Many of us enjoy the fresh, local produce that is sold at the downtown Harrisonburg Farmers Market. Â There is even a romantic quality of being able to buy straight from the producer, who from the sweat of his/her brow grew the produce we will eat. Â But all romance is thrown out the window when you hear of the high risk that is entailed with being a produce farmer.

You may have noticed that we have had a lot of rain and thunderstorms over the past couple of weeks. Â One of those storms brought a lot of destruction in the form of hail to Philip Hege’s farm. Â Extensive destruction was wreaked on his farm wiping out most of what was in the ground; the greenhouse had some damage as well.
There are efforts in the works to help Philip and his newly married wife to recover. Â We would like to encourage you to consider how you might be able to help Philip. Â A good start might be to simply channel some business to him. Â Customer Kris Shank-Zehr asked if we would host a “donation box” at our stand at market tomorrow. Â If you would like to chip in toward a money donation to help out Philip and Sarah stop by. Â If you have further questions, we can forward e-mail to Kris. Â In addition, I am sure Philip and Sarah would welcome your prayers and encouragement.
