SustainFloyd will kick off its 2014 Floyd Farmers Market this year with a new face at the helm. Agatha Grimsley, who has farmed in Floyd County since 2007 and spent several years selling at the Blacksburg Farmers Market, will manage the Floyd Farmers Market this year.
Many of you may already know Agatha and her family through Rolling Fork Farm. If not, here’s an introduction from Agatha:
I grew up in rural Rockbridge County, less than two hours north of here. Though I was surrounded by beautiful farms, I did know I wanted to be a farmer until college. After high school, I went to Warren Wilson College (outside of Asheville, NC), where I majored in Sustainable Agriculture and worked on the College Farm, raising beef, pork, eggs, and grain crops. From there, I worked on an organic vegetable farm in Hawaii and then Hickory Nut Gap Farm in North Carolina, finally landing as a Agriculture Research Technician for NCSU. There, I was fortunate to meet my husband, David — after I hired him to coordinate our Farmland Prosperity Project. A few years later, David and I felt the itch to move out from behind our desks and back onto a farm. Asheville was saturated with small farms by then, so we knew it was time to leave Western NC. Thanks to my classmate and Floyd native, Josh Copus, we knew Floyd was the perfect community for us. We moved here in 2007 to start our own farm. We now raise dairy cows, hogs, and chickens, all out on fresh pasture. We wholesale and direct-market our salami, pork, eggs, and dairy shares. Check us out on Facebook to learn more about our farm.
Now that SustainFloyd has Agatha on-board as the new manager, it will convene a jury committee to consider the more than 20 applications it received from vendors hoping to sell in the market. We’ll announce the opening slate of vendors once here on the SustainFloyd website once that decision is finalized.
The Floyd Farmers Market grand opening will be Saturday, May 31. Here’s what Agatha says you can expect from her and from the Market in 2014:
I look forward to bringing my years of experience as a market vendor to my new job as the manager of the Floyd Farmers Market. I know that a strong connection between the farmers and the community is the most important aspect of a successful market, and I look forward to making the Floyd Market the number one place to be every Saturday morning. This season, we can look forward to a solid group of vendors offering their delicious local fares, a good variety of local bands and entertainment, and events to highlight seasonal products.