BENT MOUNTAIN, Va. – A few weeks ago, 10 News unexpectedly lost one of our own. John Cermack was an engineer here. He came to me one day and said in his raspy voice, “Hey man. You have to try this produce stand up on Bent Mountain.”
In his memory, we’re taking you for a drive up to Grateful Mountain Market in Tasty Tuesday.
“Word of mouth seems to be getting around.”
That’s exactly how we learned about Grateful Mountain Market. What started as a produce stand has blossomed into something much more than that.
Elise Lauren Templeton loves being a part of it all. Here, you won’t feel like a stranger.
“We really want to make this place somewhere that is like Bent Mountain’s living room.”
Owner, David Trible, tells us it’s all about keeping it local - supporting ten to 15 local farms with plans to do farming of their own.
“We intend to farm all around it. We want to fill our space up with agriculture.”
From there, it’s a ripple effect.
“They can get to-go food. They can get essential oils if they need that, or they can get some tea or some local eggs…local meats, cheeses and produce.”
“The yogurt parfaits. We make our yogurt and granola every day. The breakfast burritos are a close second. We also make our own pizzas using On the Rise crusts. We make our own marinara sauce to go along with that. We’ll also sometimes use a pesto base.”
And they aren’t done yet. The sky is the limit for this market.
“We’ve got big plans for this place,” says Templeton.
Proof that all it takes is effort and an easy wind up the golden road for things to come together.
Trible elaborates on future plans, telling us they want to “Eventually expand into our garage here, build a stage and start getting local musicians in here.”
The hope is to have a beer and wine garden by this time next year as well.