By Lisa Carolin
A snowy, cold January weekend wasn’t enough to keep fans of fresh herbs, fresh frozen vegetables and meats, tasty sandwiches and salads, and yummy baked goods from shopping at Chelsea’s year-round farmers market, Agricole.
An additional incentive to stop by on the weekend of Jan.18 and 19, were Agricole’s pop up vendors. On Sunday, January 19, it was Ferial Rewoldt and her popular HumusFilafil stand.
Humus-Filafil began at the Chelsea Farmers Market in 2016. The following year, Rewoldt took her business to the Ann Arbor Farmers Market and added the two Argus Farm Stop markets in Ann Arbor soon after. Now her fresh variety of Mediterranean foods can be purchased at Agricole.
Rewoldt, a retired nurse from the University of Michigan Health System, is originally from Lebanon where she was influenced by cooking with all kinds of spices.
“It’s fun to do this,” said Rewoldt. “I like the people at Agricole and I like the place. Interacting with people at this market is awesome.”
You’ll always find some of Rewoldt’s foods at Agricole including falafel sandwiches, Italian spinach cheese pie, grape leaves, baba ghanouge, spicy sweet potato humus, and baklava.
“Having Feriel here helps our daily sales,” said Patrick Zieske, one of Agricole’s managing members. “We like having pop ups because when something special is happening at Agricole, it makes people want to come in and shop.”
Other pop ups have included Why Not Pie, Fluffy Bottom, LA Baguette, and Farm Yard, and Agricole wants to encourage more pop ups.
“Once you build a following, people come in for that pop up,” said Zieske. “Agricole offers a variety of products and we get a diverse group of customers.”
Agricole opened in June of 2019 and is located in the Mack Building at the corner of Main and Jackson streets. The store sells local produce, meats, baked goods, and more from more than 40 vendors, most of whom are located in a 15-mile radius of Chelsea.
Agricole’s mission is “to encourage and improve small farm viability, increase community access to locally grown food, and educate the public about maintaining small farming as a community resource.”
There are plenty of frozen vegetables offered through the winter along with frozen meats, organic and gluten free products, and fresh, hot coffees made to order.
Zieske says that he has been pleased with sales, and that Agricole may be opening a commercial kitchen later this year.
In addition, Agricole has space available to rent for private events.
To learn more or if you’re interested in doing a pop up, telephone 734-562-2840 or email [email protected].
Check out Agricole’s website at https://www.agricolefarmstop.com.
