Boyertown Farmers Market Harvests New Approach To Showcase Local Growers and Producers

     Nearly everything about the Boyertown Farmers Market is new for the summer of 2013. The market boasts a new location, new day, new time, new faces-- and all are even better than before.

     Located at the S. Reading Ave. (Rte. 562) entrance to the “inner core” parking lot in Boyertown, the market invites vendors and shoppers to share farm fresh produce and other items made locally. Market hours are 3- 7:00 p.m., Fridays.

     Brian James, the new market manager, is happy with the changes. “The old location just wasn’t customer friendly. The move was an excellent decision. The new day and time are great for people who can stop on the way home from work and pick up something fresh and healthy to cook up for dinner. It is also nice that people leaving town for a summer weekend can grab some things to take with them,” he explains. James further points out, “The new day and time also solve the problem of competing for quality vendors. We are now able to bring in sellers who visit other markets on Saturdays and Sundays.”

     Shorty’s Sunflower Truck Stop Mobile Cafe is one of the highlights of this new market season. Sunflower Café owner and chef, George Bieber, is purchasing fresh ingredients from local growers, cooking them into an eclectic menu that changes weekly, and taking them on the road. A graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High, Bieber says he is excited to be back in his hometown of Boyertown. “I always imagined my restaurant in town back in the old days when I strolled around town. Now I will get to fulfill that dream for four hours a week,” he says.

     One recent Sunflower Truck favorite is a Crab Melt that features lump crabmeat, Gouda cheese, artichoke hearts, and spinach on grilled sourdough bread. With a menu like that, it is no wonder that Bieber’s truck food has been featured on ABC’s “Life with Kelly and Michael – the Truckin’ Amazing Cookoff.” By mid-May, the Sunflower contest entry – Roasted Sweet Potato Quesadilla with Quinoa— was voted into the top 10 by viewers across the country; the contest is still in progress.

     In addition to the Sunflower food truck, vendors coming to market this Friday, July 26, include Boyertown’s Ironstone Creamery, selling assorted fresh cheeses and delicious yogurt smoothies, and Frecon Farms, also from Boyertown, selling fresh seasonal fruits, butters, and ciders. Kutztown’s Burkholder’s Certified Organic Produce, offering a variety of vegetables and free-range eggs, will join them

     Also coming to market are Freeland Market, selling specialty smoked meats and sausages; Berks' County’s Brook Lee Farm, which focuses on naturally raised produce, salsas, preserves, and also Prout’s’ Jolly View Farm from the Oley Valley, which brings items such as raspberries and other seasonal produce, as well as cut flowers.

     While fresh and healthy foods are the focus of the market, vendors selling craft items and art are welcome as well. South Hill Designs, offering “lockets and charms to tell your story,” will be on site Friday, and recently, several artists associated with Studio B, Boyertown’s non-profit Art Gallery, have joined them, doing impromptu sketches and selling some of their previously created pieces of art.

     More occasional vendors at the market include Wild Fox Farm, located in Barto, which sells an array of vegetables, sauces, and ketchup made from their produce, and Woodsong Hollow Farm from Boyertown, which carries pasture raised chicken, pork, eggs, turkey, and sheepskins. See the websites and phone numbers below for more specific vendor information.

     Although this is his first year overseeing the market, market manager Brian James has lived in the Gilbertsville area for 20 years and has been involved in a variety of local business endeavors. His goal is “to help the market reach its fullest potential.” Although the market currently occupies a small space, he hopes to see it expand, hopefully into a small section of the actual inner core lot.

     James observes that the local geography lends itself to small family farms and he sees the Farmers Market as a way “to help bring viability to those farms in the area, while bringing fresh healthy food to the consumer.”  He notes that the market can serve as a town center that brings people together. To encourage folks to come out and patronize the market, James offers a book exchange and is planning special events like a cookbook exchange. He also makes an “open mic” available for music performers.

     “Modern agriculture focuses on selling by the pound, not selling by quality,” James says. He would like to see people “shifting their focus from an emphasis on the economic bottom line to people selling and buying quality food that is not engineered to provide quantity per acre, but instead is grown to provide food that is genuinely healthy and tasty, and offered at reasonable prices.” James’ concept is clearly visible among the vendors bringing their wares to the Boyertown Farmer’s market.

The Boyertown Farmers Market is a subcommittee of Building A Better Boyertown (BBB), and was created to strengthen BBB’s downtown revitalization efforts. See the website listing that follows for additional information about BBB’s goals and events.

Related websites:

To sign up for the Boyertown Farmers Market mailing list and receive a weekly newsletter

            http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=001PKbLI8HmW-WCKqIt3AX67g%3D%3D

Boyertown Farmers Market on Facebook

            https://www.facebook.com/Boyertown.farm.manager

Brook Lee Farm  

            No website; call 610- 929- 5541 for information

Building A Better Boyertown

            http://www. boyertownpa.org

Burkholder’s Certified Organic Produce

            No website; call 610-682-7460 for information

Frecon Farms  (610- 367- 6200)

            http://www.freconfarms.com/about-us/

Freeland Market 

            No website; call 610- 326- 0900 for information

Iron Stone Creamery  (610- 952- 2748):

            http://www.ironstonecreamery.com/Home_Page.html

 Prout’s Jollyview Farm  (610-291- 2369)

            https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prouts-Jollyview-Farm/108492249238883   (on Facebook)

Shorty’s Sunflower Truck Stop         (610- 608- 5395)

            http://www.thesunflowertruckstop.com/about_us

Wild Fox Farm  (267- 424-1439)

            http://www.wildfoxfarm.com

Woodsong Hollow Farm  (369- 473- 8938)

            http://www.woodsonghollow.com