Festival Season!

September 25 was a sun-struck, blue-sky beauty of a day at the Autumn Harvest Festival/Roadkill Cook-off in Marlinton. Brightside ended our rewarding season with the Marlinton Farmer's Market on a high note. We sold out of our produce, which included heirloom potatoes, apples, and tomatoes, unusual winter squash, and frankly gorgeous pumpkin and watermelon. Yes, watermelon. In September.

Although we didn't begin the growing season knowing we would be there, the Farmer's Market has provided Brightside an invaluable opportunity to make new friends and loyal customers. We'll definitely be planning our Winter garden with "May at the Marlinton Farmer's Market" in mind! Hope to see you there!

Saturday, October 2, we'll be at Huntersville Traditions Day with many of our fellow Farmer's Marketers. At this unique celebration of living 19th century history, Brightside will demonstrate how to make torches from dried mullein stalks. We'll also sell our expanded line of Wildgrown herbal teas, which include teapot-sized bags, tins of loose tea, and gift sets, and offer this season's Heirloom Apple Preparations, which include Honey Apple Jelly, Spiced Apple Butter, and Apple Preserves.

After the Augusta Festival, Brightside was invited to participate in the Juried Arts and Craft Show at the 74th Annual Mountain State Forest Festival in Elkins October 7-9. Not wanting to pass up an opportunity to participate in an event that draws a crowd in excess of 100,000, we said "Yes, we'll be there!" Although there have been more than a few moments in the past month when we wondered what in the world we were thinking--Good Lord willing, and the creek don't rise--we'll be there. In addition to our collections of herbal teas, we'll be offering an assortment of exceptionally unusual fruit butters, including Rosehip, Elderberry/Hawthorn, and Autumnberry. In anticipation of the Christmas Season, we've collected many of our fruit products into sets designed for specific uses, such as Breakfast, Dessert, or Wild Game.