Visit the farmer's market at JCC this summer

VIRGINIA BEACH

Are you looking for some fresh produce? Craving delicious baked goods? In need of a little pick-me-up bouquet of flowers?

Then the Fresh on Fridays Farmer’s Market at the Simon Family Jewish Community Center is the place to come check out.

Each Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. this summer, local farmers and other businesses will display and sell their – for the most part – locally grown and organic fruits and vegetables in the parking lot.

Sandra Porter Leon, JCC president, said last year’s Fresh on Fridays – two single-day events – were so successful that they decided to bring it back again this year for the entire season. The market kicked off May 27.

John Wilson of New Earth Farm in Strawbridge had a large variety of herbs, including lavender, marjoram, tarragon, oregano, parsley and chives, for sale, among other greens that are grown from organic seed in organic soil.

“We picked them yesterday and this morning,” Wilson said. “Fresh produce is better for you, it tastes better, and it supports the local economy.”

Jen Vaughan of Vaughan Farms Produce had a tasty selection of squash, cabbage, kale, Swiss chard and more on display – all grown on the family’s farm in Pungo.

“My husband’s family has farmed the same land for the past 316 years,” Vaughan said.

Leslie Marcus-Auerbach of Norfolk dropped her children off at the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater and strolled over to the market.

The self-proclaimed herbivore who calls herself a fresh produce fanatic carried a box filled with her purchases that morning: May peas, squash, blueberries and sugar snap peas.

She was delighted to see that Cullipher Farm Market – her family’s favorite weekend stop – participated.

Hunter Walsh, oldest grandchild in the Cullipher family, had no qualms about how he’d spend his first summer home from his studies at James Madison University. Walsh, 19, is a rising sophomore majoring in business who plans to return after he graduates to help with that aspect of the family’s enterprise. Cullipher Farms is in its sixth generation of farmers.

“We like to make folks happy,” Walsh said of the fresh fruits and vegetables they grow.

Pat Molnar couldn’t resist strolling along the line of merchants when he brought his 5-year-old granddaughter, Savannah, to swim at the JCC.

“I didn’t even know it was here until we pulled up. This is very convenient,” Molnar, of Larkspur, said as he carted off a basket full of fresh peaches.

Sandra J. Pennecke, Pennecke@cox.net