Downtown Market
Farmers and Vendors
Barberry Hill Farm
Location: Madison
Produces: Cut flowers, vegetables, wool, free-range eggs, potted plants, and orchard fruits.
Growing Practices: Sustainable. Barberry Hill Farm mulches municipal leaves, which provide a rich layer of topsoil and helps keep plants' roots moist. Consequently, Kingsley doesn't have to add any additional soil amendments and doesn't even need an irrigation system to keep his 20-acre farm running!
Borelli Farm
Location: Northford
Produces: Corn, flowers, mixed vegetables, pumpkins, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, and greens.
Colton's Corner Farm
Location: Cheshire
Produces: Apples and pears.
Common Ground High School Farm
Location: New Haven
Produces: Vegetables
Growing Practices: Non-certified Organic. Both students and staff at this farm engage in organic farming. Soil amendments include composted materials, manures, and organic fertilizers, and pest management relies on nourishing healthy plants and planting crops that attract "good" insects and local wildlife. An attempt to create a miniature wildlife corridor has brought many visitors to the farm including wild turkeys.
Motivation: Common Grounds really exists for its students and unlike any of the other farms at our market, this farm really exists for educational purposes. Students learn about food and help produce their own food as food raised on the farm is consumed in the cafeteria. Seeing students who started school not caring about wildlife, farming, or healthy food beg teachers to be let down to the fields to pick strawberries is just a small piece of what motivates Common Grounds and the New Haven Ecology Project to keep operating.
Herban Gourmet
Location: Madison
www.herbangourmetmarket.com
Produces: Prepared foods sourced locally, much of which is organic: Quiche, vegetable and meat wraps, burritos, salads, brownies, honey cayenne or maple cinnamon butter, spices, infused vinegars, blueberry or raspberry lemonade, and more. Many of their prepared food offerings change weekly.
Rose's Berry Farm:
Location: South Glastonbury
www.rosesberryfarm.com
Produces: Vegetables, cut flowers, berries, apples, potted plants, fresh eggs, baked goods, jams, vinegars, pies, and sauces.
Growing Practices: Rose's uses Integrated Pest Management (IPM) on its over 100-acre farm.
Motivation: Rose's Berry Farm has been around since 1910 and continues to provide great tasting berries to Connecticut along with many other offerings now. Rose's sells to markets, at their farm stand, and offers "pick-your-own" at different times throughout the year.
SoNo Baking Company
Location: South Norwalk
www.sonobaking.com/
Produces:Pastries, Bread, and Tarts
Stone Gardens
Location: Shelton
www.stonegardensfarm.com
Produces: A wide variety of vegetables including corn, tomatoes, peppers, squash, zucchini, greens, beets, eggplant, cucumbers, garlic, as well as fresh eggs and much more.
Growing Practices: Stone Gardens utilizes Integrated Pest Management, only spraying when necessary.
Motivation: Started by Fred and Stacia Monahan eight years ago, Stone Gardens has grown tremendously in recent years and is known for its sweet corn. Providing their customers delicious, fresh, and healthy food is one of their top priorities, and they are renown for their sweet corn.
Two Guys from Woodbridge
Location: Hamden
Produces: Herbs, wheatgrass, lettuces, salad mixes, and microgreens.
Growing Practices: Certified Organic and Farmer's Pledge. All of the produce from Two Guys From Woodbridge is hydroponic-grown in their greenhouse. Seeds are organic and there aren't many amendments added to the produce because there aren't any pests. The hydroponic system that Perry uses consumes only 1/3 of the water of a conventional farm, and he tries to be as eco-friendly as possible by recycling and reusing anything possible, and by recirculating water.
Motivation: Two Guys prides itself on delivering produce that is extremely fresh and high-quality to the local community. Unlike mass-produced salads and herbs, their products are picked freshly and sold at the market and at local grocery stores. The greenhouse where all of the produce is grown sits on the plot of the oldest property in Hamden and now serves its original purpose.
Voda Soap
Location: New Haven
www.vodasoap.com
Produces: Handmade artisan soaps
Sourcing Practices: Whenever possible Voda Soaps are made from certified organic raw ingredients. Debbie uses mainly coconut, olive, and palm oils but uses specialty ingredients such as mango butter. Local herbs are integrated into the product when in season.
Motivation: Exploring various creative careers and arts Debbie stumbled upon a soapmaking book and followed one of the book's recipes—immediately her friends started buying from her. Soon her products and their packaging became the creative career. The vision for Voda Soap is to provide customers with a luxurious natural product from which they can benefit. Linking herself with women-owned business circles, Debbie's soaps started selling and are now available in many retail stores across the country and are sold online. A trained herbalist that dreams of having her own apothecary, Debbie intends to release new products so be sure to check her out.
Waldingfield Farm
Location: Washington
www.waldingfieldfarm.com/
Produces: Vegetables, heirloom tomatoes
Growing Practices: Certified Organic
Motivation: Reclaiming their great-grandfather's old dairy farm, Waldingfield Farm is a 20 acre family affair run by the Horan brothers growing many varieties of rare heirloom tomatoes. They aspire to Thomas Jefferson's vision of virtuous yeoman farmers and self-sufficient, sustainable communities, nurturing their soil and their community.
