Kick-Off to National Farmers Market Week!
So many more tomatoes this week!
It’s always in the height of the summer (this year August 5th-11th) that we as a nation celebrate farmers markets…. we are one of 8,765 farmers markets in the USA (as of 2012). Stayed tuned for some fun stuff next weekend, but really….it’s never the wrong time to celebrate all the hard work of the farmers!
CNG farmers: From the left, Lindsay (Coyote Ridge Farm) Melissa(Sun Love Farm) Anna and Ryan (Brown Bottle Farm) and Tim (Maggy’s Farm). Taken at Brown Bottle Farm this week, at a meeting of CNG growers in the area.
One of our farmers had an interesting talk while out in OC recently. In conversation with a stranger she asked if they had ever been to the OC Farmers Market and if so what did they think of it. The woman replied favorably but lamented the fact that there were no organic farmers. How wrong she was!! We in fact have 4 Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) farms, 3 growing produce and one growing plants to grow your own food. The CNG program is a newer ‘organic’ program, spreading out from the east coast about 15 years ago. Over 800 US farmers and growers, ranchers and bee keepers are inspected and re-certified every year, never use synthetic chemicals, never use GMO seed and are rooted in the local community. CNG farms are managed to foster bio-diversity and ecological balance, feeding the soil that produces the food you eat. Join next week’s Know Your Farmer Know Your Food Market Tour (starts at 9.30am at the Info Booth) and get to know your farmers better!
Chef Deborah is back in the market kitchen making a delicious Panzanella salad with veggies and bread. This recipe is one you can make in advance and is great to take to a picnic or to a pot-luck in the heat. Demo starts about 10am.
Lot’s of vendors are back this week. Culture Aromatics, Bull Run Distillery, Mirabi Ceramics, Utopia Woodworking, Stone Circle Cider…and Pam’s Pickled Products is back for the season! Pam was in the market recently picking up the veggies from the local farmers. In stock she now has : Sweetly Pickled Asparagus, Spicy Bloody Mary Beans and Mild Snack and Salad Beans, Pickled Sweet Red Onions, Pickled Garlic, and her famous Old Fashioned Zucchini Relish. Get samples of them all on Saturday and add a jar or two to your basket.
This Saturday you can try your hand at weaving! A group of hand weavers will bring looms to the market and invite shoppers to take a few minutes to weave a bit of a community banner. This is part of a series of weaving days giving people from the Metro area a chance to try their hands at weaving and to contribute to making a big banner that will be displayed in the area when finished. This is a fun, easy style of weaving open to kids, adults, and the young at heart.
Come out and celebrate our farmers……Farmers Market Week really is EVERY week!