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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

Glenville.Market@gmail.com

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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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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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.