Norway Winter Market meets all holiday shopping needs...locally

Holiday shopping Photo:

The Norway Winter Market has something for everyone's holiday.

Your local farmers, bakers and artisans invite you to join us at the Norway Winter Market at the Grange as we bring you fresh local foods and gifts for your holiday. This festive farmers’ market is held each Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. through December 18, 2010 at the historic Grange Hall located at 15 Whitman Street in beautiful downtown Norway.

The weather has taken a turn towards winter and the calendar has declared the holiday season to be on its way. We are fortunate to have this winter market with fresh vegetables from Pearl’s Fresh Produce of Mechanic Falls, Mount Apatite Farm of Auburn and Crestholm Farm of Oxford. These wonderful farms still have an abundance of squash, carrots, potatoes and other vegetables to get you through the holidays. Pearl’s Fresh Produce has boxes of squash at a wonderful price. Choose all the same variety, or a mixed box to get you though the winter months.

Local eggs from Crestholm Farm are a necessity for baking all of those holiday cakes, cookies and pies. If you prefer to leave the baking to us, one of our wonderful bakers, Lollie Papa Farm of West Paris and Bread & More Bakery of Mechanic Falls, are sure to fill your needs with their artisan breads, quick breads, pies, cookies, holiday candies and other favorites. Bread & More also offers traditional Saturday bean specials each week.

Enjoy local beef, beef jerky and meatballs from Thunder Hill Farm of Waterford, and check out their hides and other interesting offerings. Thunder Hill has a nice variety of beef from their grass fed Scottish Highland cattle with outstanding taste and quality. When shopping for chicken, pork or ground beef take a peek into Crestholm Farm’s coolers for great variety.

Enjoy a fresh donut and coffee from Beep’s Bakery of Sumner while you shop for your local holiday gifts. Gift packs are full of jams and hot sauces from Bandana Bill’s of Stoneham. Bill also carries a line of BBQ rubs, assorted pickles and spicy snack mix. Culinary herbs and herbal teas from Streaked Mountain Herbs of Turner are great for your holiday cooking, gift giving and stress relief. Along with the beautiful handcrafted cutting boards by Tree Works, a division of the Progress Center of Norway, the Market will be joined by Bill Koch a/k/a “Benched” of Greenwood for the month of December with his wonderful reclaimed wood creations. A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm of Sumner will highlight their wool and fiber products with many holiday felting designs and beginner knitting kits. Bars of the skin-soothing goat’s milk soap of The Kidds Hillbilly Farm of Sumner have been tucked into Sud Sacks in wonderful designs. These Sud Sacks are hand knit from their alpaca yarn and complement the Farm’s collection of alpaca socks and sweaters.

Decorate your home with hand-made holiday wreaths full of dried flowers and seed pods brought to you by Meadow Ridge Perennial Farm of Hebron. Meadow Ridge also has gift baskets full of balsam, dried flowers, gardening items and gift certificates. Pearls Fresh Produce has beautiful holiday wreaths as well. These items make great hostess gifts for all your holiday parties and gatherings.

Shopping locally has become such a way of life for our community that we will miss the farmers’ market during the long winter months. As this local farmers’ market winds down for another season we look toward stocking up on some of our favorites to carry us through. Many of the market vendors have products available through the winter either at their farms or at other local locations such as The Fare Share Market or the Oxford Hills Food Collaborative’s online and farm store markets. Stop in and chat with your farmers and find out where you can purchase their products locally.

Local foods and local gifts are brought to you every week by your neighbors, your local farmers, bakers and artisans. Join us, all are welcome! For more information on this wonderful local farmers’ market, which is sponsored by Norway Downtown, contact Candi Rousseau, Market Manager, at 388-2919 or by email at kiddshillbillyfarm@yahoo.com.