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Business & Tech

Potomac Farm Market Offers Organic Options

Locally grown organic produce is the staple at Potomac Farm Market.

A typical morning for Steve Magassy, owner of Potomac Farm Market at the corner of River Road and Congressional Parkway, begins at sunrise when he walks down the rows of tomatoes and flowers growing in front of his grandmother's house.

It's one of the most important jobs of the day.

At that time every morning, Magassy selects the organic produce to sell at his market stand about 100 feet away from his grandmother's house. It is vital that he picks produce at its ripest, he said, because his regular customers expect the best from the market, which is open from about 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. seven days a week.

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"I know the Potomac Farm Market produce is certifiably fresh because I personally know where it is grown," said Roger Hamilton, a regular customer.

"This is the first time I have seen really fresh okra grown locally, and when it is truly fresh it is delicious and deserves to be far more popular than it is."

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Magassy, who has been the owner of the Potomac Farm Market since 2007, started working at markets when he was 15. Now, Magassy owns seven locations in the area, but the Potomac Farm Market is special to him because it is located on the land of his 91-year-old grandmother, Elaine Kay, he said.

Kay and her late husband Dr. Alvin Kay purchased the property and built the stone house with colorful trim in 1947. Although Steve gets his produce from several other local growers in addition to the family's 120-acre farm in Poolesville, he still grows a small crop of heirloom tomatoes, zinnias and sunflowers in Potomac.

It is important to Magassy and his customers that the produce is locally grown, so his growers are within 10 miles of the Potomac Farm Market, he said.

Healthy eating is a priority of many of the market's customers, Magassay said, so he makes sure to gather produce from other growers who use the same organic practices that he does — meaning that bugs are picked off by hand instead of spraying them, for example.

The young staff at the market helps make the business successful, Magassy said.

Tatum Ayres, a recent graduate of Winston Churchill High School, and her sister Casey both work at the market. Tatum, who has worked three summers at the stand on River Road will study organic farming when she attends college in January.

Tamar Narzarian, a Montgomery College student, is finishing her first summer as an employee at the market and said she enjoys her work.

"There is a lot to do," Narzarian said. "I am outdoors, and I get to meet really nice people. They love fresh fruit and flowers."

This September, the market offers heirloom tomatoes, chocolate tomatoes, peaches, apples, pears, cantaloupes, watermelons, peppers, squashes, cucumbers and small white eggplants. Also, customers can handpick flowers from the market's field of zinnias and sunflowers.

The market offers seasonal fresh produce year-round and also has specials depending on the season.

The market sells pumpkins in the fall, Christmas trees, roping and wreaths in December, and firewood throughout the winter. The market also delivers large or special orders for around $25, depending on location and labor, according to the Potomac Farm Market website.

As an added service, Magassy provides snowplowing services to the community. He plowed driveways up and down River Road last winter during the regional blizzards.

"My business is about customer service," Magassy said. "I love my customers and would do anything for them."

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