We welcome a new farmer
The Market is pleased to welcome a new farmer to our ranks. Stony Croft Farms, located in Mayfield Township in Lapeer County, proudly grows all-organic grains and then grinds them into flour that they will sell at the Market starting on Opening Day, May 2.
As the owner, Doug Hodge, says on the farm’s website: “We plant all organic seed, which is Non-GMO, and utilize natural forms of fertilizer to enhance our soils and the grains that are grown. We do not use any glyphosate sprays and are progressing towards organic certification.”
The farm grows buckwheat, red and white wheat as well as different cornmeals. The harvest is milled into 15 different baking flours, including rye, pumpernickel, spelt, buckwheat and einkorn, which is an unhybridized ancient grain flour with a higher protein content than modern wheat.
The farm also makes four different pancake mixes and two seasonal ones – pumpkin and apple spice. Hodge says they will be making pancake samples at their Market booth.
Hodge and his wife, June, got out of dairy farming in the 1980s. After a career as a rural appraiser, he wanted to try farming again, this time “with intention.” So in 2015 the Hodges purchased land to begin farming again.
“We did our research, we found a spot in the market that we felt was not being met, and that was with the stone ground flour,” he says. “In my professional career, I’ve done a lot of flour mills, so it’s always been kind of an interest.”
Please welcome Stony Croft Farms to the Market on May 2, Opening Day, and then revisit them every first Saturday of the month except July 4 and September 5. Click here to visit their website.
See you at the Market!
We are an award-winning market and a trusted source of healthy, local and sustainable produce. We offer a vibrant marketplace with music and special programs that create a nourishing community connection. We are open rain or shine – or snow – from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays, May 2 through November 7, at the Sundquist Pavilion, 33113 Grand River Ave. in downtown Farmington.
Just because the weather is more like December than May, don’t think our farmers haven’t started planning for the new season. Click here to check out what they’re currently offering, including CSA’s, or Community Sponsored Agriculture, as well as other healthy packages and plans.
Congrats to the Fusilier Family!
The Market is thrilled to share the news that one of our original farmers – Fusilier Family Farms – has been awarded the Master Farmer Award by the Michigan Vegetable Council. Congratulations to Kathy and Mike and their entire family!
“It was a very humbling and exciting experience to receive this,” the Fusiliers posted on their website. “We want to thank all of our friends, family, and members of our community who support our farm, who allow us to do what we love!”
The Fusiliers were among this Market’s original farmers when we opened 33 years ago this spring. For more on their story, click here. For their website, click here. And be sure to stop by their stand and congratulate them at the Market this spring.
Behind the scenes at the Goetz family farm
In this video, we accompany Market Manager Walt Gajewski as he makes an annual farm visit to the Goetz Greenhouse, a farm near Riga, Michigan, that’s been in the family for generations. You will learn how the farm is able to deliver organically grown produce to the Market every Saturday.
