Have you ever heard of New Hampshire’s tranquil, beautiful areas referred to as God’s Country? The Danbury Country Store certainly had and came up with “GAAWD’s Country,” referring to our little section of the state — the towns of Grafton, Alexandria, Andover, Wilmot, and Danbury.  

Having approval from the store to use “GAAWD’s Country,” Blazing Star Grange #71 has plans to expand their Danbury Winter Farmers Market into a farm network from these towns. Beyond local farms working together, the main feature will be a marketing plan with a year-round online farmers market involving area pickup locations. While GAAWD’s Country has been discussed for the last year or more, the plan was to start small, involving a few Danbury Winter Market farms, and expanding outward to encompass Danbury’s bordering towns, all of which once had a Grange. 

In early February, an applicable grant was introduced that, if received, would provide promotion and branding funds for a full GAAWD’s Country launch. In late February, the Grange hosted a listening session to gather information from area farms to help the New Hampshire Food Alliance create a New Hampshire-local food and ag strategic plan. 

Central New Hampshire farms were invited to share their struggles, barriers to growth, and what might help them succeed. As it were, those that came were all GAAWD’s Country farms. Common shared challenges were rules and regulations, marketing, sales opportunities, and time constraints of covering these pieces. Knowing that the GAAWD’s Country Farm Network would help some of the issues, the plan was announced to the receptive group.

Many pieces were falling into place, leading the Grange to believe that the stars were aligning and it was time to move forward. In addition to the farm network, Blazing Star is also working to upgrade their kitchen and purchase a freeze dryer to be used by local farms and families. 

Serving the community since 1875, Blazing Star Grange sponsors the Danbury Winter Farmers Market, which is held from 9 AM to noon, on the first Saturday of the month, November through  May, at the Grange Hall, 15 North Road, in Danbury. Meetings are held on most first and third Thursdays, at 7 PM. Farms and interested persons may request information by emailing blazingstargrange71@nullgmail.com.