Saturday, October 24, 2015

4MRMarket Report: Your Sunday Morning Hangout!

The Four Mile Run Farmers & Artisans Market (4MRMarket) will be open every Sunday from 9am until 1pm from April 19th through November in Four Mile Run Park at 4109 Mt Vernon Avenue, Alexandria. (click here for directions)

Gourd-geous fall produce is in stock at 4MRMarket!
It's the last market before Halloween!  Come grab a host of decorative pumpkins and gourds to get yourself ready for fall if you haven't already.  Bring your kiddos down for some morning gallivanting before the big Del Ray Halloween parade!  As always, we'll have our fall festive atmosphere going music on stage from 10am-noon with the excellent Back Alley Blues Boys!

Whitney's World, Kenya Microcrafts will be here for her monthly visit to the market with her lovely fair trade baskets, so start stocking up for the holidays!

Plus, Volunteer Alexandria will be on site giving away FREE Emergency Preparedness Kits to market customers.  Come by and pick up a kit to make your household a safer one!

Book Sale a Big Success!

Thank you for the donations and for coming out and picking up some gently loved books for a good cause.  The book sale raised over $200 for the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria!  It was all possible thanks to our awesome customers, so thank YOU!

The Vendors!

Here is who you will find at 4MRMarket this weekend!

Food Vendors
  • C & T Produce (White Oak, VA) - A huge selection of locally grown produce from a locally, family-run farm in Stafford, Virginia.
  • Tom's Amish Cheese Store (Lancaster, PA) - Artisan Cheese and yogurt, farm-fresh eggs, and Pennsylvania honey. And now carrying all his great cave-aged cheeses at 4MRMarket!
  • St. Elmo's Coffee Pub (Del Ray) - Brewed coffee, tea, apple cider donuts, and always a few extra goodies!
  • Savory 'N Sweet (Alexandria) - Your local Bulgarian baker! Maker of Savory and Sweet Breads, Breakfast Pastries, Fruit Pies, Breadsticks, and Granola.
  • Second Rising Bakery (Alexandria) - Rebecca bakes delicious breads and cookies that are egg free and made with real butter, honey, and whole grains. Once this new business is up and running, it will help provide women that have been victimized by the sex trade a second chance.
  • --Off This Week-- She Peppers (Alexandria) - Backyard gardeners who have turned the peppers, vegetables, and herbs that we grow into delicious and unique BBQ sauces, pepper sauces, hot sauces, dips, and rubs. She Peppers also sells seeds and seedlings of the various types of peppers, tomatoes, and herbs for patrons.
  • Bagel Uprising (Del Ray) - Are you ready to rebel against dry, stale, flavorless bagels? Look no further! Bagel Uprising offers authentic handmade bagels—boiled and baked in small batches—that will satisfy your craving for the real thing.
  • Whole Health (Alexandria) - Organic teas, potpourris, and body scrubs from one of the largest Message and Acupuncture Therapy businesses in Northern Virginia.

And the talented Crafters:
  • Whitney's World, Kenya Microcrafts - Margaret is a popular purveyor of fair trade handmade baskets and jewelry from Kenya. She's back for her monthly visit to the market!
  • --Off This Week-- Felicity's Handcrafted Soaps - (Alexandria) - All Season - Specialty crafter of all-natural hand-made soaps and knitted items
  • Sun & Moon Accessories (Manassas) - All Season - handmade jewelry from mostly natural products (seeds, gems etc). hand sewn articles of clothing made from crotchet. Scarves and baby boots and hats.
  • --Off This Week-- Marie Bergeron (Arlington) - Selling original oil paintings, giclee prints, cards, and handmade gentleman jewelry boxes.
This Week on 4MR Stage...

We welcome market veteran Back Alley Blues Boys back to the 4MR Stage from 10-Noon!

Back Alley Blues Boys is a Metro DC based trio comprised of Art Hildebrand, Shawn Askin and Joe Weber. They play acoustic and electric guitar-driven blues, folk, and roots music, as well as some softer acoustic numbers and rock and roll tunes.

Our musicians volunteer their time on Sunday mornings to make yours even brighter! They graciously accept tips and friendly applause, so please help support music at 4MRMarket!

Composting at 4MRMarket!

Bring your non-animal-based food scraps in any type of container you choose, or purchase one on-site for a very low fee.
__________________________________

See below all the ways to help and participate in the market!
____________________________________

The supercool 4MRMarket t-shirt
BUY. Proceeds of our 4MRMarket T-shirts go to support the expansion and revitalization of 4MR Park. They cost $12 and come in 4 colors.

DONATE. Help 4MRMarket help 4MRPark. Tax-deductible donations can be made to support us in our efforts to revitalize Four Mile Run Park. Donate to the City's Living Landscape Fund to fund tree and other amenities at 4MRExpand More information here.

VOLUNTEER. We love help with set-up and tear-down and/or processing SNAP/EBT and Credit / Debit Card sales.  Just find a Market Manager to ask to help, or email us at 4MRMarket@arlandria.org for more info.

FOLLOW. Keep up to date on all the goings on by following 4MRMarket on FacebookTwitterGoogle+, Email or via our website and blog.


SPREAD THE WORD.  Please tell folks about us. And tell folks about some of the great things we're doing. For instance, all SNAP/EBT participants can take advantage of the Inova-sponsored "Double Dollar" program again this year that doubles the first $10 SNAP participants spend at the market. 4MRMarket is the first farmers’ market in Northern Virginia to accept SNAP. 
__________________________________

Buy Fresh Buy Local 4MRMarket products.
The Four Mile Run Farmers and Artisans Market (Alexandria, Virginia 22305) brings fresh, nutritious food to people of all income levels, provide an opportunity for local artisans and producers of goods to bring their wares to market, strive to reflect the diversity of the community, and improve the quality of life for Arlandria residents and visitors. It is part of an overall vision to expand and improve Four Mile Run park and the surrounding neighborhood.

For more info see: http://www.4mrmarket.org/
On Facebook: facebook.com/4MRMarket
On Twitter: @4MRMarket
Subscribe to Updates: via Email
Contact us at: 4MRMarket@arlandria.org
Or call the 4MRMarket hotline: (804) 4mi-Run1