Groovy. Local. Food.

Get your local food here

Besides the promise of massive snowstorms, (I can laugh now … sort of) there’s a growing number of benefits to living in the Washington, D.C. area when it comes to buying locally grown fruits, vegetables and meats.

Farmers markets are growing in popularity and while farmers and growers usually haul their own goods, there’s at least one locally owned small business helping those folks get their goods into the hands of consumers.

Maple Avenue Market, http://www.mapleavenuemarket.com, (the Web site is still under development) owned by the husband-and-wife team of Chris and Sara Guerre, stocks local produce such as cheese, honey, veggies/fruits, pasta and meats in their Vienna, Va. store.

The market also brings organic milk from Trickling Springs Creamery in Chambersburg, Pa. http://www.tricklingspringscreamery.com/.

Between the market and Chris and Sara’s companion business http://onthegourmet.com/ (the site is a bit behind because they’ve been so busy), they are providing their customers a one-stop-shop for high-quality local goods brought in from within a few hundred miles.

When I visited the shop recently — they opened in Sept. 2009 — they setting up a brownie tasting of another local business (yum), taking delivery from a local farm and putting together customer orders. Nice to see them so busy.

The market's cute front window.

Their first business, On the Gourmet, takes goods from several farms to area farmers markets and they now boast a growing milk delivery business. Remember when you had the aluminum box outside your front door for the milkman? Well, that’s making a comeback. I’m not much of a milk drinker but I’ve used the organic milk/cream/half -and-half for my homemade ice creams and morning coffee so I can attest to it’s deliciousness.

National Public Radio recently published a story about specific occupations that have faded from the American landscape one being he milkman. But they noted that it’s coming back in some areas. An interesting trend.

Chris and Sara have rented a house with a bunch of acreage a mere 9 miles from their shop in Vienna with 4,000 seeds. So their garden will become I expect a major supplier for their store and will complement what’s coming in from their client farms. A nice touch that shows a dedication to bringing local food to their customers.

Keep up the good work Chris and Sara. I’m looking forward to watching the business grow.