Buy produce from farmers: Support sustainable agriculture

Richard Settle of the Sunset View Farm in Culpeper offers yellow and white cling peaches and tomato plants. David Giusti brings flowers, heirloom tomatoes, habanera peppers, swiss chard, eggplants, squash, snap peas, and many kinds of herbs from the Wheatland Farm in Loudoun County. Sabry Alsharkawi sells herbs, flowers, and tomatoes from his farm in Broad Run, and like many of the farmers I spoke with, avoids chemicals.

These are just a few of the farmers selling produce at the Annandale Farmers Market at Mason District Park on Columbia Pike. It’s one of 12 farmers markets in the county supervised by the Fairfax County Park Authority through the Community Horticulture office based at Green Spring Gardens.

In addition to produce and plants, you can also buy pies and other baked goods, meat products, cheese, honey, and dried herbs. If you have a gardening question, you can consult experts at a Master Garden Plant Clinic.

All of the products sold at the farmers markets are produced within 125 miles of Fairfax County. The idea is to support locally grown, sustainable agriculture, while forging a personal connection between farmers and consumers.

Settle decided to become a farmer 28 years ago and only sells what he grows on his 35-acre farm to farmers markets. Giusti is one of several young farmers who live at Wheatland and lease their land and equipment from the farm owners. He’s seen a huge spike in sales in the last two years, as “farmers markets have gotten more popular and more mainstream.”

The Annandale Farmers Market is open on Thursdays, 8:30 a.m.-noon, through Nov. 5. There’s also a Farmer’s Market at Wakefield Park; it’s open on Wednesday afternoons, 2-6 p.m., through Oct. 28.

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