Organic market coming to Port

Downtown Port Washington is about to get a market, something long sought by residents.

But it’s not a full-service grocery store. Instead, it is an organic market that will feature items grown in the area —including the apples, raspberries and rhubarb grown on Dream Apple Farm on the city’s south side.

“Our supply chain is one mile,” Ed Callahan, who with his wife Peggy own and operate Dream Apple Farm, said Tuesday.

The couple, who started their farm along Highway C in 2014, plan to open Dream Port Harvest Market at 223 N. Franklin St. in May.

“We’ll have a market,” Callahan said. “We’re not a grocery store. We’re going to be offering seasonal food fresh from area farms — produce, eggs, cheese. We’re hoping people will understand the growing season.”

The couple contacted 20 area farmers about offering their products at the market, and all of them said yes, Callahan said.

But only those who are licensed as organic farmers will be at the market, he said.

“We’re requiring licenses so the people coming to the store know they’re getting a certified, licensed organic product,” Callahan said.

And with the opening of the market, Dream Apple Farm joins the ranks of other specialty food shops in downtown, such as Bernie’s Fine Meat and Daily Baking Co.

The Callahan’s dream of opening their market got a boost recently when the couple received a $49,500 value-added producer grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

A special event attended by state and federal officials was held at the farm and store last week to celebrate the venture.

“Today’s event shows how important it is to invest in strengthening Wisconsin’s food supply chain,” Julie Lassa, Wisconsin’s USDA Rural Development state director, said.

She noted that the grant will help the Callahans to expand the processing, marketing and distribution of products made with their apples and raspberries. 

Those attending visited the market to sample several new products that will be featured at the store — items that are expected to help the couple increase their customer base by 1,700 people and increase revenue by $127,000.

Callahan said that the grant is a key to the store, noting the funding made it possible to hire a part-time baker who has expanded the items made with the couple’s products, as well as a part-time manager for the store..

“That’s super beneficial for us,” he said. “The grant will help us get on our feet as the store is getting up to speed.”

The grant won’t pay for equipment or anything the couple does to grow their fruit, Callahan noted, but it will help with marketing and business administration and things that add value to the produce they grow and help them expand their market.

That includes Dream Port Harvest Market, which will allow the couple to sell more products and to support area farmers.

And since products produced and sold locally have what is called the multiplier effect, the impact of the store will go far beyond just putting money in the farmers’ pockets, Callahan said. It will also go to support other area businesses.

“Us getting this grant will help other area farmers,” he said.

The Callahans, who are physicians by trade, began the farm to realize a dream that Peggy, a master gardener, had since childhood.

They stumbled upon the land for their orchard while driving in the area. They planted 160 apple trees on the property “just to see if this would work” in 2014, and today have 1,300 trees with more than 30 varieties of apples.

They also have a hoop house for growing raspberries and a rhubarb patch.

Their produce spans the growing season, Callahan noted. The rhubarb is a spring fruit, raspberries are a summer crop and the apples are a fall product.

The Callahans have been selling their apples, raspberries and rhubarb products at the Port Washington farmers market, but last summer opened a pop-up shop in the former Baltica Tea Room on Franklin Street, saying they hoped to open as a year-round market.

  If all goes well, that will happen by summer.