Independence Farmers Market

Kids Corner- Berry Day!
2019-07-19 10:00 - 11:00 UTC
Join us Friday, July 19th at the Kids Corner from 10-11 am for all things BERRIES! Berries are super healthy and really tasty, so why not indulge? We’ll be tasting a variety of berries and using their beautiful, vibrant colors to PAINT! Seriously, though, this is a day you won’t want to miss! All ages are welcome to participate and activities are always free.

Berry Festival
2019-07-19 09:00 - 13:00 | Town Park
Join us and sponsor River Ridge Organics for the 7th Annual Berry Festival Friday, July 19 Featuring a berry pie contest, free berry tasting, berry pancakes and a berry sorbet fundraiser for the Market. Vendors highlight berries and berry products. River Ridge Organics is USDA certified berry farm near Mouth of Wilson. You can find their berries at the Friday and On-line Farmers Markets. River Ridge donated the berries for the Sorbet fundraiser that is a highlight of Berry Day. This year, sorbet will be available by the bowl or frozen pint. Chef Jen Cavey will be making pancakes with berry syrup to benefit the Market as well.
Enter the Berry Pie contest sponsored by The Grayson County Historical Society. In keeping with the historical theme, this will feature traditional berry pies. Pies are limited to crust, and simple berry filling. The winning entry will receive $100. Please bring your pies to the Market by 9:30. Judging will begin at 10 am.
The Berry Festival began with one of our earliest vendors and board members Steve Mabe’s( most of you may know him as the sweet potato man) suggestion.

Kids Corner-DIY Stress Balls For Kids!
2019-07-12 10:00 - 11:00 | Town Park
Join us Friday, July 12th from 10-11 am at the Kids Corner to celebrate Wellness Day by making your very own stress ball! Kids of all ages are welcome and activities are always free.

Wellness Day
2019-07-12 09:00 - 13:00 | Town Park
Wellness Day features many local healthcare providers and offers free health screenings and activities for the community and vendors. Community partners include VDH, Twin County Hospital, In Total Health, Virginia Tech Family Nutrition, and more. Wellness Day began in 2015 in partnership with the Virginia Department of Health.

Cooking Day at the Market
2019-07-05 10:00 - 12:30 | Town Park
Come to the Market and see what’s cooking today!. Learn how to cook fresh, local food. Samples are available and donations are appreciated.

Kids Corner-Make your own garden snack!
2019-07-05 10:00 - 11:00
Join us Friday, July 5th, from 10-11 am, at the Kids Corner to put together your very own healthy AND tasty garden snack! Children of all ages are welcome to participate and activities are always free.

Kids Day
2019-06-28 09:00 - 13:00 | Town Park
Free fun for the whole family during the entire Market! At Kids Day, learn to throw a lasso, print with wood blocks, milk a “cow,” and have fun hula hooping and playing games. All activities are free and open to kids of all ages. Community partners include Cowbody Don, 4H, Virginia Department of Health, Blue Ridge Discovery Center, local artist Ellie Kirby, hula hoops with Laura, Girl Scouts, and Bessie the wooden cow. Kids Day began in 2012 and was our 1st Farmers Market Event. It remains one of the most popular activities at the Farmers Market and led to the addition of the Kids Corner every Friday from 10-11 while Grayson County Schools are closed for the summer.

Ice Cream Social Fundraiser
2019-06-23 14:00 - 17:00
Celebrate Dairy Month with our 3rd Annual Ice cream social fundraiser Sunday June 23 from 2-5pm. We close down Courthouse Street and serve ice Cream with delicious homemade toppings and desserts. $10, kids under 10, $5. All proceeds go to fund the Farmers Market.

Kids Corner-Nature Crowns
2019-06-21 10:00 - 11:00 | Town Park
Join us this week at the Kid’s Corner from 10-11 am to make NATURE CROWNS! Kids of all ages are welcome to participate and activities are always free.

Kids Corner-Seed Bomb Lollipops
2019-06-14 10:00 - 23:00 | Town Park
Join us at the Kid’s Corner on June 14th at the Independence Farmers Market between 10-11 am to make SEED BOMB LOLLIPOPS! Kids of all ages are welcome to participate and activities are always free.

Cooking Day at the Market
2019-06-07 10:00 - 12:30 | Town Park
Join us the first Friday of the month, beginning in June, for Cooking Day. We make an array of dishes from whatever is available at the Market. Learn how to cook fresh, local food. Samples are available and donations are appreciated.

Farm Day
2019-05-26 14:00 - 17:00 | Wagon Wheel Farm, Independence, VA
Join us Sunday May 26th from 2- 5 pm at Wagon Wheel Farm, 1322 Gold Hill Rd, Independence VA for an afternoon of hands-on activities. See and try out some of the best market garden tools. If you’ve taken our “Grow More Vegetables” class, you’ll see those spacings and planting ideas in the ground and growing! Learn to make a worm bin and prepare logs for mushrooms. Tour the greenhouse, high tunnel and field. Plant sale and Free kids activities. We’ll repeat the demonstrations 3 times. Worms and Vegetables will start on the hour: 2,3 and 4pm. Mushrooms and growing great transplants will start at 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30. Rain date is Sunday June 2, same time and place.

Celebrate Seeds and Pollinators May 17
2019-05-17 09:00 - 13:00 | Town Park
Sarah Ross, founder of Social Roots will join the Market from 9am to 1 pm Friday May 17. Social Roots promotes heirloom plants that are particularly well adapted to the South. One of the goals is to get people “hooked” on heirlooms. An heirloom is a plant variety that has a history of being passed down within a family or community, similar to the generational sharing of heirloom jewelry or furniture “It’s important to reconnect our Southern heritage foodways with heirloom vegetables and our local farming landscape.” Sarah continues “It’s about getting back to our history and our agricultural roots. At Social Roots, we grow and distribute seeds that are as healthy for the planet as they are for your table. Looking ahead, it’s important to develop varieties of plants with greater resilience to meet the outcomes of our changing world, particularly along the coast,” Social Roots founder Sarah Ross explains. “These are bulletproof varieties that can be grown virtually anywhere.” Saving seeds is something we can all do to protect our favorite plants. Varieties are dropped from seed catalogs every year. If you have a favorite open pollinated vegetable or flower, it’s pretty easy to save seeds so that you can pass them on to the next generation.
Social Roots has distributed free seeds to individuals, schools, scout troops, community gardens, family farms and chefs.
A perfect partner for Social Roots is Pollinator Day also on the 17th. Most plants require pollination to set seeds. We need bees and other pollinators so that we can save seeds from our favorite plants. World Bee day is May 20 and Mickey Cunningham will help us celebrate early with our own Pollinator Day. Mickey is a local beekeeper and head of the Honey Show at the Grayson County Fair this year. He will bring a demonstration hive and other information on bees

Grand Opening and Mother's Day Craft Fair
2019-05-10 09:00 - 13:00
Join us for the opening of the 2019 Market Season in Town Park! We’ve invited area artisans to join us Opening Day so you can find a perfect gift for Mother’s Day.

Pre-season Vendor meeting
2019-04-05 11:00 - 14:00 | Grayson LandCare/IFM office, 104 Courthouse Street, Independence, VA, United States
Have you thought about becoming a vendor at the Farmers Market? Here’s your chance to join returning vendors and find out about the coming season and enjoy a potluck lunch. Join us from 11-2 at the Grayson LandCare/IFM office at 104 Courthouse Street.
1) Please join us at 11 am. We’ll cover rules, fees, online market and more.
2)If you are a crafter joining us for the 1st time, please bring 3 representative items for jurying.
3) If you plan to sell canned or baked goods or offer samples,including meats, please plan to stay after for a presentation by Sandy Stoneman.
Looking forward to a another fun and fabulous season!

Grow More Vegetables-farm and garden
2019-01-26 09:00 - 12:00 | Default title, VA, United States
Seed catalog are filling the mailbox and it’s time to start planning what to grow this year. This is an interactive vegetable growing workshop for all skill levels. We’ll meet at the Grayson LandCare/IFM office at 108 Courthouse Street, Saturday January 26th from 9 am to noon. Cost is $10 and light refreshments will be served. Planting dates, spacing, interplanting and succession plantings will be addressed. Using information from the best national and local gardeners you’ll learn to apply these techniques to a single raised bed or a full-sized market garden. We’ll break into groups and design gardens for maximum production. We’ll also have our favorite tools, books and catalogs on display. Start planning for a successful garden now. The class is limited to 30 people. Please email Michelle Pridgen at independencefarmersmarket@gmail.com to register.

First Winter Market and Christmas Tree Fundraiser
2018-11-23 11:00 - 15:00 | Town Park
The Farmers Market returns to Town Park for on Green Friday from 11 am to 3 pm. Enjoy free kids activities, shop for delicious local products and beautiful crafts and pickup your pre-ordered Christmas trees and wreaths.
Christmas Tree

Fiber Day -June 21
2018-06-15 09:00 - 13:00 | Town Park
1st of ONLY 2 Fiber Days. Don’t miss it! The Blue Ridge Fiber Guild will hold 2 Fiber Days at the Market this year: June 21 and August 16 during regular Market hours from 9am to 1pm. Local fiber vendors will join the weekly Farmers Market. This is a great opportunity to purchase yarns, roving, raw fiber, baskets, and an array of knit, woven, and felted goods. Come and meet the artisans who often raise the animals providing fiber for the handmade items in their booths. Feel free to ask questions about farming with sheep, goats, alpacas, and rabbits, and see demonstrations of how raw fiber is turned into usable products.
Sandy Stoneman joins the Market today and will be testing the gauges on your pressure canning lids and will test the ph on your canned goods to make sure your recipes are safe. So feel free to bring last years pickles, salsas and tomato sauces to be tested.
