Getting fresh produce—and other things—without leaving your house

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When the pandemic hit, Michelle Niedermeyer knew she couldn’t host the annual seasonal farmers’ markets at Lost Acres Vineyard, so she and the Granby Agricultural Commission came up with a plan that makes it possible for residents of Granby, East Granby, East Hartland and Simsbury to obtain vegetables, cheese, wine and specialty meats without leaving their homes: the Virtual Farmers’ Market. In addition to the foods, hemp products, soaps and lotions are also available for purchase.

Here’s how it works. Go to granbyag.org and the Virtual Farmers’ Market page. The participating farms are listed. You click on the one(s) you are interested in and select the products you want. At this time, separate orders must be placed at each farm, with purchasing instructions listed on each page. Orders can be placed anytime through 2 p.m. on Friday; the items will be delivered on Saturday by Ken Kuhl. Someone age 21 or older must be home to receive the order. The delivery fee is $5, which you can venmo to Ken Kuhl or Paypal at kennykuhl@gmail.com. You can also simply give Ken the $5 in cash or check when he arrives at your door. If you have any special delivery instructions, send him an email at the address listed in this paragraph.

As of now, the following farms are on the site as participants. Addison Farm offers a variety of organic vegetables and hemp products made from its own organically grown hemp plants. 

At Lost Acres Vineyard, you will see a variety of white and red wines, as well as Old Orchard Apple, Enders Reserve and Salmon Brook Rose. 

Lyric Hill Farm provides soaps, lotions, and detergents made from the farm’s own goats’ milk, and scented wands made from the farm’s lavender plants. 

At the Maple View Farm site you can purchase sausage, hotdogs, kielbasa, beer and ale. 

A wide variety of flavors of goat cheese, cow and goat milk, and cow and goat Greek yogurt are available at Sweet Pea Cheese. 

Sweet Wind Farm packs up a box for $20 that will include a variety of fruits and vegetables. For example, the box for the week ending Aug. 15 included cherries, blueberries, cherry tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and peppers. Sweet Wind also sells a Flower and Herb box. A recent one included choice of sunflower bundle or mini bouquet, basil, mint parsley, sage and marjoram, also $20.

The Virtual Farmers’ Market is a great way to go shopping without leaving your house, and it supports your local farmers. What could be better?