Style Weekly
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The New Farmers' Market, Up the Hill
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It should come as a great relief to Richmond carnivores that another outlet for fresh ostrich meat is now open.
The William Byrd Community House in Oregon Hill is launching a new farmers' market this week, complete with vendors who sell eggs, pork, poultry and even ostrich meat from Conicville Ostrich in Mount Jackson. (Conicville also sells meat at the 17th Street Farmers' Market in Shockoe Bottom.)
Organizers say the Oregon Hill market, located at the William Byrd Community House on Cherry, will operate every Tuesday from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. through October. The market was expected to open May 1.
Herbivores will have plenty to sink their teeth into as well. In addition to offering standard farmers'market fare such as fresh fruits, vegetables, potted plants and cut flowers, the market is coordinating efforts with the Grace Arents Community Garden at the William Byrd House.
Students from Open High School, St. Andrew's School and the Circle School Cooperative have been maintaining the garden, and local families and community groups have adopted an additional nine subplots there, too.
The hope is that those families will grow enough from the garden — next to the market across from the Hollywood Cemetery — to sell their produce at the weekly market, bringing fresh, local food to the community, market manager Stacey Moulds says.
"In the Richmond area we're losing our small farms pretty rapidly to development," says Moulds, a former market manager at 17th Street. "So we're trying to be creative." S
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