Starting this Sunday, Westover Farmers Market will again require face masks to enter and shop at the market. With school about to start we want to be proactive in keeping our community safe so that kids, teachers, and parents can have one less thing to worry about when they shop with us on Sundays.

Don’t worry if you forget to bring a mask. WFM staff and volunteers will have them on hand for those who need them. The face mask requirement applies to both vaccinated and unvaccinated market goers. We humbly ask for full cooperation.

MASK APPRECIATION. The Westover Farmers Market Committee wanted to take a minute to express our deep appreciation for the 99.9% of our customers who have gone with the flow over the last two weekends as we re-instituted our masking requirement. Our sole goal in changing course has been to keep our community safe from the Delta variant, particularly as in-person schooling starts in Arlington today. Delta is much more transmissible than the original virus, even among the vaccinated, and our market can get pretty crowded (especially inside produce vendor tents). We decided that re-masking would be much less disruptive than reimposing our other crowd-control measures from earlier in the pandemic (e.g., one-way traffic, grab-and-go, socially-distanced lines). And indeed, our actions are consistent with CDC guidance, which recommends wearing a mask in crowded outdoor settings in areas with high numbers of COVID-19 cases (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/outdoor-activities.html). We will continue to monitor Arlington’s community transmission rate (especially as the school year gets underway), and we will once again re-assess our policy if and when we get down to the levels at the beginning of the summer when we made masking optional. In the meantime, we thank everyone (and *especially* our vendors, who have to mask for hours on end) for their civic-mindedness and patience.

Our pre-ordering platform — Westover To Go — is still great way to ensure you get the produce you want when you want it:

• 16 Participating Vendors
  • 3 Pick Up Options (see below)
    • 1 Payment

~ Pickup directly from the Vendor
~ Pickup at the Express Pickup Tent
~ Have your Pre-order Delivered to Your Home

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Market Policy

• Face coverings are recommended for all persons in the market.
• One Way Flow encouraged.
• Please don’t come to the market if you are unwell or at high-risk.
• Wash your hands thoroughly as soon as you return home.
• If you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to ask one of the market managers.
• Be kind, be patient, and be considerate of the most cautious among us (Westover Beer Garden)

One Way Flow – Update

One-Way Flow is still encouraged, but we are relaxing enforcement. The increacing percentage of new Covid cases from the Delta Variant is a concern, but the total number of new cases in Arlington is very low. Since the end of May the 7-Day Average has remained below 2 cases per day. Lastly, the market narrows where the school construction eats the sidewalk. The market flow is easier if customers walk the same direction through the narrow space. We think the current situation warrents encouragement not mandate.

Pre-order for Pick Up

Local developer wosomoso.com provides the Westover to Go pre-order page allowing you to shop with multiple vendors on one order. Each vendor will have your order waiting for you at their booth.

Westover to Go (participating vendors):
Barajas Produce . BrainSnac . Cold Country Salmon . Dimitri Olive Farms . DMV Empanadas. Faerie Springs Farm . Great Valley Farms . Hog Haven Farm . Holly Brook Farms . K-bröd . Linda Vista Farm . Metro Microgreens . Paella to Go . Spore and Seed . Spring Valley Farm and Orchard

Vendor Run pre-order pages:
Atwaters . Barajas Produce . Black Rock Orchard . BrainSnac . The Fermented Pig . For the Love of Goodies . Great Valley Farms . King Mushrooms . Number1Sons . Ozfeka Catering . Rustiq Bakery . Spring Valley Farm . Starstead Farm . Twin Springs Fruit Farms

Smith Family Farms — call or text Leigh Smith at 571-220-0017
Pick up your orders at the market, between 8:00am – 12:00pm, on Sunday. Have your confirmation handy. CSA boxes sell out, so do your online shopping early!

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WE ARE OPEN

Pre-order for Pick Up

Local developer wosomoso.com provides the Westover to Go pre-order page allowing you to shop with multiple vendors on one order. Each vendor will have your order waiting for you at their booth.

Westover to Go (participating vendors):
Barajas Produce . BrainSnac . Cold Country Salmon . Dimitri Olive Farms . DMV Empanadas. Faerie Springs Farm . Great Valley Farms . Hog Haven Farm . Holly Brook Farms . K-bröd . Linda Vista Farm . Metro Microgreens . Paella to Go . Spore and Seed . Spring Valley Farm and Orchard

Vendor Run pre-order pages:
Atwaters . Barajas Produce . Black Rock Orchard . BrainSnac . The Fermented Pig . For the Love of Goodies . Great Valley Farms . King Mushrooms . Number1Sons . Ozfeka Catering . Rustiq Bakery . Spring Valley Farm . Starstead Farm . Twin Springs Fruit Farms

Smith Family Farms — call or text Leigh Smith at 571-220-0017
Pick up your orders at the market, between 8:00am – 12:00pm, on Sunday. Have your confirmation handy. CSA boxes sell out, so do your online shopping early!

Subscribe to receive market updates

Pick Up Procedure

• In order to preserve physical distancing, entrance is from Washington Blvd and foot traffic flows one way up the street.
• Check to see if there is a line to enter and go to the end of the line. There will be a “gatekeeper” monitoring the number of people entering and will tell you when it’s OK to enter.
• Look for the bright yellow distancing tape if there are lines and in front of vendor booths.
• Let the gatekeeper know which vendors you are picking up from, if there are no lines in front of them, you might be allowed to enter the market ahead of others waiting fin line for other vendors.
• There are limited grab and go items from most vendors, which you are welcome to purchase, but pre-ordering is the best way to keep everyone moving safely through the market in a timely manner. See the end of this post for some of the grab-and-go offerings and plan your list in advance.

Market Community Safety

What We’re Doing

• Vendors are set up further apart to allow more space in between
• Reflowing foot traffic in one direction to minimize passing (enter at Wash. Blvd, exit at 18th Street)
• Staying current on ordnance and guidance from state and local government and health departments

What You Should Do

• Only one adult family member should enter the market to pick up purchases.
• Kindly leave kids at home. We love children, but they add to crowding at market and pose a risk to our senior shoppers.
• Please don’t come to market if you are unwell or at high-risk. We recommend following current CDC guidelines for facial coverings while out of the home.
• Wash your hands thoroughly as soon as you return home.
• Once you’ve picked up your orders, we ask you to exit at the opposite end on 18th Street so that other customers can enter.
• If you have any concerns, don’t hesitate to ask one of the market managers.

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Grab and Go at the Market

While pre-ordering is the preferred method of acquiring ALL of your market shopping, some vendors bring pre-packaged produce, value-added and prepared food items for sale. You are welcome to pick up whatever you need, but please make a list, know what you want, and refrain from browsing while at the market. Here are some of the items that were available at the last market. Check with your favorite vendors for this weeks offerings.

Westover Farmers Market managers and volunteers are working hard to ensure that customers and vendors are safe in the market and everyone has access to locally grown, healthy and delicious food.

To all our WFM family of customers, vendors and volunteers. Watch this space for links and information for online ordering for Sunday pick up at Westover farmers markets. The onsite logistics are evolving to make sure everyone shops and works in a safe environment, but many of our producers and vendors have already retooled for this new reality and we will do whatever we are allowed to do to support them.

Here is the official announcement from the Virginia Dept. of Agricultural and Consumer Services: “VDACS Commissioner Dr. Jewel Bronaugh clarified that farmers markets may only accept pre-ordering or online ordering — items have to be packaged and ready for pickup at the market. This order goes into effect at 11:59 PM on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 and will remain in place until 11:59 PM on Thursday, April 23, 2020.”

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For information on pre-ordering for pickup at the Westover Farmers Market on Sunday mornings, please refer to the Online Westover Farmers Marketplace. For information about vendors not available on the Online Marketplace check their Vendors description.

Online ordering now available! The Westover Farmers Market is trying out a new online ordering system. Market customers may place and pay for their orders Monday through Friday and then pick up their orders from vendors on Sunday.  Never miss out on your favorite food items again!  Participating vendors include: BrainSnac, Cold Country Salmon, Dimitri Olive Farms, DMV Empanadas, Holly Brook Farms, Paella to Go, and Prufrock Artisanal Goods. Place your order here: https://woso.co/westover.

thanks to Shaina Brown for producing this video.

The Westover Farmers Market will be open this Sunday during usual winter hours, 9 – 1.  Vendors will be back with their seasonal fruits and vegetables and with wonderful baked goods and other locally prepared foods.  Come to the market to see where all of last Sunday’s snow has been placed!  A monumental effort by local market volunteers to get the market reopened.