Bates Area Civic Association

Don’t miss the final week of the NoMa Fall Festival & Market on Wednesday, October 24, 3-7 p.m.! Highlights include FREE pumpkin carving, FREE face painting for kids, and FREE info sessions on urban mushroom gardening! Enter our raffle for a FREE Thanksgiving turkey! See below for a schedule of exciting vendors and demonstrations this week.

Details: Mark Jones from Sharondale Farms will give 20-minute demonstrations at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m. on mushroom biology, ecology, human uses and cultivation. Each of the demonstrations will introduce different simple methods for growing mushrooms in urban and small spaces including: how to grow mushrooms on logs, sticks, cardboard, paper and other urban “wastes.” He will also be selling mushrooms from his farm. From 3 p.m. to 7 p.m., free pumpkin carving will be available; pick up your pumpkin and a free carving kit (with pattern options), and make your Halloween Jack-O-Lantern. Join respected gardening guru Kathy Jentz, editor-in-chief of Washington Gardener Magazine, as she leads a discussion on how to start and maintain an urban garden. A life-long gardener, Kathy believes that gardening should be easy, fun, and stress-free.

The festival and market will take place on Wednesday, October 24, from 3-7 p.m. The market is at the NoMa/Gallaudet U Metro station at Second and N Streets, NE, next to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Left your cash at home? We accept credit cards and SNAP/EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer, formerly known as food stamps). For a full schedule and more information, visit http://www.nomabid.org/market. Follow us on Twitter @NoMaBID and Facebook.

OCTOBER 24 SCHEDULE:
Groff’s Content Farm: Reserve your Thanksgiving turkey (choose from 300 broad-breasted whites). Sample sausage and other pork items and take a whiff of body soap, straight from the farm!
Trickling Springs Creamery: This vendor from Union Market will be selling hot chocolate and cold chocolate milk, plus delicious ice cream. Sample butter and milk for purchase from Union Market.
Fresh Off the Roast: This DC coffee company roasts beans in small batches in their Petworth coffee shop, Qualia Coffee. Fresh Off the Roast doesn’t sell coffee wholesale to ensure that all coffees are sold at the peak of freshness; the beans are only available at Qualia Coffee! Stop by for a hot serving of chai tea or Mysore coffee, an Indian café au lait brewed with cardamom, cinnamon and cloves.
Kuhn Orchards: Sample heritage apple varieties, and take home some delicious cider, dried apples, jams, jellies, honey and prepared sauces.
Washington Gardener Magazine: Join Kathy Jentz, editor-in-chief of Washington Gardener magazine, as she leads a discussion on how to start and maintain an urban garden. A life-long gardener, Kathy believes that gardening should be easy, fun, and stress-free.
Sharondale Farm: Mark Jones from Sharondale Farms will lead a seminar about growing mushrooms in the city. He will show you how to grow mushrooms, using common items such as a telephone book, cardboard, and a stick. He will also sell mushrooms, mushroom spawn, and tools to start your own mushroom garden.
Face painting: Natasha Nenadovic from Natasha’s Face Painting Party will be on hand to create smiles, one color at a time!
Great Harvest Bread Co.: Cinnamon breads, challah, sliced wheat and white, cookies, brownies, and much more.
Peachy Family Dairy: Have a taste for dill pickle, or spicy cheese? This Maryland cheese vendor has plenty of cheese to satisfy the most discerning taste buds!
Barajas Produce: Fall harvest, including greens, chard, herbs, squashes, eggplants and more.
Full Cellar Farms: Fresh produce, such as peppers, eggplants, greens, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.
Three Little Pigs: The Three Little Pigs opened recently on Georgia Avenue and sources their meat from local farms around the region, including Groff’s Content Farm. Sample their many products, such as pork rinds, ham and salami, and learn more about charcuterie!
Walker Jones Farm: At the Walker Jones Education Campus, located at 1125 New Jersey Ave., NW, students maintain a small-scale farm as a part of the science curriculum. Walker Jones students grow different herbs and vegetables, including spinach, chard, green beans and a variety of homemade baked goods.