For the next four weeks, we’ll be introducing you to the individuals who are an integral part of Carroll Hospital’s weekly Farmers Market. Learn about the lives of the people behind the food who make our seasonal farmers market possible.
This week’s Farmers Market Spotlight features Wendy Plank from Briar Ridge Farm.
Wendy has been a vendor at Carroll Hospital’s Farmers Market for seven years. She and her husband, Jim Plank, established their family farm, named for the distinctive briar thickets that grow there, in 1997 with their two children.
Wendy and her family grow an assortment of fruits and vegetables at Briar Ridge Farm, including sweet cherries, blueberries, watermelons, zucchini, squash, cantaloupes, tomatoes and much more. Everything Wendy sells is grown locally in Union Bridge. If you’re lucky enough to attend a farmers market on a day when Wendy brings her fresh peach salsa, you won’t regret it! Wendy admits that although she receives a lot of requests for her tomatoes and cantaloupes, it’s her Briar Ridge grown peaches that are the crowd favorite.
As an experienced vendor at numerous farmers markets in the county, Wendy shares why supporting locally owned farms benefits more than just the farmers. “You’re improving your community,” Wendy says. “The money that you choose to give to your local farmers stays local.”
Wendy also believes that locally grown food is the healthiest way to feed your family. “You’re guaranteed fresh produce when you shop at farmers markets because we pick it a day or two before we sell it. You’re also guaranteed a quality of service that you can’t get from grocery stores,” she says. “As you get to know your local farmers, you know you’re getting it from a healthy source.”
This Thursday, stop by Carroll Hospital’s Farmers Market from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. to meet Wendy and support her family owned farm!
For more information on Wendy’s farm, visit Briar Ridge Farm’s Facebook page, Instagram account and website.
Briar Ridge Farm
4580 Middleburg Road, Union Bridge, MD 21791
443-605-5905
