By Carolyn George
Do you know the word “agora”? I always forget whether it’s Latin or Greek, but at the 2026 opening day of the Adams County Farmers market yesterday morning, my neighbor Susie, already clutching a cheerful bouquet at 9am, assured me it’s Greek.
“Agora” means “marketplace.” So, “agora” is a public space where commerce and community happen together.
“Regenerative.” If you hang around farmers like ours, you will hear this word often. It means that whatever you’re doing, because of the way you’re doing it, you are restoring and replenishing the system you’re part of at every step of the process. The whole system gets better as you function this way—stronger, more resilient, more adaptable all around. Every part healthier and happier.
A farm that practices regenerative agriculture usually looks messier than one that requires artificial inputs, but boy, is it happy! Weeds and insects too. We don’t try to eliminate them; we just try to keep them in some kind of balance with the rest of the system.
Did you know that many human-edible “weeds” are actually more nutritious than most of the green leafies you buy at market? I heard an ACFM vendor tell a customer once, “You should try these lambs quarters. They’re loaded with more nutrients than this beautiful organic kale.”
So. Regenerative AgoraCulture would refer to the wonderfully restorative benefits that seem to be baked into the prevailing commercial and community culture we find in the Adams County Farmers Marketplace.
I really don’t want to say too much about it—don’t want to spoil it! But I do want to DO as much of it as possible.
In my limited experience, I have never encountered a regularly recurring community event that’s good in as many ways as the Adams County Farmers Market is. You just have to be there. You’ll notice it right away…there’s something different, even though it looks ordinary enough on the surface. Maybe it’s something you feel more than see, a vibe you just pick up.
I don’t see it happening anywhere else the way it happens here, but then I don’t get out much.
Oh heck, you’ll just have to come see for yourself. Every Saturday at the Gettysburg Rec Park, 8am to 1pm till too cold for anybody to be out.