The Market is Open and FRESH is Digital!

Good Morning Market,

And what a great morning it is! We had such an amazing time celebrating the release of the 2nd edition of our FRESH Local Foods Directory yesterday at The Green Corner Store & Soda Fountain. It’s official: The 2nd edition is fresh off the press and out in the streets! If you weren’t able to grab FRESH yesterday, you can snag copies at local food locales like our market, The Root Cafe, Hillcrest Artisan Meats, The Bernice Garden Farmer’s Market, The Green Corner Store & Soda Fountain, and so many others! For those of you too eager to wait for a print copy, you can find FRESH online right here. To those that made FRESH a reality: We can not thank you enough. Thank you so much to all of our wonderful sponsors, local businesses that purchased ads, volunteers that put in countless hours, our designer, and supervolunteer Marisa Nelson for making the release party such a success. We are so thankful to be part of such a supportive and growing local food community!

Speaking of which, our growers sure are keeping the market interesting…

• I’m absolutely ecstatic for all of the eggplant. Barnhill’s black velvet looks perfect for a grilled eggplant parmigiana. Arkansas Natural Produce’s japanese would be delicious in a stir-fry. Yet the simplest thing to do would be to roast them up for a delicious baba ganoush.

• Fresh, shelled pinto beans from Hardin Farms. These beans are absolutely packed full of protein and fiber. I think I’ll eat mine with a side of cornbread.

• Farm Girl provides another amazing deal with their pork grilling bundle, which comes with the perfect Summer mix of pork chops, andouille sausages, and baby back ribs from animal welfare approved, woodland-raised hogs. If you’re not already, I highly recommend following her blog. She provides amazing insights into the intersection of the food we eat and the land we live on; delving into the lives of hogs, the thing about trees, and plenty of pictures of newborn piglets.

• Only the fastest-clicking customers get the limited offerings from Willow Springs Market Garden. It takes a quick click and check-out (or Sunday-morning visit to the Bernice Garden) to snag Robert’s churchill brussels sprouts, moringa leaves, defiant and sungold tomatoes, blueberries, and mulberries. I’m not telling merely to taunt you, but to highlight the amazing EPA-recognized farmer hero in our midst.

• A huge congrats to Geek Eats on becoming a father this week! We’re so glad the Geek Family has grown and that your incredible hummuses, pesto, and granola are back on the market.

Next Saturday, June 28th, our friends at the Victory Garden Project are having a volunteer workday to help finish their hoophouse that’s been three years in the making. They recently received a $500 grant through ALFN’s Community Fund to receive the rest of the materials they needed to make this hoophouse happen. We’re so excited that this awesome community garden is growing and we hope that you’ll come out and join us.

Locally yours,

- Alex Handfinger
Director of Operations

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