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Farm Fiber Day is a Special Event day that many of us look forward to during the winter season. Every year it gets just a bit bigger and this week we have a total of nineteen fiber vendors in addition to our "regular" group. Those who come to the market to purchase local food can be assured that all of the farms will be attending,
as well as many specialty food producers.
 Since 1997, Barbara Parry has been building a flock of Border Leicester and Cormo sheep, chosen for the quality of fiber they produce. Barbara's years on her 220 acre farm in Shelburne, Massaschusetts are chronicled in her new book, Adventures in Yarn Farming: Four Seasons on a New England Fiber Farm. Come meet Barbara and ask her about life on the farm. Knitwear designer and owner of Brooklyn Tweed, Jared Flood, had this to say about Barbara's book, "Many of us wool enthusiasts daydream about someday owning a farm, raising sheep, harvesting yarn, and going back to the land. Follow Barbara Parry on a journey that teaches us all 'about the intangible gains of . . . taking the long road.'"
Vic Torrito from Fior D'Italia Pasta & Cheese has been entertaining shoppers with cooking demonstrations, showing them how gourmet pasta meals can be made in six minutes. Vic uses ingredients
from local vendors for his products. Watch Vic make Spaghettini
with Seafood. Every week he brings at least two hot meals for
you to eat at the market or bring home.
In celebration of our fifth season, we have had our own
Wayland Winter Farmers' Market bags made.
Fiber vendors will bring a lot more than yarn. Look for raw wool, fiber and batting for quilting, spinning and felting, fleece, sheep skins, soap, woven and hand knit blankets, table linens and shawls, and other wearables, original knitting patterns, buttons made
by New England artisans, upcycled wool bags and needle felted animals and flowers.
Farm wineries serving on Saturday include Coastal Vineyards from South Dartmouth and Turtle Creek Winery based in Lincoln. Owners Dave Neilson and Kip Kumler have been very active in the promotion of farm wineries throughout the state and were instrumental in launching the legislation that allows wineries to attend agricultural events, including farmers' markets.
Next week we will celebrate farm wineries with our annual
Massachusetts Farm Wineries Day, featuring eight wineries.
Do you know someone who might enjoy this event?
If it is something sweet that you crave during the market, you
can choose from Goodies Homemade Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies (above), cupcakes from CocoBeni Confections,
many options from The Danish Pastry House and cookies from Cookie Lady Treats and Great Harvest Bread.
Spinning wheel maker, Jonathan Bosworth, joins us to talk about his reconstruction of a c100 BC Chinese spinning wheel from the Han Dynasty.
Gavin Menzies' books 1421 and 1434 sparked Jonathan's interest in early Chinese textile technology. Jonathan researched fiber tools in China via Joseph Needham's multi-volume series Science & Civilization in China. That set his mind ticking, then his fingers drawing... then down to the shop to experiment. His Han dynasty wheel study is after a stone carving from the Eastern Han dynasty, 200 BC-ca25 AD. This type of wheel was originally used for adding twist and plying bast fibers or silk. There are many detailed and exhausting studies of weaving in China, but none about the tools used to make the yarn. This Han era wheel is the first known use of a belt-drive and could manage up to four spindles at once.
Hot beverages available include Karma Coffee, Soluna Garden Farm hot tea and hot chocolate from Cookie Lady Treats.
On the lunch menu this week:
VESTA Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza:
Many pizza choices, including 'The Beetza' featuring
roasted beets from Winter Moon Roots.
The Herb Lyceum:
Curried Chicken Wrap, Falafel Wrap, Tomato Soup,
Grilled Cheese, Coq au Vin, and single serving Pot Pies.
Soul of India:
Vegetable Samosas (Vegan), Vegetable Pakoras (Gluten Free, Vegan), Navratan Korma, Matar tofu (Gluten Free, Vegan), *Chicken GOA Style (Gluten Free, No Dairy),*Chicken
Tikka Masala (Gluten Free), Naan & Rice (Gluten Free, Vegan).
Fishwives Specialty Foods:
Mandy's Seafood Chowder
Fior D'Italia Pasta & Cheese:
Eggplant Parmiggiano
Samira's Homemade:
Hummus, Baba Gannoush, Spicy & Regular Grape Leaves, Muhammara, Ful Medammes & Pita Bread
Have you ever wanted to learn how to make yarn using a drop spindle? Linda Scharf will be teaching a workshop from 1 to 4 PM.
You can register in advance or arrive 20 minutes before the class begins. Details for the class can be found here.
Louise Walsh from Evergreen Farm will be back demonstrating how to turn angora rabbit hair into wool yarn, working directly from the animal to the spinning wheel. She will also have bunnies for sale.
You will have to walk past vendors selling beef, pork, lamb, chicken, seafood and lobsters to find him, but Eric Grillo and
his impressive selection of pickled vegetables can be found
just beyond Pete & Jen's Backyard Birds.
Charley Baer and his Best Beans will be here with his Bean Soup Mix and heirloom dried bean varieties with names like Marfax, Boston Roman and Black Coco. Ask him how they differ.
FIBER VENDORS ATTENDING THIS WEEK:
Dorchester Farms
Foxhill Farm
FOOD VENDORS ATTENDING THIS WEEK:
The Wayland Winter Farmers' Market
is a Charter Corporate Member
of the new Massachusetts Cheese Guild.
 
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