Northwest Farm to Fork launches at Norbrook

By Andra Moss

When Devin Grosso and her husband moved to Norfolk in 2024, she was disappointed to learn that the town’s farmers market had permanently closed just the year before. However, a chance meeting at the Botelle School garden with Lisa Auclair, who had managed the Norfolk Farmers Market for 17 years, planted a seed of an idea. “Lisa told me all about the market, and I started to wonder if I could help bring it back,” Grosso recalls.

The fruit of that conversation is the return of a monthly farmers market, set to launch on Wednesday, May 20, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Norbrook Farm Brewery, just over the Norfolk town line in Colebrook.
The market’s revival can be traced to the timely confluence of the right people with complementary skills and a deep commitment to supporting local farmers. One of these people is John Auclair, Lisa’s uncle through marriage and an owner of Norbrook. He had also been shopping the idea of a farmers market and encouraged Lisa to take on a limited role as consultant for the potential project. She, in turn, reached out to April Carter, an early collaborator on the Norfolk Farmers Market.

“April is a fifth-generation farmer,” says Lisa Auclair. “A passion for supporting local farming is in her blood. She instantly saw how this could support local agriculture and provide an outlet to keep farms alive and thriving.”

Carter was interested, Grosso was enthusiastic and Norbrook was onboard. “Suddenly it was all sort of coming together,” marveled Auclair, who says that the more things started to take shape, the more excited she became about the market. “Now,” she says, “I’m all in.”

The trio of women immediately set up a new nonprofit, Northwest Farm to Fork, and began building out the market in record time. Grosso handles ecommerce operations—managing processes and helming the all-important marketing and social media outreach. Auclair brings her wealth of knowledge and experience with the Norfolk market. Carter is the conduit to farmers, vendors and other area markets.
When they first put the word out to vendors in March, says Auclair, they knew it was a bit late, as other markets had already started scheduling. Incredibly, “Interest was through the roof,” she says, and slots quickly filled. She noted that a Wednesday evening market offers farmers an extra outlet to their usual Saturday markets.

For its first season, the Northwest Farm to Fork market will be held every third Wednesday of the month through October, from 5 to 8 p.m., in the covered pavilion at Norbrook Farm Brewery. There is plenty of parking and, as in Norfolk, the market will feature live music.

For now, Farm to Fork is focused on providing a one-stop shop for farm-fresh foods, says Grosso, ticking off a list of items available from the nearly 20 vendors: mushrooms, poultry, beef, greens, charcuterie, fresh eggs and goat’s cheese. This will be rounded out with spices and baked goods, as well as bouquets from Norfolk resident Erin Hull’s Happy Gnomes Flower Farm.

Both Grosso and Auclair note the importance of the collaboration with Norbrook. “John has been incredibly supportive,” says Auclair. “Visitors can enjoy so much there—brews and food and live music plus all that Norbrook has going on across the property. We’re going to garner a whole new demographic that we just couldn’t get in Norfolk.”

Assuming a successful first season, the team plans to expand from a once-per-month market to a weekly and will soon include artisan vendors. Both food and craft vendor applications are available at www.northwestfarmtofork.org.

While Auclair admits to being a bit surprised to find herself once again knee-deep in a farmer’s market, she says she is thrilled with the community that is coming together around it. Grosso concurs: “We’re working it out as we go. It’s basically ‘fresh perspective meets experience’.”