I love the sense of community at a Farmers Market, of getting to know the vendors and the regular customers. The produce guy at the grocery store doesn’t know where the strawberries came from or how they were grown. But our farmers here do. They know where and how they were grown, when they were picked, and how to help you select the best ones. They’ll even share their favorite recipes with you.
I know that the food I buy here was picked yesterday at the earliest—not last week or longer. I know that it wasn’t irradiated or waxed. I know I get the best nutritional value because produce loses nutrients as it ages in transit and it tastes better because it is picked at peak flavor and ripeness, rather than picked early to ripen during shipping.
When I buy poultry from our poultry vendor, I know that the chickens were humanely raised in a pasture, not a wooden box. And I know that it is antibiotic/hormone-free. I like buying the antibiotic/hormone-free eggs from truly free-range chickens.
How about the one-of-a-kind handcrafts? They weren’t made on an assembly line in China, they were made locally with a local resident’s own creative efforts.
This week at the Market: Asparagus, spring onions, kale, spinach, lettuces, garlic, rhubarb, strawberries, baby squash/zucchinis, and (keep your fingers crossed fresh shelled sweet peas! This time of year surprises usually shows up!
Unkol Chuck will be here with fresh-made Brunswick stew; Great Harvest Bread Co. will be here with delicious fresh baked goods; and Marty will be here with funnel cakes, made while you wait, and pork rinds in a variety of flavors and Pop’s Kettle Corn will be here with this sweet and salty treat, as well as delicious caramel corn!
Big Daddy will be there with Carolina-style barbecue, applewood-smoked chicken salad and all the fixings and Phal’s Café will be there with Asian noodle bowls, spring rolls and more; and Real Country Sausage will be here with pork sausages in a variety of flavors (and no sodium nitrites!). A wide variety of crafts from local artisans are available.
We’re here every Thursday from 10 until 2 in the parking lot of The Great Big Greenhouse!
