Washington, D.C., May 31, 2011 – NoMa’s first farmers market starts tomorrow, bringing fresh, local produce and prepared foods to this rapidly growing neighborhood.
The farmers market, organized by the NoMa Business Improvement District and managed by Metro Green Markets, will take place Wednesdays from June 1 to October 26, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at 1200 First Street, NE (First and M Streets, NE). Patrons can pick up dinner or snacks after work or on their way home, then head over to NoMa Summer Screen at Second and L Streets, NE (starts at 7 p.m. each Wednesday through August 10).
Visit nomabid.wpengine.com/farmersmarket for weekly updates, specials and vendor announcements. Tomorrow, the first 100 customers will receive a bright orange NoMa shopping bag. A stellar list of popular chefs will provide demos nearly every week, starting tomorrow at 4 p.m. with Chef Todd Gray of Equinox and NoMa’s own Watershed Restaurant. Other chefs include: Peter Smith of PS7, Yesso Lee of Mandu, Dwayne Hickman of the Reef, Ris Lacoste of Ris, and many more. Special drawings and activities will take place throughout the market season, including a salsa contest, free recipes, music, and more.
Food stamps in the form of WIC (Women, Infants, Children) and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) are accepted. For more information, visit the market manager’s booth.
A list of participating farmers is listed below, and more will be announced in the coming weeks:
- Groff’s Content Farm is a certified organic farm producing and selling beef, lamb, pork, goats, chickens, eggs, duck and turkeys. The animals are pasture-raised and finished on grass, which takes longer but increases the health benefits of meat without comprising taste or quality. Bob and Julie Bolton’s farm dating back to the 1750’s is located on 100 acres in Frederick County, Maryland. www.groffscontentfarm.com
- Richfield Farm: The Seletzky’s 80-acre farm is located in Manchester, Maryland. They offer berries, melons, flowers and large variety of vegetables including 10 kinds of lettuces, 15 different heirloom tomatoes, greens, purple asparagus, and cauliflower in a variety of colors, to name just a few.
- Spriggs Delight Farm is a small dairy goat farm located two miles southwest of the Antietam Battlefield in the rural countryside of Sharpsburg, Maryland. In 2009, they won second place awards for their Hillside Feta and French-style Tomme at the National American Dairy Goat Cheese Competition. Their cheeses include chevres, camembert, blue, tome and feta. www.spriggsdelightfarm.com
- Atwaters: Ned Atwaters’ bakery is located in Baltimore, Maryland. The breads are hand-shaped and hearth-baked from scratch using organic stone ground flour and seasonal ingredients from local farms. They also offers cookies, muffins, brownies, scones, cakes and granola. www.atwaters.biz
- Karen Kay’s Cakes: Karen’s pound cakes are made using organic and local ingredients from farmers markets. She says while baking in her commercial kitchen in Silver Spring she always adds a lot of love. The variety of flavors include red velvet and carrot cakes; pound cake flavors include lemon poppy seed, blueberry lemon, apple raspberry, chocolate raspberry, sweet potato, pumpkin and strawberry. www.karenkayscakes.com
- Stachowski Brand Charcuterie: Jamie became well known for his “Butcher’s Block” at his former venue Restaurant Kolumbia in Washington, DC. He now makes charcuterie in a Fairfax butcher shop several days a week with his son, Joey. He offers a generous array of pates, galantine terrines, sausages and cured meats. He sources his meats from a number of local farms. www.stachowsibrandcharcuterie.com
- The Copper Pot Company: Renowned Italian Chef Stefano Frigerio decided to leave the restaurant world of cooking 16 hours a day in order to stay home with his family. However, he missed cooking and started making jams and sauces for family and friends. Copper Pot was born. Find him at local farmers ‘s markets selling fruit jams, pasta sauces and hand-made fresh pasta, such as beet and goat cheese ravioli, lemon fettuccine and tortellini filled with braised duck or spinach. www.cooperpotfoodcompany.com
To receive weekly information about events, including movies, concerts, farmers markets and more, sign up at nomabid.wpengine.com. For a vendor application for the farmers market, contact Market Manager Donné Malloy of Metro Green Markets at [email protected] or 202-236-8299.
The NoMa BID organizes and attracts more than 100 free events each year.
- NoMa Summer Screen, a free outdoor movie series, runs Wednesdays through August 10. Visit www.nomasummerscreen.com for a full lineup of TRAIN movies.
- Rhythm in NoMa, a free lunch-time concert series, has expanded to two locations. Join us Thursdays and Fridays throughout the summer; full schedule at nomabid.wpengine.com/rhythm
About NoMa
NoMa is a vibrant, connected neighborhood north of Union Station and the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. In the last five years, private developers have invested more than $3 billion in the 35-block area covered by the NoMa BID, and have plans to develop more than 20 million square feet of office, residential, hotel, and retail space. In 2010, more than 6,000 people moved into NoMa to live or work; and eight new retailers opened for business. NoMa has 15 modes of transportation, including two Red Line Metro stops, and the best biking facilities in DC, with the only East Coast Bikestation, the 8-mile Met Branch Trail, and six Capital Bikeshare stations. For more information about NoMa, visit nomabid.wpengine.com and sign up for our bimonthly newsletter. Follow us on Twitter @NoMaBID; or Facebook at www.facebook.com/nomabid.
###