The Market is Open

Good Morning Sentients,
The Market is open and looking tough. I’m reminded at this point in the season of how major a period Fall can be for growers. All over Arkansas, farmers are tilling up whole fields and transplanting hundreds of plants for Fall. I think, for many of our growers, Fall is a gentle and fulfilling season, an easy evening after the long, hot, bug-infested day that Summer is. Root vegetables and leafy greens are more low maintenance, perhaps, or more hardy, meaning less labor. Then again, maybe they’re all just thinking about Winter. Thanks to markets like ours and the Hillcrest Farmers Market, plus innumerable restaurants, our growers have ways to sell year-round, and they can count on their Fall crops as heavily as their Summer.
One last note: we’ve been getting a lot of good response from our most recent entry in the Know Your Farmer series, this one being about Arkansas Fresh Bakery. Check it out and enjoy! I’ll be taking you on a digital voyage to Willow Springs Market Garden soon enough!
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Recipe for the week: Thai Lemongrass Soup. You can make this soup almost completely from the market’s offerings!
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What’s on the Farm…

• Flat Iron Steak from MeatWorks Butchery. This is a good deal: $4.99 for a 1/2 pound. Just throw it in the skillet!
• Falling Sky just came on with their Hmong and Chorizo sausage. I’ve become a big fan of Hmong sausage, thanks to Farm Girl, and I’m interested to see what Falling Sky’s take is like.
• Baby Hawaiian Ginger from Laughing Stock Farm. This, ladies and gentlemen, is your social event for the season. Nothing beats fresh ginger, and you’re unlikely to get ginger this fresh in the grocery store. Order it and freeze it either whole or pureed to last for months. This stuff is so good.
• Lemongrass from Laughing Stock Farm. Another delicious Asian crop. Here’s your recipe: Thai Chicken Lemongrass Soup.
• Evangeline Sweet Potatoes from Drewry Farm. An interesting new variety of sweet potato, said to be the sweetest sweet potato out there.
• Pumpkins! Fall tends to put us in the mood for pumpkin flavor; instead of satisfying the need with Pumpkin Lattes, try Pumpkin stew, or muffins, or ravioli, with real pumpkin. Barnhill’s Kiddie Pumpkins would be particularly great for cooking.
• Sunshine Squash from Barnhill. People have been loving this bright orange squash at Food Club. They are more vibrant than pumpkins, like miniature celestial heat sources.
• Juliet and Cherry Tomatoes from Crimmins Family Farm. Chuck is making the season last, and I always love his tomatoes.
• Baby Turnip Greens from Kellogg Valley Farm. Certified naturally grown. I want to eat them now; I want to take them, and cook them for 24 hours with Hmong sausage, and relish in their iron richness!
• Arkansas Black Apples! Drewry Farm is teasing us. They only have a few available, but, gasp, maybe they’ll have more before the market closes! This is an Arkansas classic, and you are required by state pride to order them.

All in all, I’m feeling pretty good about the market. We’re tying off a nice Summer and heading strong into a Fall of delicious crops.
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Social networking ain’t all bad…

• From Laughing Stock Farm : “Today is a big day on the farm! We have completed our surface irrigation system to pump water from our spring fed lake to all of our crops. So long city water and hello sustainable water supply!”

• From Farm Girl Natural Foods, they had a veritable feast for their pigs, thanks to a local cheese marker’s equipment failure. “Our local cheese maker had an equipment failure, to the benefit of our happy woodpigs. Today they got their first load (of many to come). We’re sorry our friend’s business took such a hit, but happy to help with the cleanup!” Check out the pictures.
• And from Willow Springs Market Garden, on something to look forward to this Fall: “Dimitri Brussels Sprout going in. This is the best variety we have found for our conditions.” I’ve tried his brussels sprout, and I agree!

A good week to all! See you soon.

Sincerely,
Sam Hedges