Buy Local

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The Holiday Spirit

Tired of seeing of the news on Syrian refugees and Paris terrorist attacks? Me, too. Tired of Presidential debates in a non-election year? Me, too.  Already seeing Christmas TV ads and wondering how you’re going to get everything done? Me, too. Take a deep breath, slow down, and consider these 2 suggestions:

  1. Visit a local Christmas tree farm.
  2. Take a stroll at a holiday farmer’s market.

There’s no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than to visit a local tree farm. We visited Schreppler’s Fir Tree Acres in Magnolia, DE recently and I’m so glad we did. The smell of pine and intense green color surrounded us. Chance loved playing hide-and-go-seek in between the trees and all of sudden we were singing Jingle Bells. Many have Christmas shops with decorations, greenery, holly, and wreaths. But you don’t have to buy a thing-getting in the spirit is free! Find a tree farm near you in this guide from Delaware Dept. of Agriculture.

How about a stroll at a holiday farmer’s market this season? Little Wagon Produce will be a vendor at 2 upcoming local markets:

  • Friday, Nov. 20 – Milton “Harvest Market”, Noon-4pm, on the grounds of Dogfish Brewery. Check out this article in the Cape Gazette for more info. Dogs welcome!
  • Saturday, Nov. 21 – Milford Riverwalk 2nd Annual Fall Market, 10am–2pm, downtown Milford. Check out this article in Delmarva Life.

You can “buy local” for Christmas gifts, local produce, seasonal decorations, jewelry, baked goods and more while enjoying Christmas music in the background. See my previous post for what Little Wagon Produce will be offering. Downtown Milford is especially a great place to mingle where local residents drink coffee, hug, smile, and fellowship. There’s no entry fee. Just come enjoy the friendly atmosphere and get in the holiday spirit at the same time!

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2015 Local Holiday Markets

This past year, Mom and I revamped the Little Wagon Produce website. After 6 years, it became outdated. It’s no small task for a small business. It took several meetings with Tim Smith’s team from Delmarva Digital, new pictures, and updated text. A few new features include a scrolling picture banner and a “We Sell” tab. Over the years, we’ve collected a database of customer email addresses to send seasonal updates. We feel it’s a nice benefit to quickly tell customers, “Sweet corn’s ready!”. This winter, I plan to increase our collection of customer recipes online. To check out our website or join the email newsletter, just go to our homepage.
Here’s our last email update for 2015 regarding upcoming holiday markets:
Greetings Patrons & Friends,
Thank you for a wonderful 2015 season! Little Wagon Produce is closed for the season. On a daily basis, we may have a few produce items available on our wagon for “self-service”. For those of you who stopped in the beginning, you know what this means!  However, we do have 2 upcoming holiday market dates to share with you. Please mark your calendars:
  1. Friday, Nov. 20 – Milton “Harvest Market”, Noon-4pm, on the grounds of Dogfish Brewery (featuring punkin ale), come enjoy the live music!
  2. Saturday, Nov. 21 – Milford Riverwalk 2nd Annual Fall Market, 10am–2pm, downtown Milford, come get your Dolce coffee and take a stroll!
We plan to offer the following at these holiday markets:
  • Jams, jellies, honey, canned pickles
  • Spaghetti and acorn squash
  • Butternut and Hubbard squash (good for pie making)
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, turnips
  • Holiday slates with wrought iron (pictured below)
  • Holiday flags with wrought iron (these make great holiday gifts!)
  • Possibly a few fresh greenery pieces (wreaths, garland, etc.)
  • Possibly a few fruit baskets and/or jam & jelly gift baskets
We hope the weather stays mild and would love to see you there! You can also check out our Fall/Winter Recipes on our website. We will be adding more throughout the winter.

If you have any specific needs over the winter, please give us a call at the house (not the stand): 302-349-5206. Thank you again for your business and we look forward to serving you in 2016. Have a blessed holiday season!

Sincerely,
Little Wagon Produce
Dan & Becky Vanderwende and Families

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Bring on Summer and Fresh Produce!

Written by Christy Vanderwende Wright, Little Wagon Produce, for Milford Live (page 14) in honor of Local Produce Week

Bring on summer and the local produce! A sure sign of summer is downtown farmer’s markets. Little Wagon Produce is busy as a vendor at three – the Milton Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoon, the Riverwalk Farmers Market in downtown Milford every Saturday morning, and the Georgetown Farmer’s Market at 16 mile Brewery every Wednesday evening.

The Riverwalk Farmers Market in Milford has become a regular meeting hub for the Milford community. Shoppers mingle, talk, smile, laugh, and hug in between buying goods. Live music and many new vendors compliment the market. The weather has been warm but the grove of trees provides a refreshing shade. We appreciate the loyalty of Milford patrons year after year. I also appreciate the many questions and concern in my absence. I welcomed a baby boy last August and have taken time off to care for him. My sisters, Danna and Amber, have replaced me and love to share pictures of the baby!

The most popular question we get each year is “Do you have sweet corn yet?” The answer is YES! We are also picking daily our own yellow squash, zucchini, sweet corn, string beans, kale, green tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. We will soon have red tomatoes. Farmers have been blessed with plentiful rain this season. Keep in mind, there are expenses incurred by vendors such as fuel costs, paper and plastic bags or packaging, labor, and significant time picking and packing the day before the market. We tend to spend most of Friday preparing for the market in Milford and schedule 4-5 employees to attend and assist customers during the market.

If you do plan to take a stroll downtown soon, here are a few tidbits to help you be “Farmer Market Ready” this summer:

  • Bring cash! Many vendors are small businesses and cannot afford the fees accompanied with credit card machines. There is no bank in downtown Milford anymore.
  • Bring your own bags! The recyclable grocery bags work great! By doing this, you will help the environment and help us because plastic bags are an additional expense to vendors that we usually do not pass on to the customers. We even pay more and go out of the way to find heavy-duty plastic bags to hold a dozen ears of sweet corn (and they still don’t hold a dozen ears well).
  • Bring a friend! Word of mouth is the best marketing! The Riverwalk Farmer’s Market is open every Saturday from 9am-1pm.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask! Many markets have an information booth or a “Market Manager” to oversee the market each week.
  • Spread the love! Hopefully you will find more than one vendor to patronize. In Milford, there’s a large variety of vendors offering more than produce and there are several businesses nearby such as Dolce Coffee Shop, Blooming Boutique, Sugar Bee Candy Store, Arena’s and Georgia House Restaurant.
  • Bring your smile! Many vendors love to talk and engage their customers, including us.
  • Stay updated! The market is usually rain or shine! Vendors still come out in the rain. Check to see if your local market has a Facebook page and/or website for updates. Milford can be found on Facebook at “Riverwalk Farmers Market” and we update our page as well, “Little Wagon Produce”.
  • Say thanks to the vendors! There would be no market without them!

Thank you to all our loyal customers who already know the ropes and patronize the market week after week! Be sure to check out the Department of Agriculture’s “Buy Local” website for a farmer’s market near you at www.de.gov/buylocal.

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A “Buy Local” Wedding-The Honeymoon

It was fair week and we still had no clue where to go for a honeymoon. I knew we were running out of time since options and prices fluctuate the longer you wait for air travel. I had already called 2 local travel companies for suggestions other than the typical “Sandals Resorts”. One never called me back and the other seemed perturbed that we didn’t know exactly what we wanted. So I finally asked Scott, “Where have you always wanted to go, but never had the chance?” His response…King Ranch. I had never heard of it before besides the series of Ford trucks which display its name. I looked it up and realized the history is rich in southern agriculture. It was perfect for us since we don’t like to just sit on the beach all day. I also realized flights to Texas aren’t simple; they usually require at least one change over. Since the ranch is near the Gulf of Mexico, in the middle of nowhere towards the east coast of Texas, I needed help figuring out which city was closest and whether or not it would be best for us to visit before and/or after the ranch. I knew it would be hard to find someone to help with me this because the agent most likely won’t make much off booking my accommodations for something like this.

I reached out to my friend Wendy, because she seems to know a lot of people and said, “Do you know any good travel agents?” Her response was, “You need to call Dianne Webb.” And the rest is history. I called Dianne and she spent the whole next day scouting the best flight prices and drafting an itinerary for us. Wow, talk about immediate service! No less than 24 hours she had our trip booked and I had every email confirmation we needed-the air, hotels, rental car, even the personal tour we booked. I thought that was it and I was very appreciative. But on top of all this, I met with her for a quick 15 minutes one morning and she had printed everything we needed, including an itinerary and compiled it all in a nice little pocket folder. I can’t even begin to tell you how helpful this was, especially in the midst of the wedding activity and events. We left the Monday after the wedding and it was so nice to pull out this nice little neat folder and be ready to go.

The perfect little blue folder…everything in one place for our trip.

Everything was printed for us and in order by day! Cute luggage tags for us, too.

This was our itinerary, complete with confirmation numbers, hotel names, dates and times.

Dianne tends to specialize in Caribbean vacations but she will listen to whatever you have in mind and research options for you. In the beginning, she asked me, “Are you sure you don’t want to go to an all-inclusive resort for your honeymoon?” But once I explained to her the ag connection and that this was a place Scott always wanted to go, she got on it ASAP. And she says she had fun doing it. I think this is key – exceptional service comes from those who love what they do. And she loves what she does. It says it all in her tag line – “Above and Beyond.” Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Contact Info for Dianne’s Travel!

***For an update on the wedding page and the honeymoon, see here: http://farmerdansdaughter.com/wedding/

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A “Buy Local” Wedding: Gifts From The Heart

If you ever need a one-stop-shop for flowers, decorations, and event coordination near Harrington, look no further. Just head east on Rt. 14 going towards Milford and stop at “Gifts From The Heart” and ask for Teresa Murphy. She can help you above and beyond just flowers!

Teresa approached my sister last spring and said, “I heard your sister is getting married. Tell her I do wedding flowers now”. I had no idea. My Mom had already contacted her friend for my flowers, but I reached out to her anyway to see what else she does and because I had a feeling I might need more help. I’m so glad I did because I had a limited amount of time to decorate and I was extremely distracted since everything was happening at once and my phone was ringing every 5 minutes. I had no time left after decorating tables, running errands, and putting things together.

The first thing she did for me was arrange some fall silk flowers in two old nail kegs that I found at an antique store. I got the silk flowers on sale at Pier 1 Imports and Teresa added in some greenery to make them full. I loved how she arranged them and the best part is…I can keep them forever, unlike the cut flowers!

I found the 2 old nail kegs at Beene’s Antique Store in Milford. The fall silk flowers were on sale at Pier 1 Imports back in the winter. Teresa Murphy of Gifts from the Heart arranged both nail kegs, which I used on the end of our gift table. They were well worth the money because I can keep them forever, unlike the cut flowers!

Then she spent all day Friday decorating the pergola, which was the main focal point of our reception. I bought most of the supplies but I would have never known how to implement them the way she did. And the result was beautiful!!!

Teresa used burlap, ivory sheers, lights, and tie wraps to decorate this pergola for me. I got the lanterns from Pier 1 Imports and had no idea how I was going to use them……but Teresa did!!!

She also arranged some cut flowers in mason jars (which my sister bought and decorated for my shower) for our rehearsal dinner. This worked out great because I was able to reuse them at the reception the next day to accent the bar and cake tables and even the bathroom. I also reused a large amber vase for a picture mat signing table. It was beautiful and using everything twice just made me feel like it was well worth the money. It was also close and convenient for me since my rehearsal dinner was held at Georgia House Restaurant (another local venue)!

This is the large amber vase Teresa arranged with cut flowers for my rehearsal dinner. I reused it at the reception for the picture mat signing table. It was perfect!

I didn’t know it until after the fact but she can also coordinate your wedding ceremony. I definitely could’ve used this since we were in a back room at the church and had no idea what was going on in the sanctuary. And on top of all this, she can also arrange beautiful wedding bouquets for the entire bridal party.

Love the way Teresa wrapped this bouquet.

I’m so glad I could support a small, local, family owned business. The most important thing you should know about Teresa is…she keeps up on current trends and listens to what you want. You can find Teresa on her website, Facebook, and Pinterest. Or you can call the shop at 302-398-4449 and/or email her at giftsfromtheheartde@gmail.com . Thanks so much, Teresa!

Teresa Murphy, Gifts From The Heart
Harrington, DE
302-398-4449
www.heartgiftsofde.com

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A “Buy Local” Wedding: The Chow

Scott said from the beginning that he wanted to have a pig roast reception. I loved the idea because we don’t get to eat fresh pulled pork often and it could potentially make the reception setting less formal. It was also a great way to include Scott in the planning and let him be responsible for a few things! He already had a connection from Maryland, through the beef farm he managed for 7 years. His name is Mr. Dean Ayres and his set up is called “Pork & Deans“. The name may make you laugh but when it comes to cooking BBQ, these guys don’t mess around. Here’s a picture of their trailer, which highlights some of their accolades from cooking competitions in the past.

Mr. Dean Ayres, Pork & Dean’s

There will be 3 kinds of BBQ meats for guest to choose from. I won’t give it all away, but Dean is also cooking all the sides, including sweet corn from Little Wagon Produce!

Although we went outside of the state for main course, I was able to keep everything local for the appetizers, cake, and even one of the favors. We are keeping the appetizers light since I don’t think we will keep guests waiting long. My family is chipping in as my Aunts are helping me make vegetable and cheese trays. Of course, the veggies are coming from LWP!

I didn’t have to think twice about who would make the cake. I called “Paula’s Place for Cakes” in early February and it’s a good thing I did it early because she fills up quick. She doesn’t take more than 2 weddings a weekend and she already had one booked for our weekend. The best thing about Paula is she has a very organized process in place and she listens (it’s not about what she wants or what she likes to do). I brought her pictures of what I liked and she helped me right away through my many questions. Again, I won’t give it all away but there will be two different kinds of cake to choose from, as well as Vanderwende Farm Creamery ice cream!

As for one of the favors, I reached out to Mary Fennemore of Fifer Orchards. I have worked with Mary on the Farm to School Advisory Board and, of course, they are a long time staple of the fruit and vegetable business in Delaware. I recently took my colleagues from Nemours on a field trip to their orchard and retail store, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they make many baked goods and candy daily. So I knew they could help me with a popular fall treat: candied apples! Apples have just come into season and they are making them a few days before the wedding, so they’ll be fresh. They also have several toppings to choose from such as caramel, nuts, sprinkles, and more.

Again, the whole point is that I tried to buy locally as much as possible beginning with the in-state location and the food. Although very prominent in the food industry, the “buy local” movement can extend beyond food products and the benefits from sales to our local economy are endless. Coming up next: the invitations, flowers, and honeymoon!

***For more information on the businesses mentioned, please see the links provided above or contact me at cvanderwende@hotmail.com .

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A “Buy Local” Wedding – The Locale

It’s no secret that there is a “Buy Local“ movement sweeping our country, especially when it comes to food. Consumers have embraced the fact that the earlier and closer the fresh food product, the better the taste and quality. But the “Buy Local” movement can extend beyond local food products……

It’s also no secret by now that I’m getting married. I tend not to post things of this sort on social media sites but word usually travels pretty fast regardless of social media, especially in small towns. Since January 1, Scott and I have struggled to plan this monster. I think it’s finally safe to say that we’re in the homestretch since invitations have gone out, my dress is fitted, and the honeymoon is planned. Phew!

But the first decision we had to make was a big one—where to have it? As enticing as a destination wedding was to us, we knew it was not an option if I wanted my family to attend. Farmer Dan isn’t setting foot on a plane! And nor would my grandparents. So that left us with choosing an in-state wedding location.

The ceremony – I knew I wanted to get married in a church but was unsure of which one. I grew up in two local Bridgeville churches and both mean a lot to me. Both are very different venues. At the same time, Scott and I had started attending a local Methodist church that is close to our home. It is also what I consider a very “country” church setting. As we talked more, I realized our current church fit our entire theme very well. It also allows me to get ready for the big day in the comfort of my own home. Plus it means something to both of us, not just me. Part 1 done.

On to the reception…….the beach? Nope, it doesn’t mean much to us and we avoid it for the most part. A local winery? No, because many dates were already taken and they were not open to outside catering. A local fire hall? No, because the one we have a connection with was too small and many have become very pricey with limited options for decorating. I started brainstorming. A tent on the farm? No, because I knew this would be a lot of work for my family the week and day of the wedding (prepping, parking, etc.) and plus I really need to be able to control the environment for my grandparents, all of which are aging. That left us with one more close option: the DE State Fairgrounds. At first we thought their options would be too big, but the more we thought about it, we realized that more space may be better than not enough. Plus, the fairgrounds mean a lot to both of us since we both grew up at the Fair each July and loved participating in 4-H and FFA events there. The icing on the cake: we met at the Fair, in the Exhibit Hall, in March 2009 at the Livestock Expo Fundraiser! Part 2 done and our first big decision was final!

Our choice to “Buy Local” for our wedding started with the very first decision. It also initiated my thought to buy locally as much as possible for this special occasion. This is only happening once for me so why not make the most of it!!! Not only does it support local businesses, but its convenient for me as I try to fit this wedding planning stuff into my already hectic schedule. Did you know for every $1 you spend locally, 45 cents is reinvested locally? This also means more tax dollars go to schools, roads and jobs in your community. Therefore, I’m so glad I can support my local church. They aren’t charging me to use their facility but I will be sure to make a donation back to them, to help them continue to provide for our community. And the DE State Fair has made an effort to support DE and Kent County 4-H, not only with the annual State Fair, but by lending their facilities throughout the year for 4-H events at minimal cost, if any. So, I hope our small contribution for rental of their facilities continues that dedication.

Up next: A “Buy Local” Wedding – The Chow!