Linda Sasser has been losing the battle with the squash bugs for two years.

“I’m the only person in America who can’t grow zucchini,” she said.

Sasser has, however, had some success with a few of her other favorites, which is all she grows in her garden in western Goochland. She’s named the 20-acre property Old Woman Farm.

Saturdays are her favorite day. That’s when she grabs whatever has done well in the garden that week and hauls it down Route 6 to Grace Episcopal Church in the Courthouse and sells it. Or at least she tries.

“I don’t really care if I sell anything,” said Sasser. “I’m meeting a lot of very nice people.” 

Welcome to the Goochland Farmers Market.

The weekly market itself is not unlike Sasser and her garden. It is affectionately referred to by regulars as “the little market that could.”

“For me, personally, it’s the best thing possible that could have happened,” said Sasser, 67, who retired to Goochland two years ago from California. “It’s the first time I’ve ever done anything like this and I’m living out a lifelong dream.”

And for local organizers, vendors and many customers, it’s more than a place to purchase produce; it’s an example of what it means to be rural and sustainable — it represents the community and helps define it.

It’s only the second season for the Goochland Farmers Market, but it’s already one of the most successful in the area according to the Center for Rural Culture, the local nonprofit that started the event last year.

Back then it was called the Goochland Rural Market and was held at the Bank of Goochland in Centerville. This year it’s at Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland Courthouse. It’s a little further from the highways, but also more successful.

Lisa Dearden, president of the CRC, attributes that to the work of market volunteers, vendors and new market manager, Brian “Cricket” Rakita.

Rakita, 38, comes to the market from Louisa County, where he’s an organic gardener and raises free-range chicken in addition to working with seed businesses and food wholesalers on the side.

He signed on to help out part-time this year and Dearden said she hopes he’ll be back for the next season. He said he does, too — schedule permitting. 

“I love working this market,” Rakita said. “Of all the jobs I’ve had, this is one of the great ones and I’m very happy with the way things are going.” 

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The market offers fresh, seasonal produce, cut flowers, bedding plants, honey, eggs and meat from free-range chickens, and crafts. The only requirement is that vendors offer only goods they produce themselves.

Dearden said vendors at the Centerville location grossed about $100,000 last year. This year, she said, they’re on track to go up 23 percent.

Attendance is up, too. More than 700 people showed up one Saturday this season, and averages hover just under that figure weekly, with customers coming from throughout the Richmond area to see what the country market has to offer.

Dolores Williams, who lives and works in the Courthouse village, said she walks to the market with her family and friends most Saturdays.

“Living here, I love the new location,” she said. “It’s a nice shady area, so it’s not too hot, and everyone is so happy and friendly.

Williams said she has never been to another market where sellers so gladly offered free samples. “The vendors are always very nice and answer all your questions,” she said, “and the produce this year has been nice and fresh with no bruises.”   

Part of that improved turnouts is due to less vendors participating, but more regularly, Dearden said.

This year the market averages about 15 vendors each Saturday, and they are the same farms and crafts-people week after week. Last year the market averaged 26 sellers, but it was a carpshhot as to who would show. 

Now, regular vendors equal regular customers, Dearden said.

Another factor in the success has been the change in location, she added.

In Centerville, the market was more accessible to visitors from outside the county, but it lacked identity, Dearden said — and plumbing.

“Bank of Goochland was wonderful and we were a little concerned that we were moving in our second year, but the location just wasn’t very convenient,” she said, noting that there were no restrooms and limited electricity on the premises.

When the Virginia Department of Agricultural and Consumer services changed regulations for food vendors last year to require hard floors and tents that was the nail in the coffin for the old site.

“It was too hard for us to prepare for food vendors, which are a big draw for us,” Dearden said. “It was very labor intensive.”

Now, market organizers are able to store materials and tents on site thanks to Grace Episcopal Church, which allows them space in the new parish house basement.

The church also adds some character to the Saturday morning event.

“When you come to the market it’s not hard to understand why we’re up. The atmosphere is so charming,” Dearden said. “The ambiance and atmosphere is very different.” 

Musical entertainers and educational craft and culinary workshops help make the market more than a place to pick up tomatoes and Rakita said that’s a draw for vendors as well as customers. 

“It’s a very friendly market compared to the bigger city markets,” he said, adding that many vendors have commented that they prefer going to Goochland, even if they make a little less, just because of the atmosphere and the people.

“I appreciate the number of kids out there,” Rakita added. “They’re an important part of rural culture.”

Rakita said he hopes to see the market expand to somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,000 visitors a week.

“We want to be a major destination for people who want to enjoy a rural atmosphere,” he said.

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Jo Pendergraph and her husband Rob are there most every week, as they were last year. They own and operate Manakintowne Specialty Growers in Powhatan County and go to the market to sell their unique variety of produce from arugula and micro greens to radicchio and Japanese eggplant. 

The couple has been operating the 20-acre farm for 20 years and sells primarily to local restaurants, but Jo said the market just down the road from home is a welcome respite from the work week.

“It’s nice to be able to get out and talk with people face to face,” she said. “It’s a way for farmers to connect with each other, network and exchange ideas.”
She added that for them, the market has been quite profitable.

“It’s been great for us. We’ve done better than last year by a pretty good bit,” she said. 

Not all of the vendors are from right around the corner. Many come from Hanover, Louisa and some from as far away as Pamplin City and Montpelier. Regardless of location, Dearden said the important thing is knowing it’s all natural and all good.

“Every week you get to take home this food and you know where it’s from and how it’s grown,” she said. “It’s great that this food is staying in Goochland.” 

And that’s not just true of the residents who purchase it anymore. As of last week, all leftover food is being donated to Elk Hill, a youth farm in the county. 

The market operates every Saturday through the end of October. It is currently open from 8 a.m. to noon, but after Labor Day the hours will be 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

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The CRC was formed in 2004 by Katie Flannigan, with the help of Brookview Farm owners Sandy and Rossie Fisher.

Along with Luck Stone, Farm Bureau Insurance, and Farm Credit Country Mortgages, Brookview is a major sponsor for the market even though the farm has its own market at the same time each week. 

The CRC’s goal now is the same as it was when it was founded, Dearden said: to help Goochland and its surrounding area maintain its agricultural economy and preserve the rural way of life through education and promotion.

That’s no easy task in the face of development pressures from all directions, she said.

Dearden said the CRC is currently working on “capacity building” in order to offer more opportunities to educate.

One such opportunity will be the recently announced Center for Rural Culture Fall Forum Series. The theme of the three-month lecture series is, “Resources and Opportunities for Sustainable Growth in Goochland County.”

There will be will be three sessions — one each month — held in the Goochland High School auditorium. Sept. 20 will kick things off with a focus on water conservation. In October, land conservation will be addressed and in November they’ll cap off the series with a look at “smart growth.”

“This is a way to educate, promote and inspire people to live sustainably,” said Dearden, who added that the market is good example of what they’re trying to teach.

She said it’s going well, but is still a challenge for the small grassroots organization, whose 11-member board of directors is currently three seats short. 

“What most people don’t realize is that although we have a part-time market manager, there are still countless hours spent behind the scenes organizing and planning the market each week,” said Dearden.

She added that while the market runs May through October, the work does not stop when the season is over. 

Plans for next year are already in the works. 

Linda Sasser said she’s glad to hear that.

“I think this is what the world needs more of,” she said.