Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstration Program Founder Kathleen Nixon is a hyper-local advocate for farm-to-table education and outreach − no matter what the season.

 When most people think of a farmers market, they tend to think the markets usually close once the fall season comes around. Many folks don’t realize that quite a number of the farmers markets in our area remain open during the winter months. In fact, according to Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstration program founder Kathleen Nixon, about more than half of the local markets stay open with reduced hours in the colder months.

“One of the disadvantages in our society is that we believe fruits and vegetables are available year-round,” explains Nixon, a longtime Falls Church farmers market aficionado and devoted champion for sourcing locally-grown produce. “For example, let’s take strawberries or tomatoes. We go to the grocery store and we see tomatoes in January and tropical fruits in February. We have become accustomed to the availability of that beautiful rainbow of colors displayed by fruits and vegetables throughout the year. So the challenge then becomes taking off our Technicolor rose glasses and looking at what the real colors are for each of the different seasons.”

According to Nixon, one sees the vibrant reds, oranges and yellows and the deep green hues usually during the summer months. “But when the colder months come along, I feel many eyes tend to ‘get bored’ looking at the tamer palette of winter produce,” says Nixon. “It’s just not as ‘exciting’ for some.

People ignore, are unaware or don’t even consider the deep variety of kale available. Honestly, how many people really know about Dinosaur kale or Russian Blue kale?” Admittedly, I confessed I had no idea these kales even existed myself. “See?,” Nixon pointed out. “You are not alone. During the winter months, lots of people dismiss or are oblivious to the vibrant colors of winter produce such as Peruvian blue tomatoes.”

Nixon, who loyally shops for most of her produce at the local Falls Church Farmers Market year-round, admits even her own gardening activity doesn’t come to a complete stop during fall and winter months. “I just harvested my own red, white and blue potatoes during the second week of September,” she notes factually. She attributes her approach to year-round gardening to Eliot Coleman who’s authored The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest and The Winter Harvest Handbook. “Eliot sort of has perfected the year round harvest with the theory that if you grow smarter, you grow easier than rushing all growing activity during warmer months. If you look at the temperatures vegetables really need, you can schedule them at different times of the year.”

As an example, Nixon shares some of her own fall and winter harvesting adventures, which she and her husband, John, regularly engage in right from the comforts of their own back yard. “We pulled out our tomatoes and cucumbers and we put in kale, parsley, garlic, beets and carrots. In our region, the ground and the air stay so warm for so long that if you get these vegetables in during August or September, they will continue growing during the winter.”

In fact, Nixon recalls fondly, two years ago she and her husband had planted carrots during the first week of September. The couple placed a storm window over the carrots to protect them from the fall and winter weather and to allow the seedlings to still get sun. “Two years ago, folks in our area will recall we had that huge, huge snowfall in December.

About a month or so after that snowfall, my husband and I were out in the back yard, harvesting carrots in the dead of winter.” Nixon also recommends planting kale later in the year. “It actually keeps producing no matter how much you harvest and becomes sweeter tasting the more it is exposed to frost and snow; we had one kale plant that we couldn’t kill. It kept coming back.”

Nixon’s passion for sourcing locally grown produce and her own commitment to helping others learn how to incorporate farmers market bounty into their everyday meals is what inspired her to collaborate with the City of Falls Church to give rise to the Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstration program. “The idea of the chef demo program actually first started when I began to view my local farmers market more and more as my grocery store,” Nixon explains. “I began to view the vendors at the market more as business owners who are passionate about their products and services rather than ‘just farmers’ with produce. I became more connected to them because I realized they have dedicated their lives to making a difference, and they provide my family with really healthy, good food.”

Nixon became determined to learn how to use the food from the farmers market in everyday meals. Over a period of months, she also came to realize that many of the folks who bought produce at the market would only purchase small quantities of this or that. “Folks would go to the market to buy something for that night’s evening party but not for long-term meal planning,” Nixon observed. Aft er asking around, Nixon learned the reason most folks were only buying one or two small items. Most admitted they didn’t know how to cook or prepare many of the vegetables and produce available.

And that was the original spark that gave birth to the Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstrations. “It was perfect timing,” proclaims Nixon, who saw the opportunity to educate the general public on ways to incorporate locally grown produce into their daily lives. “I immediately saw opportunities for the vendors as well and believed they would benefit greatly, too. The more the general public knows about preparing the wonderful variety of produce these vendors bring to the market, weekend after weekend, the higher the potential for increased sales in the long run.” Moreover, Nixon felt the idea of live chef demonstrations would also allow area chefs committed to incorporating locally grown produce in their menus to promote their restaurants in the process.

After almost two years, the chef demonstration program has become a focal point of the Falls Church Farmers Market. “The chefs create recipes using seasonal produce from the market,” shares Nixon. “The whole thing has been very successful. The public loves to see how the chefs show off their creativity in the kitchen and prepare delicious yet simple dishes. In the end, the public is being educated and entertained at the same time. You just can’t ask for any better results.”

The Falls Church Farmers Market Chef Demonstrations have developed a really strong following. Even kids who dream of becoming chefs or want to learn how to cook enjoy the demonstrations thoroughly. “I haven’t yet seen a kid who said ‘yuck’ and didn’t enjoy the butternut squash relish, the wheat berry risotto or the asparagus soup!” says Nixon. “Kids will eat local food as long as you enjoy it and serve it at home.”

For more information, you can visit the web site at www.FallsChurchFarmersMarketChef.com. You can also visit the program on Facebook at Facebook.com/FarmersMarketChef and tweet with Nixon online @FarmersMktChef.

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MAYRA RUIZ MCPHERSON

Mayra Ruiz MCPHERSON is the founder of Ruiz McPherson Communications, a marketing ingenuity and digital PR company based in Dulles, Virginia. You can follow her on Twitter at @mayraruiz, via her practice’s Twitter handle @ruizmcpherson or on Facebook at facebook.com/ruizmcpherson.