At the Common Market, we love the opportunity to get to see some of the local farms and businesses we support and provide you with an inside look. A few weeks ago we visited The Sweet Farm’s kitchen in Frederick, where they create the delicious krauts you see in the fermented foods cooler. Last week, we had a chance to visit the actual farm. We wanted to see where some of these favorites come from.
The greenhouse is where the cucumbers, which will eventually be turned into pickles, grow. “We’ll be lucky if we get any cucumbers,” Rachel said, noting the incessant rain and weird weather of the past few months. “We’ll get some,” Luke assures her, positive in the cucumber’s production. Max and Miles, Rachel and Luke’s sons, clearly love spending time on the farm as they insist on watering the growing plants. Rachel chuckles and allows it, while Luke sets a reminder on his phone to turn off the watering system that evening.
Their orchard also produces some of the fruits used for their ginger beer flavors. For instance, the pears in the holiday-themed Vanilla Pear Ginger Beer are from the farm’s orchard.
They try to grow what they use and use what they grow, truly encompassing the idea of a small, local farm business.