Deanna Child (left) and Deborah Williamson are the brains behind Farmer Girls, which links farmers, buyers. DUANE WILLIAMSON Visit the Photo Place

They're the conduit linking farm to table

Two female farmers are using the Web to link local farmers and buyers

Date published: 12/10/2009

BY CATHY JETT

Barbara Tourtelot tries to get as much of her food from local sources as possible.

But it's a half-hour drive from her home in Delaplane to the nearest farmers market, which is in Warrenton.

So she was sold when she discovered a Web site that would not only let her order directly from farmers operating within a 40-mile radius of Fauquier County but also would deliver her purchases to a location 10 minutes away.

"They make it so easy," said Tourtelot, who bought her free-range Thanksgiving turkey from FarmersOnlineMarket.net. "We're not driving all over the place to find these people."

Farmer Girls, the business behind the Web site, is the brainchild of Deborah Williamson, who is on the board of the Fauquier Farm Bureau and grows lavender on her farm in Catlett, and Deanna Child, a farmer who raises pigs and poultry on a pasture in Orlean, along with vegetables in a hoop-house garden.

"We've had to run to Whole Foods and farmers markets to sell our products, and that eats into the time we have to farm," said Williamson. "One of the main things we wanted to do is take the marketing piece off the plate for the farmer so they can do what they do really well, which is farming."

She and Child began kicking around the idea for Farmer Girls in early June, and looked at other models around the country for ideas. They came up with one that lets farmers set their own prices and post their products and a brief description of their farm and philosophy online. Then, one morning a week, they drop off orders, which are then bagged for customers to pick up.

By August, the business partners had their Web site up and running with offerings by about a dozen farmers. They now have about 125 customers and 30 farmers.

"Time-wise, this is more convenient for the farmers and the customers, because you put all your product out there without having to sit on a lawn chair in a tent for five hours," said John Grose of Buffalo Ridge Farm in Rixeyville, which sells free-range turkeys and buffalo meat. "Ultimately, you reach as many people. So far, it's been working very well for us."

Date published: 12/10/2009