Written by Amy McGuire for the Spring/Summer 2022 edition of inGaithersburg Magazine

Yummy, fresh-picked produce. Unique and hard-to-find veggies. Delicious and diverse cultural foods. It’s no wonder a trip to a Gaithersburg farmers market is more like a culinary adventure than a chore to check off your to-do list. Supporting local farming families, meeting neighbors, helping the environment, and learning where your food comes from – there’s no doubt that farmers markets provide nourishment for the body and the soul.

Gaithersburg hosts two distinct markets. The Main Street Market, located in Kentlands, offers a variety of cultural foods, flowers, produce, and local spirits, serving neighborhood regulars and the wider community beyond – including four legged friends seeking homemade pet treats!

The Casey Farmers Market focuses on community building, providing accessible nutritious foods, including hard-to-find specialty produce. It also hosts local food trucks and the Great Gaithersburg Bake-Off.

Get to Know Your Farmers

Ever wonder where your food comes from? How it’s grown? Who grows it?

“Farmers markets reconnect communities to their food system,” says Program Coordinator Anna Pfaff. “They create an opportunity for farmers to simultaneously sell fresh, local food and serve as food educators, helping to revitalize the way consumers shop and eat.”

“It’s good for people to see who their food comes from,” says Brandon Masser of Scenic View Orchards. “They can ask questions and make informed decisions on the food that they eat and don’t eat.”

For seven generations, Scenic View Orchards has adapted to their customers’ wants. In 1981, Richard Masser started planting trees and created an orchard on his farm in Sabillasville, MD. “We started selling fruit in my grandmother’s front yard from a picnic table, and then upgraded to a wagon,” says Brandon. “Then we added cold storage and a roadside market. Now we grow hundreds of different varieties of fruits and vegetables in addition to honey, cider, and spreads that we bring to markets.”

“Farmers markets are important to the community because they give residents a place to buy fresh produce and a wide array of other goods every week and at the same time catch up with their neighbors,” says Ryan Tuckey. “It also gives an outside option to shopping during the pandemic.”

Ryan and Katie Tuckey purchased their 72-acre farm in Gardners, PA in 2012. Before that, they worked with Ryan’s dad on the family farm where he grew up. “Fruit is our big thing,” says Ryan. “We grow strawberries, blueberries, red and black raspberries, gooseberries, cherries, plums, apricots, plumcots, nectarines, peaches, apples, and last but not least, quince.” Tuckey’s also offers a wide range of vegetables, zinnias, free range brown eggs, and pork sausage.

After leaving a high-stress NYC job, Ryan Yu and his wife Peggy decided to go back to their roots in Maryland and work in the community where they grew up.

“We started to fall in love with the idea of growing our own veggies and started thinking, wouldn’t it be great if we could grow enough that we could sell it to our local community at a reasonable cost?” shares Ryan. “My wife had the idea of starting off in microgreens since it was a relatively lower cost point to start and would allow us to see many growing cycles in a short amount of time.”

Starting with peppers, then a few trays of microgreens a week for family friends, soon Yu Fresh Farm was growing more than 40 trays a week and now has weekly subscribers, donors supporting their efforts, 30 hens for eggs, and a caterpillar tunnel for covered growing space.

“We feel more connected to the community and feel a high sense of fulfillment because our customers really appreciate the service we provide them,” says Ryan.

Explore the World - Through Food!

Stroll through a Gaithersburg Famers Market and you’ll discover vendors and food offerings representing a wide range of cultures. What else would you expect in the most culturally diverse small city in the country?

“The food options available at both markets reflect the rich fabric of Gaithersburg’s diverse community, offering a wide cultural variety of prepared foods, including Romanian, Asian, African, and French inspired recipes,” says Anna. “Farmers often carry unique produce, including Jute leaves, garden eggs, turkey berry, hot peppers, okra, and white watermelon.”

“You can often find specialty items like Jolof Rice, Carolina Reapers, fresh ginger, and a lot of specialty produce you just can’t find in grocery stores,” says Ryan Yu. “Because you have a lot of skilled individual growers bringing products directly to the markets, you often find growers who cater to their crowd and will grow specialty items that their consumers seek out.”

One of the most popular items at the Casey Market is the garden egg, a type of African eggplant that was not originally an offering until a customer provided Scenic View Orchards with seeds to start growing the hard-to-find produce. “A lady approached my father about growing garden eggs for her,” says Brandon. “She convinced him of the potential and he started growing them the following year. We have been growing two different varieties of garden eggs every year since then and the market has grown because of it.”

Scenic View Orchards also started growing extremely hot peppers when customers mentioned they couldn’t find them anywhere, including habaneros, Trinidad Scorpion, Carolina Reaper, and 7 Pot. “Now the peppers sell even better than the garden eggs,” says Brandon.

Nutrition for All

According to the Montgomery County Food Council, more than 60,000 Montgomery County residents are unsure of when or where their next meal is coming from. Gaithersburg Farmers Markets are committed to ensuring nutritious fresh food is accessible to everyone in the community. Many vendors accept SNAP, WIC, and Senior FMNP checks.

The Casey Farmers Market, which was identified as serving a high-needs population, began participating in the Maryland Market Money (MMM) program in July of 2021, providing $10,000 in nutritional benefits for its customers.

“The MMM is a statewide food access program that supports farmers and removes economic barriers for Marylanders experiencing food insecurity through farmers markets,” says Anna. The program, run jointly by the Southern Maryland Agricultural Department Commission and the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation, offers grant money to participating farmers markets in order to offer matching funds for those using nutrition benefits such as FMNP, SNAP and WIC.

With the MMM program, customers receive tokens that they can spend at the majority of the market’s vendors. “We wanted to focus on destigmatizing using benefits at the Farmers Market,” says Anna. “So we only invited vendors who were SNAP eligible. Now, customers don’t have to guess if a vendor can take their market tokens.”

Environment

With less shipping and packaging than used by traditional grocery stores, shopping local farmers markets is not only good for the body and soul, but also the planet.

“Farmers Markets are incredibly crucial to a healthy environment,” says the City’s Sustainability Coordinator, Deb Moran. “Eating locally reduces emissions related to travel, encourages proper management of our land and nearby waterways, and reduces packaging materials – plus you’re supporting local businesses while you eat healthy nutritious food. And don’t forget that there’s a convenient composting drop off site at Casey Community Center.”

Gaithersburg Farmers Markets are a win all around. Learn more here.