Time to Pick a Virginia Grown Pumpkin

The Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) estimates that Virginia farmers will sell around 67.5 million pounds of pumpkins this year. That figure is based on three thousand acres with 1,500 saleable pumpkins per acre or 4.5 million pumpkins with an average weight of 15 pounds each. Some experts think the yield might even be higher per acre, which would increase that total. The value of the crop to the growers is estimated to be around $10 million this year.

One Cool Virginia Grown Corn Maze

Peanut Food Safety Workshop

The Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS) will sponsor a Peanut Food Safety Workshop this September 29 and 30, 2009 at the Tidewater Agriculture Research & Extension Center in Suffolk, Virginia. Please call (757) 569-1100 for additional details and registration information.

Virginia's Finest to Participate in State Fair

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) will host a Virginia's Finest pavilion at the upcoming State Fair of Virginia. The Virginia's Finest companies that will be participating in the pavilion during the State Fair include:

Thursday, Sept. 24 - Saturday, Sept. 26
Millcroft Farms, Stanley, Virginia
Virginia Heat, Richmond, Virginia
Rowena's, Norfolk, Virginia
Sabrosa Foods, Inc., Hampton, Virginia

Sunday, Sept. 27 - Tuesday, Sept. 29
Don's Best Sauce, Ridgeway, Virginia
Spice Rack Chocolates, Fredericksburg, Virginia
The Good Earth Peanut Co., Skippers, Virginia
Cinnamon Cafe'/Original Brunswick Stew, Lawrenceville, Virginia

Wednesday, Sept. 30 - Friday, Oct. 2
Jody's Popcorn, Virgina Beach, Virginia
Landovel Farm, Fork Union, Virginia
Croftburn Farm Meats LLC, Culpeper, Virginia
Mary's Cakery and Candy Kitchen, King George, Virginia

Saturday, Oct. 3- Sunday, Oct. 4
Virginia Diner, Wakefield, Virginia
Nouvel, LLC, Williamsburg, Virginia
The Williamsburg Chocolatier, Inc., Williamsburg
Bloody's By Buz, Oakton, Virginia

Virginia Farmers Markets Ranked Among Best in the Nation

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) is pleased to announce that six Virginia farmers markets were ranked in the Top 20 in “American’s Favorite Farmers Market Contest” sponsored by the American Farmland Trust (AFT).

AFT announced the results Saturday, August 8, which was the last day of National Farmers Market Week. More than 800 markets signed up to participate in the contest. Voters could vote for their favorite market in one of three categories, small, medium or large. Markets are categorized by the number of vendors at each. A small market has 30 vendors or less; medium markets support 31 to 55 vendors and large markets are those with more than 55 vendors.

Among medium markets, Williamsburg ranked number one nationwide. Historic Roanoke came in at number seven, Yorktown at number eight and Goochland at number 19. In the small category, Fairfax ranked number three and Virginia Beach ranked sixth.

New Virginia Grown Web Site

The Virginia Grown web site, www.virginiagrown.com, has recently been updated to make it much more user friendly. The site now allows consumers to search by product and geographic area. The new site also contains a great mapping feature so consumers can easily find how to get to local farms, farmers' markets, roadside stands, etc.

Virginia Grown Strawberries