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The Market is Open


This post expired on November 17, 2023.

Good morning everyone,
The Market is open!
We had a bustling day at Food Club yesterday, close to our highest sales for the year, plenty of great volunteers, old and new, and a lot of locavores. Next time you see Chief Food Club Coordinator Rebecca in the kitchen, just say Thanks, for making a particularly big Food Club happen on a week where our main refrigerator blew out (yikes), and every week after that. Because of her, Food Club runs smoothly and continues to grow.

A highlight yesterday was visiting with Josh Hardin of Laughing Stock Farm, who was there selling some unique things: Mei Qing Choi (a beautiful, velvety Asian green), Turmeric root, and Galangal Thai ginger. If you ever get the chance to talk with Josh, do so. He’s got a knack for interesting perspectives on otherwise obscure farming subjects. I always leave feeling like I understand more about farming. In our conversation yesterday, a lot of points of interest came up, all of which would make for great provocative headlines:

  • “Why we’ll never farm organically 100% in Arkansas”
  • “The sadistic nature of farming…”
  • “Why we need higher gas prices…”

Like I said, provocative, but it all actually plays out rather moderately once you talk to him about it. I encourage you to take these headlines to him and ask him to elaborate. Conversations like these make me think that we need a summit on Arkansas, farming, and our local food system. Thoughts?
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Eat local on a budget…

One of the primary evasions for not buying local is that it’s so expensive. I hear it all the time, and as someone who buys most of his food locally, I’m pretty acutely aware of its impact on my budget.

True, local and/or organic food is more expensive generally. Some point out that, once you consider healthcare, the extra cost either finds you on the food bill or the doctor bill. Others, many of them our own members, have taken on the Value Menu challenge, cooking using whole ingredients and costing it out. Many can make something delicious, locally sourced, and nutritious at a $4 per meal value.

Yesterday, I left Food Club with a refrigerator’s worth of produce. One huge box of leaves, peppers, and roots, a dozen eggs, apples, and frozen plums; enough to feed me for two weeks. It was work to stuff it all in the fridge. And I paid $70. That $70 will provide me with high quality lunches all week, plus dinner most nights, and supplements for all breakfasts, and I don’t have to go to the grocery store to immerse myself in its chaos while throwing boxes indiscriminately into my cart and struggling to suppress my rising blood pressure. Local can be more expensive, but I left Food Club yesterday feeling that I’d gotten a pretty sweet deal.
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In the market…

HOLIDAY PLANNING. Sorry to pull the all-caps trick, but do consider this: Thanksgiving is two weeks away, and a number of our growers will not be delivering the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Plus, you may not be coming on Saturday because you’re anchored down with digestive activity. Our farmers recommend shopping this week with Thanksgiving in mind: do you have sweet potatoes? Ham? Eggs? Radishes? Greens? It’s best to make the recipe list and order this week.

  • CABBAGE! I love cabbage, and we’ve got a lot right now. Kellogg Valley has delicious, naturally grown Chinese cabbage, perfect in stir-fry or root vegetable slaws. Barnhill is running the gamut, with the standard, Savoy, and Nappa varieties.
  • Radishes of all manner and size. Daikon from Willow Springs, Red Globe from Barnhill, and the beautiful ruby red variety from Kellogg and Crimmins. Radishes can be tricky to work with, but I suggest three things: stir fry, sliced thin on a salad, or pickled in apple cider vinegar and tossed in a slaw.
  • Sweet Potatoes galore. We have lots of sweet potatoes, in minuscule and gargantuan quantities. How I love all sweet potatoes, and they’re simple to roast. Cut into cubes, boil for 30 seconds, toss with olive oil and salt, spread out on a roasting pan, and roast at 350 degrees for 5-10 minutes. It’s fast, nutritious, delicious. And orange.
  • Smoked Ham from MeatWorks. We saw this smoked ham yesterday, and it’s quite a sight. A huge slab of delicious ham, fresh. Thanksgiving is just up, so it may be time to order!
  • Pork Lard from Farm Girl. At some point, animal lard was demonized, but the public conversation is shifting, and lard from animals raised right, with natural diets, is high in good nutrients. As a massive bonus, pork lard is infinitely more delicious to cook with than vegetable oil.
  • Fresh Herbs from Arkansas Natural Produce. Good Thanksgiving cooking requires access to lots of herbs, and Arkansas Natural Produce has a lot to offer.
  • Japanese Persimmons from Barnhill Orchards. The big, hearty variety. Just leave out in the kitchen and let it ripen until soft. There’s a lot of potential for delicious desserts wrapped up in these fruits.
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Last but not least, a nice quip from Andrea of Falling Sky Farm ….

“Well- everyone is fed and put to bed for the night. Cody is out right now disconnecting and draining the last of the waterers for the chickens for the night. With the below-freezing temperatures last night and tonight (it was about 19-20 degrees here this AM!) we are trying to keep the waterlines from bursting and have them clear enough to hook them up first thing in the AM for the chickens and turkeys. The little pigs are huddled in their hay- a real pile of pigs, and the bigger hogs are doing the same in their beds of leaves out in the woods I am sure. The cattle don’t seem to mind the cold weather- but they are loving the sweetness the grass gets after a frost! And we are cozy in the house by the fire, and it’s time for dinner- more another time.”

See you all soon.
Sincerely,
Sam