Smart Markets Lorton Will Be Closed Today Due to High Winds

We will be CLOSED today due to the high-winds forecast but will be back next week with fresh chicken, lamb, and pork for holiday dinners and lots of other good things to eat, including full-service BBQ from Fat and Happy.

From the Market Master

Spring has sprung! It may not feel like much like spring, but we will be greeting it soon. I took a lovely picture of the bloomin’ daffodils (use picture if it’s good enough) in my back yard covered in a light dusting of snow the other morning. They survived the attack and now there are even some pink trees scattered throughout the neighborhood. Working at my computer every day, I can see the bird feeder in the back yard, and I have noticed another sure sign of spring -- the gold finches are turning gold once again! I even saw two squirrels mating on a tree limb high above the ground -- seems like the hard way to do it to me. But all of those signs are telling us that spring will surely bring its warmth in time for Passover on the 25th and Easter next weekend.

For those of us who organize or manage markets, this is the most exciting time of year, as we hear from all the farmers and other applicants and get to decide where to assign them for your shopping pleasure. This year I heard from several young farmers who are essentially faming organically and in some cases better than organically as now defined and soon-to-be defiled by the federal government. They are not only careful about what they add to the soil, but they farm so that they are also adding back to the soil every year the nutrients that the plants absorb and pass along to us when we eat them.

I am sure you know by now that you are paying a little extra for that devotion to protecting the environment when you buy from these local farmers. You are supporting farming that creates healthy soil and produces healthier plants naturally without chemical additives of any kind. There is no dangerous runoff into nearby streams and watersheds, the soil is not stripped of its ability to support healthy plant life for us or for animals, and in many cases that care and attention to detail actually creates healthier food -- food that will do what it’s supposed to do in our bodies.

That brings me full circle to what I talk about all the time: Food should be what we eat to nourish us, keep us healthy and make us strong, smart, and disease-resistant. Believing that may narrow your options, but it sure widens your opportunities for a long and healthy life. What better lesson to draw from the coming of spring!