by Susan Michaud
Nestled next to Fat Cat Café in the Blue Sky Credit Union parking lot on Agate Avenue, Granby Farmers Market is the place to be every other Wednesday evening from 5 to 7 p.m. throughout the summer.
As the only farmers market in Grand County, it is a friendly, enjoyable place to find a variety of wares from gifts to groceries. Destination Granby’s Community Impact Manager Sarah Cichon-Douglas also describes the market as another opportunity for the chamber to help local businesses grow, and new, local vendors are welcome to register.
Dani Herzner, whose booth is called Fresh.Starts.n.Crafts, uses a wood-burning technique on reclaimed forest products to make earrings, key chains, wall plaques, and other originals. She also sells candles and candle holders. Dani is new to Grand County and loves the market because she can “get to know the locals this way.”
Other gift booths include Forged and Fare, a brother/sister enterprise showcasing knives and baked goods, and in her pink booth, Tonja Richards of DazzleandDefense.com displays defense accessories such as pepper spray specially designed for women.
She also sells children’s books that teach important safety concepts and prompt safety discussions.
For those arriving thirsty or hungry, Kona Ice is there as well as No Problem Granola. Truepenny Pitstop can be found serving up healthy smoothies, snacks, and bowls. According to their Facebook page, one of their newest menu adds is the “Smokey the Bear” smoothie, “a refreshing detox smoothie lemonade blended with activated charcoal.” And true to our Grand County style of giving, 10% of Smokey the Bear proceeds will go to Colorado Headwaters Land Trust, a local organization dedicated to protecting the scenic beauty, agriculture, water, wildlife, and biodiversity of our county.
Stressed? One may head straight to Spring Mountain Massage for a chair massage then wander over to Middle Park Health’s
booth for information about health services in the county.
Aloe, Goodbye has a large array of aloe plants and Christmas cactus, and owner Vicky Burton is there to educate and inform, so any purchased plant will thrive in its new home.
For traditional farmers’ market fare, several options are available. When owners Haley Brasile and Ben Rickard couldn’t buy bulk seed for their high tunnel during the pandemic unless they were a “farm,” they decided to become one. Hence the pandemic has gifted Grand County with fresh greens and herbs through Mountain Top Farm.
Sisu Farms’ booth offers pastured poultry and eggs, grass-fed beef, and dirt pork. (For those who are wondering, dirt pork comes from “pigs raised on dirt, where they love to be. They can root around, dig, and express all their piggy-ness. They get access to the pasture and get lots of grass hay on the days they don’t get out. No hormones, no antibiotics ever.”)
Also, Asa and Aila Holley’s four children and their friend are following their parents’ example of sustainable farming and entrepreneurship by bringing in produce from Miller Farms in Platteville to sell at the market. They donate 50% of their profit to Mountain Family Center whose mission is “Building strength and developing self-reliance for individuals and families through responsive and collaborative services.” They use the remainder to maintain their own farming business.
Fitch Ranch, whose mission is “to be excellent stewards of the land by following principles and practices of regenerative agriculture” can be seen at the market supplying their high-quality Black Angus beef. And if you want sauteed mushrooms on your steak, Mystic Mountain Mushrooms is next door, “Consciously Cultivating a variety of mushrooms with an owner backed by a mission to heal the world!”
The next Farmers Market is July 14. For more information or to register as a vendor, go to: https://www.destinationgranby.com/events/annual-events/farmers-market/
