1 august 2012
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1 August 2012 / V2N6
Fresh Picks
Midweek MarketTakes OffThe first midweek market of the seasonwas held from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. onWednesday, August 1. Eight vendorswere on hand, including Reta (right)and Garry Kight, who brought more
than a dozen varieties of tomatoes aswell as cucumbers and half-runner
beans. Karl Duval (right) provideddinner, cooking up savory sausagesand hot dogs, while TashuaAllman-Duval featured handmadehair ribbons.
Dark clouds and distant thundermade folks wonder if rain woulddampen the day, but the thunderrumbled away and the sun came
out again. Its a very pretty day, saidone market patron. A good day todo a little shopping out here.
A favorite of many market patronsis the old-fashioned candy made byLenora Marks and her daughterAutumn (right). Their candy mayseem like a simple treat, but makingit takes a lot of work. We donthave magic powers, Autumn saidof the process of boiling, flavoring,
pouring, cracking, sugaring, packaging,and labeling the candy.
Wednesdays
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.through the end of
the growing seasonAND
Saturdays9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
through the end of October
720 North Lewis Street
Glenville, West Virginia
Market Information
Mary Lee: 304-853-2440
304-462-7039John: 304-871-3198
Larry: 304-462-5631
Thank You to Our
2012 Newsletter Sponsor
Newsletter Editor
Melissa Gish
575-302-1732
Visit our Web site:
Glenvillemarket.blogspot.com
Eating Healthy Never Tasted So Sweet
Violet Bush could save your life . . . well, her elderberry jelly could. TheColumbia Daily Tribune reported that elderberries are rich inanthocyanins, which act as antioxidants that aid in immune-systemhealth. They have been shown to lower cholesterol, reduce stress, andshorten the duration of the flu. They have also been linked to theprevention and treatment of colorectal cancer.
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Fresh Picks / V2N6 pag
Like all the GCFM vendors who show up in
Glenville every Saturday morning, Lupe and Patti
Espinosa grow their own fruits and veggies. But the
Espinosa family is a little different from many of the
other vendors, who admit they are gardening
hobbyists despite growing as many as 150 tomato
plants in their yards. The Espinosas are farmersreal
farmers who work on their farm 17 hours a day, 7
days a week for most of the year. Its hard work,
Lupe explained when my daughter and I visitedGreen Acres, the Espinosas 15-acre farm in Rock
Cave. But its worth it, Lupe said, because its ours.
Lupe and Patti moved from Mexico to Marietta,
Ohio, in 1995 to take jobs working as hired hands on a
family farm. The family was impressed with the work
being done and wanted to help Lupe learn more about
farming, so they sent him to Ohio State University to
learn more about agricultural practices.
Three years ago, Lupe and Patti were offered a
position farming for a man in Jane Lew, but thisrelationship did not last. Their employer decided to
get out of the business just a year later. However, he
offered to sell Lupe and Patti all of his farm equipment
as well as a delivery truck. Given the opportunity to
farm for themselves, the Espinosas took the plunge.
Last year we didnt make any money, Lupe
told me. We lost a lot of money because we had to
buy everything to get started, all the equipment and
seed and fertilizereverything. The farmland also
Living the Dream
Agriculture is our wisest pursuit,
because it will in the end
contribute most to real wealth,good morals, and happiness.
Letter from ThomasJefferson to GeorgeWashington (1787)
needed a lot of work to make it viable. People said
nothing grows here, but if you know how to make i
good, Lupe explained, everything can grow really
well. Knowing how to turn the clay dirt into
healthy farmland is the key to the Espinosassuccess. Recalling his OSU education, Lupe said,
learned how to apply the right chemicals in the righ
amounts. Drawing on a 3-acre pond and a 200-foo
well on the property, Lupe designed and built an
elaborate system of pumps and dripline irrigation
that feeds growing plants 10 gallons of fertilizer an
hour. Explaining to us how he built the system and
how it works, Lupe said with a smile, You just
have to use your imagination to do things.
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All of the plants on the Espinosa farm were
started from seed. They go from greenhouse to
field, Lupe explained, and I time the plantings to
stagger the harvest. On our tour of the farm, we
saw a high tunnel where the tomatoes were just
about done producing and an empty field just
beyond it where, Lupe said, I just cleared that for
the next planting of tomatoes that are in the
greenhouse. Several other fields were filled with
tomato plants of various sizes. Well have tomatoes
right up to frost, Lupe said.
Another high tunnel was filled with pepper
plants. Its more like an experiment, Lupe told us.
He is trying out a wide variety of peppers to see
which ones do best in the high tunnel. This is the
only way to make the season longer, Lupe said as
we walked through the greenhouse.
In one field we have 500 cucumbers, Lupe
told us. We are picking three to four bushels a
day. There are also vast fields of zucchini, beans,
potatoes, sweet corn, and melons. As we walked
through one field, Lupe told us, We have 7,000
candy onions here and 3,000 in another field.
Its hard to imagine that one couple can operate
so much land that is so packed with plants. They are
able to do this by hiring field hands. High school
students work 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. most days in the
summer and some evenings and weekends once
school starts. These boys have been pretty good,
Lupe expressed. I would plant more, he added,
but I cant get people to work. The trouble with
hiring people is that they come one or two days, and
then they dont come back. I would like to grow
many more plants, but I dont have enough help.
One helper who is available
all the time is the Espinosas
14-year-old daughter Cristal.
She works too, Lupe
said proudly. Their son
Diego is only 4 years old.
Cristal and another high
school girl often help at
the markets, where the
family must vend as often
as possible. They also
sell their produce to
local restaurants and
businesses, but until
the farm is able to grow more
(which it cant do without more reliable farm help),
income will remain limited and farmers markets
will be a vital part of the familys economic plan.
Lupe welcomes visitors to the farm, and we
enjoyed our day there. One highlight was the
chicken pen. Someone said we should raise
chickens for eggs, Lupe said as he showed us the
coop and pen he constructed. Soon they will all be
laying but not yet. My daughter has a special
fondness for chickens, having kept them as pets in
her youth. Even though theyre young, she told
Lupe, you can tell theyll be beautiful hens. He
smiled patiently, and I could tell he was anxious toget back to work. Before we left, he showed us the
refrigerated storage buildinga metal shed with a
window air conditioner cranked on high, and the
washing machine, where the family works after dar
to wash, sort, and pack their produce for the
markets. Do you ever sleep? we asked. Lupe
laughed. Not much, he said, the sweat dripping
off his face. You can
tell he loves this life.
And Patti does too.George Washington
once said, I had
rather be on my
farm than be
emperor of the
world. Im
convinced Lupe
and Patti feel
the same way.
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Fresh Picks / V2N6 pag
Butterfly Corner
The Gilmer County Master Gardeners
Butterfly Garden is looking
fantastic these days. The
cleome are bursting with
blooms, and the butterfly
bushes are perky and purple.
On August 1, Cliff Thrasher
and Margie Colbert (right)
and Dan Colbert spread a
load of compost around the
plants, which will feed them
nutrients, keep their roots cool and moist, and serve as aweed barrier for a while, explained Margie.
A Lil HistorySince 1900 . . .
Highest recorded temperature
in August in Glenville:
107 F in 1917
Lowest recorded temperature
in August in Glenville:
37 F in 1930
Lowest rainfall for the month
of August in Glenville:
0.31 inches in 1957
Highest rainfall for the month
of August in Glenville:
8.67 inches in 1954
Most rainfall in a 24-hour
period in August in Glenville:
2.87 inches in 1990
Linn Lone Stars 4-H Members held a bake sale at the July 28
market. Pictured left to right are Markeem Morris, Robbie Frame,Allyson Peters, Morgan Bossert, Logan Bossert, Olivia Collins,
and Makahla Morris.
Dave, youre wearing those crazy
sandals again.
But Ive had them since Woodstock.
Market LunchVendors or fundraisers at themarket have hot food everySaturday, so be sure to save theday to come out and havelunch with your friends at the
market. The menu is often asurprise, but weve typically
been having soups, brats/dogs,salads sandwiches or kabobs.