Wednesday January 5th, 2011 saw a great achievement with the Tygart Valley Growers Association. Two members of the association, Nina Melvin and Mary Beth Lind, organized a group seed order and potluck. The gathering went incredibly well. We had 22 people attend and lots of Fedco catalogs on hand for everyone that needed them. Unfortunately Lewis Jett of WVU extension, had other commitments and could not attend. In his place, we distributed copies of his 2011 seed variety recommendations.
The night opened with a delicious potluck supplied by all the participants. Much of the food was grown by the producers and featured some home-made horseradish, some turnips, and fresh carrots. The problem with these events is that one's plate is never large enough!
After everyone had their fill, Ben Nemeth, Americorps VISTA Volunteer, spoke about the Tygart Valley Growers Association for all the non-members that were in attendance. Ben gave a short background on the organization and what it does. He also handed out several forms, one was a copy of seed variety recommendations made by Lewis Jett of WVU extension, and the other was an invitation to a farm to school program at the Small Farm Conference in February.
Next, Brenda Hunt from Heart and Hand House, inc. spoke. Heart and Hand House, a local faith-based organization runs the community garden market. She spoke about how much she has seen the market grow in the last several years and what a successful season they had this last year. She also talked briefly about the markets continuation through the winter. It will be open the third saturday of January, February and March. She also took questions and comments from the producers present in the room (all of them sell at the community garden market). Brenda also brought some of the new reusable shopping bags that were made up for the market.
Lastly, Mary Beth Lind spoke. Mary Beth Lind is a local author and dietician and helped to organize this event with Nina Melvin. Mary Beth spoke about how to use the catalog, and described the website for the ordering. She needs to have the orders in by the 15th at the latest. Mary Beth also mentioned that the group is already over the $300 required for the 20% discount. This means the remaining orders could help us to reach the next target of a 22% discount! I would like to take this time to thank Mary Beth Lind and Nina Melvin for organizing this event. It was a great success only because of their hard work and dedication to the group. Way to go!
We closed with individual conversations on seed varieties and planting advice from the more experienced growers in the group.
This is an event we would like to repeat for next year. We would like to have even more producers present for a 2012 seed order and aim for the 24% discount!
I would also like to thank Crim Church in Philippi for allowing us to use their facilities for this event.
One last thing. This seed order points to something much larger happening in West Virginia. The growth of this group over the last seven months has been extraordinary. Thanks to the size and commitment of the group, things are now possible that were not even being considered six months ago. This points to the larger notion that there is motivation for these types of programs and they can be successful in West Virginia. This is not only the case in Barbour County, but for the whole of WV.
