The Market is Open!

Hello, Hello Marketicians,
The Market is open, and it’s a DOOZIE. I mean, isn’t it a doozie every week? Things are looking good; sales are bursting. A big thanks to Rebecca Wild, Lance Biggers, Joyce Hardy, and myself; we single handedly rocked Food Club yesterday against the odds of being short staffed. What can we say? We’re professional volunteers. But, if you would like to volunteer, we’d very much like to have you. Check out the signup at the checkout table on Saturday and Monday.

Oh, and did you read our third installment of Know Your Farmers? It’s a great read on the future for Kent Walker’s Artisan Cheese. There are some exciting things afoot.
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If I were you, this is what I would eat…

- Kornegay Berry Farm just came on with loads of blueberries and blackberries. A lot of each. Apache and Ouachita blackberries, and five varieties of blueberries, producing at different times over the season.
- Barnhill has Natchez Blackberries, and they are HUGE.
- A quiet moment for strawberries. No more fresh strawberries on the market. The season has passed them by, but you can order Kornegay’s fresh frozen whole strawberries.
- In the Meat Display: Andouille Sausages from Farm Girl, Sliced Deli Ham from Falling Sky Farm, Flat Iron Steaks from Ratchford, Smoked Bacon, Beef Arm Roast, and Whole Broiler Chickens from MeatWorks.
- Garlic Scapes from Willow Springs. If you’ve never had garlic scapes, I highly recommend them. They’re the curling tops of garlic plants and house some delightful garlic flavor. Perfect for garlic mashed potatoes or pesto.
- I saw the Flower Bouquets from Crimmins’ Family Farm yesterday at Food Club. Beautiful flower arrangements!
- Culinary Celery from Crimmins’ Family Farm. Remember this celery from last year? Very popular, better than anything you can find in a grocery store. Plus, it’s organic!
- Cabbage galore, certified naturally grown and USDA organic. I’m thinking about making kimchi. Anyone have a good recipe?
- Green Beans from Rattle’s Garden (USDA organic) and Hardin Farms. Yellow Wax Beans from Kellogg (Certified Naturally Grown). Here’s my recipe: grab a handful and eat them, one by one.
I know what you’re all thinking. Where are the tomatoes? I just don’t know! They are so close! My gut tells me that, before the market closes this week, we will see ripe tomatoes. If I’m wrong, than I shall eat a dozen bitter green tomatoes.
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Sharing and Caring from our Farmers…

- From Farm Girl :
“We had our animal welfare approved audit yesterday, and not to brag or anything, but the word superwoman may have been used multiple times…”

From ABC Nature Greenhouse :
“This year I froze up my blueberries by using a different method. I washed them, laid them on a paper towel, dried them with a paper towel, laid them out in a single layer on a cookie sheet on wax paper. I did this yesterday and just looked at them. They are nice and frozen. Then I packed them up in a vacuum seal bag and they didn’t mush, get juiced or anything, then threw them right back into the freezer. Worked like a charm!”

And, since our thoughts are on Kent these days, here’s an exciting update from Kent Walker’s Artisan Cheese
“We are at full production of 250 LBs of cheese / week and full aging (3 month aged cheese coming out of the cellar every week)
It is one of the peculiarities of the cheesemaking business that you must age your product before it is ready to sell. That makes this a MAJOR milestone for KWAC.” If you’re interested in Kent’s reserve cheese program, contact him at info@kentwalkercheese.com.

Enjoy your shopping my friends!
Sincerely,
Sam Hedges