day event offered attendees from the tourism industry around Virginia the chance to network, learn and gain insight into the latest data. Highlights included: electronic marketing workshops, lunch with members of Virginia’s General Assembly, a report on the new statewide tourism plan, how to integrate the “Virginia is for Lovers” campaign and your own, latest consumer research and travel trends, tourism and economic development, marketing leverage grant programs and panel discussions on leading with advocacy and supporting tourism when funding is cut, frozen or nonexistent.
Fun Fact:
The highly anticipated movie “Lincoln” (in theaters November 16, 2012), directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, was filmed in Richmond, Petersburg and even Goochland County. Petersburg plays Richmond, Richmond plays Washington, D.C., and the Goochland/Powhatan set from HBO’s award-winning miniseries “John Adams” also played a role. As Rita McClenny, Director of the Virginia Film Office and Interim President and CEO of the Virginia Tourism Corporation reported, “when Spielberg saw the Capitol in Richmond, he said, ‘I want that to be the backdrop for my film!'”
From Hollywood, CA to Goochland County! Suri Downs Alpacas will be one stop on the Goochland Farm Tour on September 15th.
5th Annual Farm Tour to Showcase Goochland Farms
Are you looking for a fun, free educational outing that everyone in your family will enjoy? If so, then come join us for the fifth annual Farm Tour. This year’s Farm Tour will highlight local Goochland agri-businesses, including a dairy operation, a sustainably produced beef farm, specialized equestrian facilities, an alpaca farm as well as the Goochland Farmers Market.
The free, self-guided tour will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, when six unique agribusiness sites will be open to the public. Operators will make presentations on the hour and the half-hour.
The following farms will be featured:
Alvis Farms, 1700 Alvis Road, Manakin Sabot
Alvis Farms is a family owned and operated dairy farm in eastern Goochland County. The dairy was started in 1965, and is now home to 750 milking cows, most of which are Registered Holsteins. The milking cows are housed on waterbeds, and are milked three times a day. The family also farms roughly 4,000 acres, which is spread throughout 8 different counties. The crops grown are corn, wheat, soybeans, barley, and alfalfa. The farm tour will showcase both the dairy and crop operations. Additionally, representatives from Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District will be on hand providing educational information.
Applegarth Farm, 1225 Shallow Well Road, Manakin: Applegarth Farm is a horse training and boarding operation established in 2001. The farm currently boards over 25 horses, many of whom are trained in hunter-jumping.
Brookview Farm, 854 Dover Road, Manakin-Sabot: The Fishers have been pioneers in organic, sustainable farming in the mid-Atlantic since establishing Brookview in 1981 as a grass-fed and finished- cattle commercial farming operation. Family-owned and operated, Brookview comprises over 300 acres of pasture on which cattle roam and graze exclusively on grass and clover. Brookview epitomizes the highest standards of environmental stewardship, producing all organic products without the use of pesticides, hormones and commercial fertilizers
The Goochland Farmers Market
Goochland Farmer’s Market, 2955 River Road West (Grace Episcopal Church),
Goochland: Every Saturday morning from May through October, Goochland’s only all volunteer and non-profit Farmer’s Market is open from 8 a.m. until noon. Each week, this genuine country market offers some of the finest produce, meats, breads, wines, cheeses, plants and farm crafts produced in Central Virginia.
Little Hawk Farm, 1625 Cardwell Road, Crozier: Dr. Tom Newton and his wife Jennifer live and work at Little Hawk Farm, a regionally renowned equine reproduction center. Dr. Newton has over thirty years of equine veterinary experience and offers a full range of equine reproductive services—including all three methods of breeding horses. Little Hawk Farm has several barns to accommodate outside mares, stallions, foaling stalls as well as a reproductive lab. There are also a number of award winning stallions on site, along with Sam-Mule, the friendly, resident Sicilian miniature donkey.
Suri Downs Alpacas, 2280 Camelback Road, Maidens: In 2006, a chance encounter with a newspaper article extolling the joys of alpacas prompted the Finchers to consider trading their Hollywood, CA lifestyles for a more rural way of life. Five years later, the couple moved to Maidens, VA and established Suri Downs Alpacas. Together they raise over 30 friendly alpacas on their farm and currently have two crias (babies).
The Center for Rural Culture will offer grilled local, organic, grass-fed beef burgers provided by Brookview Farm as well hot dogs and veggie burgers with sides and a beverage. The luncheon will be held from 11:30 – 1:30 at beautiful Brookview Farm, 854 Dover Road, Manakin-Sabot. The cost is $7 for adults and $5 for children 6 and under. All proceeds will benefit the Center for Rural Culture’s Education and Outreach Programs. Lunch reservations are required. Please call (804) 556-5841 or e-mail sgrayson@vt.edu with your meal preferences by Sep 13th. Additionally, the Women of Grace Episcopal Church will have delicious homemade baked goods for sale separately.
Tour sponsors include the Center for Rural Culture, the Goochland Office of Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Goochland County Farm Bureau, the Goochland Chamber of Commerce and the Monacan Soil and Water Conservation District.
For those of you who live in the Richmond, Virginia metro region, please join us Saturday, March 31st at Brookview Farm in Manakin-Sabot, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In celebration of early spring on the farm, we will have cooking demos including how to make your own potato chips and how to cook grass-fed beef. As you may know, Brookview is an organic farm specializing in grass-fed beef.
Learn more about the Local Roots Online Food Co-op, an online year-round farmer’s market with Thursday pickups at Brookview.
We will be serving our famous Brookview Beef Barbecue for lunch. Bring the family for a special day on the farm!
This workshop is for anyone who has looked at the mushrooms available in the grocery store and wished for fresher, non-bruised, local mushrooms for their table. Participants will learn the techniques and environmental conditions necessary for growing delicious shiitake mushrooms in Virginia. After a discussion of the factors necessary to get started, participants will tour the mushroom production area on Rock Castle Farm. After this quick tour, students will be given spawn and a log (3-4′) to inoculate and bring home to grow their own mushrooms. We will provide all the necessary tools and supplies. The cost of this workshop is $25, which includes a $5.00 materials fee for the spawn and log. Participants can register online at http://crcmushrooms.eventbrite.com. Or click the link above.
Saturday, March 24, 2012 from 1:00 to 3:30 pm
Rockcastle Farm
745 Rock Castle Road
Goochland, Va.
For more information, visit www.centerforruralculture.org. Interested in more workshops? View their schedule in the popular Homesteading series.
ChicknEGG Productions, who brings us My Manakin Market in central Virginia, will offer a workshop for aspiring or beginning farmers featuring essential resources and tools that will help make your start-up farm enterprise a success. The all-day workshop kicks off on February 9th at the Holiday Inn Kroger Center South Conference Center in Richmond, Virginia and is followed by a farm tour on February 10th.
In Search of Chickens?
Don’t miss the upcoming Master Chicken Keepers Workshop on February 25th. Learn how to integrate chickens into your yard and garden in ways that will benefit you, your neighborhood and community. Learn how the little chicken can empower urban agriculture and help save on local tax payer dollars. Time to think outside the coop and inside your garden.
So you miss the farmer’s market? Not to worry, check out My Manakin Market’s new indoor winter market. Saturday, February 4th at Enzo’s Italian Chophouse on the new heated indoor patio in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia.
For information on the Farm Enterprise Workshop, the Master Chicken Keeper Workshop and the Indoor Market, please visit www.chiknegg.com
“String “in the new year with nationally-known bluegrass band Anderson-Strickland at the historic Tanglewood Ordinary Restaurant in Goochland County along the 35 Mile Drive.
Hailing from Troutdale, Virginia, Gerald Anderson and Spencer Strickland are renowned as makers of “Crooked Road” guitars. Their handcrafted mandolins and guitars are sought after by musicians all over the county. The best in class, 5 member bluegrass band has twice entertained audiences on “Song of the Mountains” at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Marion, Virginia. With searing instrumentation and soaring harmonies, Anderson and Strickland play with an exuberance and joy that is infectious. Whether jamming in the sawdust of their instrument shop, on stage or in the studio, they bring it every time.
Spend an evening in the country, go west and get your grass on!
Within thirty minutes from Richmond, Tanglewood is a destination in an of itself. Family-style dining. Dinner served up to 7:30. Steamed spriced shrimp among their famous sides and additional entrees. Advance reservations for whole tables (4 and up) available at $40 per person which includes dinner, music, regular beverages, dessert, tax and tip. Beer and wine available, champagne by request.
This year the 2016 Purveyor of the year, Manakintowne Specialty Greens, hosts Dutch & Co and Tom Power of Fat Canary as they bring the farm…. literally….to your table.
The 35-Mile Drive Presents Visit Goochland 