Arthur DeVitalis, Gilpin County. The Holistic Homestead will host its Memorial Days Farmers Market to begin the season Friday, May 28, Saturday, May 29, and Sunday, May 30. The market will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. all three days.
“We started just doing farmers markets. We started in 2016 with a roadside herb stand in South Beaver. We moved to Golden Gate Canyon, started selling vegetables, [and] getting local producers together,” said Director Arwen Ek of the Homestead. “We’re really excited to be actually doing events again this year. We used to do this all the time, but then with Covid-19, everything got shut down.”
This year, the Homestead will feature 13 vendors, cooking demos, live music, organic produce from the Nederland Farmers Market, and more.
Live music will be strongly featured at the event as well. Live storytelling with Bright Hawk Productions will begin the market Friday at 1 p.m., which is definitely something for the children and family. The Felonius Smith Trio, a front-range old-school folk blues, country, and acoustic delta band, will take the stage Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. From 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Mad Dog Blues will finish out the weekend.
Beyond the music, and though cooking will be a center feature of the Memorial Day Farmers Market. Ali Sugarman will demonstrate korma on behalf of Sweet Embrace Doula out of Boulder Friday. On Saturday, Founder Nathan Womack of Look Out Here I Come will share some recipes using his garlic and chili-infused olive oil.
Arwen Ek thanked all sponsors for this year’s inaugural market, including Grapes & Sons Excavating Company, Gilpin Cleaning Co, Dory Dozens Delights, Settembre Cellars, and Keep Magnolia Clean.
“I should also mention that this is a Covid-safe event. Even though it’s outdoors mostly, we are requesting that folks go ahead and wear their masks. I’m anticipating some crowds coming through,” she said. “[We are] encouraging physical distancing, providing hand washing stations and sanitizer all over the place, just to keep our community healthy and happy.”
Ek began the Homestead in 2012 as a means to bring higher health and wellness in the local area. The 501(c)3 nonprofit continues to do so with outreach today.
“We’ve got three benchmarks: outreach, education and advocacy. So outreach into the community, building healthy communities...education is just improving health literacy. One of the most amazing things I learned when I started the homestead, was that the more you know, the healthier you are. So simply knowing more about health and wellness directly correlates to better health outcomes,” said Ek. “Advocacy [is] for the medically underserved. Anywhere up here in the Peak to Peak, we are definitely considered medically underserved. We just don’t have access to big hospitals, pharmacies, clinics, emergency rooms...we’re at least an hour or more away from those kinds of services. People really need to know more about how to take care of themselves and take care of each other.”
For more information, visit Holistic Homestead online at theholistichomestead.org. The site includes information on events and the full schedule, as well as how to keep up with the Homestead on social media.
(Originally published in the May 27, 2021, edition of The Mountain-Ear.)
