Purcellville's Winter Market Finding Success

The month-old Saturday morning SmartMarket in Purcellville is going very well, according to Manager Juanita Tool.

Originally intended to be a winter market only, the Purcellville Town Council approved a year of operations after owner Jean Janssen said she couldn't make a commercial go of it unless she had a year's lease. At the end of the year, the town will open a competitive bidding process by which anyone interested could apply, including the Loudoun Valley HomeGrown Markets Association, which has run the summer farm market on North 21st Street and closed last month.

Tool said current vendors at the SmartMarket include Black Dog Coffee from Berryville; Old Pioneer Kitchens from Vienna, who serve sausage biscuits for breakfast during the market;, with different types of chorizo, meatballs, and beef bacon for those who can't eat pork; Chef Eloy and his Salsa from Sterling; Hess Orchards from Martinsburg, WV; Conicville Ostrich, selling ostrich meat and products, eggs, greens, hydroponic tomatoes and cucumbers, from Mt. Jackson; Fields of Athenry, selling lamb, pork, beef, chicken, turkeys and homemade foods from Middleburg; Fabbioli Cellars and Northgate Vineyards, which alternate weekly, both from Loudoun; and Heirloom Kitchens from Linden, offering homemade gourmet soups, cookies and foccacia.

New vendors include Lothar Erbe, a master artisan butcher from Germany, now living in Hamilton, who will sell gourmet sausages, including bratwurst, frankfurters, wieners, knacker and kielbasa; Sean and Jessie Baker of Dayspring Farm in Middleburg, with chicken, turkeys, yarn, dried and fresh wreaths and, in the future, beef and lamb.

Tool also is expecting to sign a Christmas tree vendor, and a Christmas greeneries vendors and about five crafters with natural skin care products over the holiday period.