Celebrate Earth Day E-Waste Recycling & Shredding Event

It's time to go green! Durham residents and businesses are invited to join the City of Durham for an Earth Day celebration with an e-waste recycling and shredding event. The event will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Durham County Memorial Stadium, located at 750 Stadium Dr. Confidential paper shredding will be available along with electronics recycling. 

Learn more about this event and find more great activities to do in Durham on the Durham Event Calendar.

This Week at the Durham Farmers' Market

**Summer Hours (8am-Noon) Resume NEXT Saturday**
Wednesday Market Reopens April 16th

Tomorrow is the LAST Winter Market of the 2013-14 Season! So, it is the last weekend that we will be opening up at 10am. And the last Saturday until next winter where we will be ringing the opening bell.

Starting next Saturday, April 5th, Market will be open from 8am-Noon. There will be a few other things that change. First, during the summer time, we close a block of Foster Street (between Hunt and Corporation Streets) and fill it up with vendors! Second, the vendors will move around to their summer spaces (always feel free to ask for directions at the Market Info Table!). Next week, you'll see some familiar faces that haven't been at the Market in several months. I'm expecting that we'll see the folks from Sunny Slope Greenhouses, Edna Lee's Bakery, Will's Wild Herbs, Castlemaine Farm, Flat River Nursery and Pamela Strand Photography. That list leaves out a lot of the summer time regulars, but they will all be trickling back as the weather starts to (finally) warm up. And, next week, I'll announce some of the new Saturday Summer vendors.

Also, next Saturday, to celebrate the return of Summer Hours, Amy Tornquist, Chef and Owner of Watts Grocery and Hummingbird Bakery will be our Chef in the Market! Amy has helped us kick off the new market season every year since we moved to the Pavilion in 2007. Over the last 7 years, the weather on the opening day has ranged from snowing to swelteringly hot to gray and rainy. We'll see what next week will hold for us! Amy and her crew will be cooking and sampling their delicious foods which always feature locally grown Market meats, eggs, cheeses and vegetables. Amy's demo will take place on the Market lawn and start around 10am.

Later in the morning, the Spiritual Sound Brass Band will serenade us over on the east lawn of Durham Central Park, right next to our neighbors at the Durham Craft Market!

As the spring marches on, it won't be too long until the Wednesday Market re-opens. A week and a half after the Saturday Market goes back to its summer hours, the Wednesday Market will re-open! Starting Wednesday April 16th, the Market will be open weekly from 3:30 to 6:30pm. The Wednesday Market has the same great selection as the Saturday Market, but it is smaller and a bit more relaxed. And, we have a bunch of vendors that only sell on Wednesdays, including some new ones (which will be announced soon)!

See you at the Market,
Erin Kauffman
Market Manager
Follow DFM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Fresh this Week....
VEGETABLES: Arugula, Asian Greens, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Collards, Daikon Radish, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Fennel, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mache, Micro Greens, Miners Lettuce (Claytonia), Minutina, Potatoes, Parsnips (possibly), Pea Shoots, Popcorn, Radishes, Salad Mix, Scallions, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Turnip Greens, and more
MEATS AND EGGS: Pork, Beef, Lamb & Mutton, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon/Cabrito, Veal
Duck Eggs & Chicken Eggs
CHEESES: Fresh and aged COW and GOAT milk cheeses.
PLANTS: Vegetable Seedlings: Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Cilantro, Lettuce, Spinach. Fruit Plants: Strawberry, Raspberry. House Plants.
FLOWERS: Ranunculus, Hyacinth, Anemones, Poppies, Tulips, Stock, Mixed Bouquets
SPECIALTY ITEMS: Gluten Free Baked Goods, Raw & Creamed Honey, Pasta, Flour, Cornmeal, Grits, Baked Goods including Pies, Breads, Cookies & Pastries, Fermented Foods, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool
CRAFTS: Pottery, Woodwork, Photographs, Hand-dyed Clothing and other items, Handmade Clothing, Goats Milk Soaps, Body Butters, Lotions, Yarn, Roving, and much more...

Produce availability depends on weather conditions 

This Week at the South Durham Farmers' Market

This  Week at the Market

• Saturday 9am-Noon Greenwood Commons 54110 Hwy 55 Durham, NC 27713
• Educational Guest: Food & Water Watch
• In Season: basil, tomatoes, potatoes, kale, lettuce, flowers, cabbage.

More Cheese, Please!
A couple of weeks ago, I visited Prodigal Farm with friends for the immense mood lift that comes with seeing cute baby goats. I wrote an article for the Herald Sun about the experience, and I learned a lot more about their excellent goat cheeses.

I was most surprised to hear that goat cheeses should not taste goaty. Dave Krabbe, co-owner of Prodigal farm, explained that goat’s milk is much more susceptible to absorbing the smells and flavors of the environment than cow’s milk. To avoid picking up undesirable terroir, David and his wife and co-owner, Kathryn Spann, are fanatical about the cleanliness of their milking stations and cheese room.

When I visited, they weren’t making much cheese, but following kidding season, they will make cheese every two days. The process begins with bringing goats to the milking stations from the loafing pen (a sheltered area adjacent to the dairy). The goats’ milk travels through tubes into the stainless steel, refrigerated bulk tank in the next room. Once cooled, the milk is gently gravity fed (agitation lowers the quality of the milk) into the pasteurizer, and then it is time to make cheese!

The easiest cheeses to make are the young chèvres, which Prodigal Farm makes more complex with inventive flavors. The Bollywood Poire is a delicious spread for curry-lovers, and the cherry-almond chèvre makes a great tea time snack smeared across Ninth Street Bakery’s gingersnaps.

The trickier cheeses are those with bloomy rinds, including the Crottin, Field of Creams and Hunkadora. Prodigal Farm purchases the cultures to ensure reliable flavor, and rinses the cheeses frequently to control the mold’s growth. Recently, they have been expanding into more aged cheeses, like the deliciously fragrant Hopalong. (My husband and I quickly devoured our wedge of Hopalong with apple and pear slices.)

To make more hard aged cheeses, more room and equipment is needed, and Prodigal Farm is asking for your help! This Sunday, from 5pm to 8pm, come out to the Mystery Brewing Public House to support their Kickstarter campaign to raise $45,000 and sample their current small-batch of aged cheeses.

But, you don’t have to wait until Sunday for a taste; Prodigal Farm will be at the market tomorrow with coolers full of cheese and samples on the table. 

Pompieri Pizza Contest Will Give Away Free Pizza for a Year

As the Tastiest Town in the South, Durham's ever-expanding food scene has welcomed newcomer Pompieri Pizza to town with open mouths and hungry stomachs. It joins the ranks of other artisan pizza restaurants in Durham, and in a style typical of owner Seth Gross, there's a great twist filled with intellect and heart...

...and creativity, too.  

Pompieri Pizza, the newest venture from Gross who is chef/sommelier/restaurateur/brewmaster of Bull City Burger and Brewery, one of Durham's Celebrated Cuisine restaurants, a distinction earned by restaurants that have been covered in major media.

In April, Pompieri will host a Pizza Box Contest that invites customers to decorate a pizza box to be judged by a panel who will award several lucky winners in two age brackets a pizza and a nonalcoholic drink every week for a year. Learn more about the Pizza Box Contest and how to participate. Ever the creative marketer, Gross runs a program at his brewery where annually he hides five golden bulls and posts clues on how to find them. Like the pizza box contest, those who find the bulls win a weekly food prize, as well.

Pompieri Pizza focuses on Neapolitan-style pizza fired in wood fired ovens in open view of the dining room. The restaurant is located inside Durham's historic fire station #1 originally built in the 1890s. The restaurant espouses a "back-to-scratch" and "farm-to-fork" philosophy focused on making everything in-house including hand stretching the mozzarella cheese.

Very family friendly with lots for your diners to see, the restaurant has several unique features such as the fire engine red fire fighter’s bar filled with memorabilia of Durham Fire Department’s history as well as an indoor aquaponic basil garden where fish tank water feeds plants and plants clean the water for the fish.


Durham's food scene is renowned for its chef-driven culture and its farm-to-fork offerings. Pompieri joins the ranks of many other Durham restaurants that have made the place an internationally celebrated dining destination.

Durham Youth Job Fair

Employers interested in hiring skilled youth ages 16-21 are invited to the Durham Youth Job Fair on April 15 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Holton Career and Resource Center. Candidates have completed pre-employment training in critical thinking, problem solving, oral and written communications.  Employers determine their wages and schedule.  

For more details, read the flyer online.  

This Week at the Durham Farmers' Market

SPRING is officially here! I'm sure that it couldn't come soon enough for many of our farmers who have had such a rough winter.

From now until mid-September, we will have more hours of daylight than night. And every day until the summer solstice in June the amount of daylight will increase every day. Lots of the spring and summer crops that we will get to enjoy in the coming months are both dependent on warm temperatures and the extended hours of daylight. So, as our farmers are able to get out into their fields and plant crops, we will start to have an increasing number of varieties of vegetables at the Market. And soon (fingers crossed) we'll start to see the first fruits of the year - strawberries!

In talking to several farmers this week, I've learned that the extended wet weather has been really taking a toll on many of our vegetable farmers. When the soil is extremely wet, as it is now, it is nearly impossible for farmers to go out into their fields to prepare the soil and plant crops. In these conditions, it can be easy to get a tractor stuck, or even just lose a boot to the mud. Plus, a farmer can risk compacting the soil in ways that are detrimental to the long term health of the field. So, they have to wait for the conditions to improve and dry out enough to be able to start working in their fields. Judy Lessler from Harland's Creek Farm told me the other day that she has "lots of beautiful, healthy vegetable seedlings that are ready to be planted". But, she can't start planting until the fields dry out. Some of our farmers are having luck planting in their hoop houses and greenhouses which haven't gotten quite as wet over the past few months.

It is amazing how early Spring can drastically vary from year to year. Two years ago in the spring of 2012, after having an unseasonably warm winter, the first asparagus and strawberries were coming to the Market in late March. This year, because the weather has been so wet and cold this winter, it looks like we'll have to wait a few more weeks for those.

In the meantime, our farmers are able to bring a good supply greens, an increasing supply of root vegetables and lots of lettuce and salad mix. So, now is the time to start experimenting with new types of salad dressing and enjoy the tasty local food that our farmers are able to grow this cool, wet spring!

Upcoming Market Schedule Change
Saturday Summer Hours (8am-Noon) Start April 5th
Wednesday Market (3:30-6:30pm) Opens April 16th

See you at the Market,
Erin Kauffman
Market Manager
Follow DFM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Fresh this Week....
 VEGETABLES: Arugula, Asian Greens, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Collards, Daikon Radish, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Fennel, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Mache, Micro Greens, Miners Lettuce (Claytonia), Minutina, Potatoes, Napa Cabbage, Parsnips (possibly), Pea Shoots, Popcorn, Radishes, Salad Mix, Scallions, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Turnip Greens, Winter Squash, and more
MEATS AND EGGS: Pork, Beef, Quail, Lamb & Mutton, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon/Cabrito, Veal, Duck Eggs & Chicken Eggs
CHEESES: Fresh and aged COW and GOAT milk cheeses.
PLANTS: Vegetable Seedlings: Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Cilantro, Lettuce, Spinach. Fruit Plants: Strawberry, Raspberry. House Plants.
FLOWERS: Hyacinth, Anemones, Poppies, Tulips, Stock, Mixed Bouquets
SPECIALTY ITEMS: Gluten Free Baked Goods, Raw & Creamed Honey, Pasta, Flour, Cornmeal, Grits, Baked Goods including Pies, Breads, Cookies & Pastries, Fermented Foods, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool
CRAFTS: Pottery, Woodwork, Photographs, Hand-dyed Clothing and other items, Handmade Clothing, Goats Milk Soaps, Body Butters, Lotions, Yarn, Roving, and much more...

Produce availability depends on weather conditions 

This Week at the South Durham Farmer's Market

This  Week at the Market

• Saturday 9am-Noon Greenwood Commons 54110 Hwy 55 Durham, NC 27713
• In Season: kale, tomatoes, potatoes, yams, lettuce, chard, and eggs

But Where are the Spring Vegetables?
We have officially entered into spring! And, the weather is finally matching our expectations for late March in North Carolina; however, it’s going to take a little time for all the fruits and vegetables to catch up after this year’s winter.

Over the past two months, the farmers have weathered one big snow storm and two very destructive ice storms. The snow storm collapsed high tunnels and killed off the hardier greens lingering in the fields. The heavy coatings of ice that skipped much of southern Durham knocked out power in Rougemont and Efland for days, brought down fences, and dropped trees on houses, roads and fields.

Farmers with greenhouses and non-collapsed high tunnels have fared better, but many of their crops are behind schedule, too. Plants need sunlight to perform photosynthesis and grow into something tasty to eat, and it has been unusually overcast this winter. Only three days in February were deemed ‘fair’ by the National Weather Service.

The good news is that we are headed into a beautiful weekend, and we will have several great produce vendors joining us at the market this Saturday with tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, kale and flowers. (But, come early because quantities are still limited!) And before long, we will have tables full of green onions, peas, radishes, asparagus and all the other rewards of spring.

Reclaiming Durham’s Sense of Place

In just about a month, on April 23, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau (DCVB) will host Durham’s Annual Tribute Luncheon. This year’s celebration is a special one because it marks DCVB’s 25^th anniversary.

DCVB, staffed by 21 dedicated and passionate professionals, is an internationally accredited destination marketing organization that was chartered by state and local governments to increase visitation to Durham, broaden the tax base, fuel local businesses and provide jobs. It is known as the heart, soul, and energy of Durham as a destination and the defender of Durham’s image.

Over the course of the past 25 years, DCVB has worked to articulate Durham’s story, capturing its uniqueness and sense of place in a way that helped attract visitors.  

The path to success was sometimes rocky.

Community marketing was new to people living and working in Durham. They weren’t used to having an organization sticking up for Durham, providing comprehensive data and clarifying misinformation. Back then, some said Durham had all but surrendered its identity and allowed its stories to be erased or distorted.

But at its core, the people of Durham loved Durham and wanted DCVB to uncover and document these stories. This included asserting Durham’s role in the Civil Rights movement, correctly identifying the location of Research Triangle Park, reshaping the conversation about Durham’s role in the Civil War, and turning around Durham’s image in surrounding communities, to name a few.   

Storytelling is at the heart of DCVB’s mission. On April 23, join 400 civic, business and education leaders from Durham in a revealing—yet humorous—look back at the pioneers who made this possible. To register or find out more, visit www.tributeluncheon.com.  

This Week at the South Durham Farmers' Market

This  Week at the Market

• Saturday 9am-Noon Greenwood Commons 54110 Hwy 55 Durham, NC 27713
• Music by Decatur Street Beat Dixieland band
• Food Truck: Olio and Aceto
• In Season: tomatoes, basil, herbs, bread, eggs, jams and more!

The Luck of the Locavores

This Saturday, we are kicking off the St. Patrick’s Day festivities, so put on your green and grab some local meat and potatoes! Fullsteam Brewery will be with us as a guest vendor selling their brew. The Decatur Street Beat Dixieland band will be playing from 10am to 11am, and they promise to throw in some Irish tunes for us.

 

For the kids, there is a scavenger hunt to find the SDFM leprechaun’s pot of gold. To get your first clue, come to the market’s information tent. Then just follow the rainbow! (There will be seven clues, one for each color of the rainbow - ROYGBIV.)

Opportunity for Local Crafters

We are inviting our local craftspeople to participate in a Craft Cooperative stall during our Saturday morning market! We are looking for a variety of unique handmade products, and we would especially love to include crafts made from locally sourced and/or reclaimed materials. The Cooperative will accept up to 12 members, and 3 members will attend market each week based on an established rotating schedule. Applications are due March 28th. For more information, please visit our website.

Market Elects New Board

This past Wednesday, March 12th, we had our third annual General Membership meeting and elected our Board of Directors for the 2014-2015 market season! Please join me in congratulating our eleven board members: Jenna D’Amore (President), Liz Clore (Vice-President), Judy Thomson (Treasurer), Rhiannon Kincaid (Secretary), David Barrett, Samantha Gasson, Noah Ranells, Carolyn Rose-Seed, Peter Schubert, and Kathryn Spann. And, a big thank you to the board members who served the market this past year. 

This Week at the Durham Farmer's Market

Last Saturday, after weeks of bad weather, the first spring seedlings started to show up at Market!

It was a welcome sign for all of us that are wanting to get into the garden and start planting a garden! It was also a good sign that our farmers have confidence that spring really IS on the way!

During the winter, many of our farmers start a majority of their crops from seed in their greenhouses. A bunch of them make sure to plant more seedlings than they will need on their farm so that Durhamites eager to get their hands dirty can have high quality vegetable starts for their home gardens.

Are you one of the many people itching for springtime gardening? Here is what you can expect to find at the farmers' market, in terms of seedlings, in the coming weeks:
Lots of greens - lettuce, kale, collards, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, and fennel.
Strawberry plants
Bare root Raspberry Canes
Herbs - Parsley, Cilantro, Thyme

Then after the threat of frost passes, around the middle of April, summer crops including tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos, squash, cucumbers, basil, and watermelon will start to become available!

Also, when you shop for seedlings at the Farmers' Market, remember that you are buying plants from serious farming professionals! They have put a lot of time into choosing varieties and caring for the seedlings because they want what you want - healthy plants to harvest and eat this spring. Also, they have all kinds of tips and advice about planting and growing these tiny plants. So, if you have a question, don't hesitate to ask. These folks are masters at growing vegetables!

Upcoming Market Schedule Change

Saturday Summer Hours (8am-Noon) Start April 5th

Wednesday Market (3:30-6:30pm) Opens April 16th

See you at the Market,
Erin Kauffman
Market Manager
Follow DFM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram


VEGETABLE SPOTLIGHT: CLAYTONIA aka MINER'S LETTUCE
Claytonia is a little known vegetable that only comes to Market occasionally during the winter time. I'm relatively unfamiliar with it so I decided to to a little bit of research to find out what it is. This week several farmers will have it available.

Claytonia is a green, leafy vegetable that this native the mountain and coastal regions of Western North America (Alaska to British Columbia). It prefers cool, damp conditions which is why some of our farmers grow it during the winter time. It can be eaten in salad or steamed like spinach.

Where did it get its name? During the California Gold Rush, miners ate it to help prevent scurvy because it is a good source of Vitamin C. Other names for it include Winter Purslane and Indian Lettuce.

See you at the Market,
Erin Kauffman
Market Manager
Follow DFM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Fresh this Week....

VEGETABLES: Arugula, Asian Greens, Beets, Beet Greens, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Collards, Daikon Radish, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Fennel, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Miners Lettuce (Claytonia), Minutina, Potatoes, Napa Cabbage, Parsnips (possibly), Pea Shoots, Radishes, Salad Mix, Scallions, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Turnip Greens, Winter Squash, and more
MEATS AND EGGS: Pork, Beef, Quail, Lamb & Mutton, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon/Cabrito, Veal, Duck Eggs & Chicken Eggs
CHEESES: Fresh and aged COW and GOAT milk cheeses.
PLANTS: Vegetable Seedlings: Kale, Collards, Broccoli, Cilantro, Lettuce, Spinach. Fruit Plants: Strawberry, Raspberry. House Plants.
FLOWERS: Hyacinth, Anemones, Poppies, Tulips, Stock, Mixed Bouquets
SPECIALTY ITEMS: Gluten Free Baked Goods, Raw & Creamed Honey, Pasta, Flour, Cornmeal, Grits, Baked Goods including Pies, Breads, Cookies & Pastries, Fermented Foods, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool
CRAFTS: Pottery, Woodwork, Photographs, Hand-dyed Clothing and other items, Handmade Clothing, Goats Milk Soaps, Body Butters, Lotions, Yarn, Roving, and much more...

Produce availability depends on weather conditions 

This Week at the Durham Farmer's Market

Saturday Winter Hours: 10am-Noon
Summer hours resume April 5

The sleet is falling! We had wintery weather earlier in the week! Whew - when will it end? I know that our farmers are having a hard time with the cold, wet weather that keeps on coming.

There is good news though, spring is getting closer every day! The days are getting longer and daylight savings time starts this weekend. It won't be long before spring officially begins on March 20th. A couple weeks after that the threat of frost will be passed. Then, before we know it, spring delicacies like strawberries, asparagus and peas will all over the Market and this cold winter weather will be a distant memory! At least, that is what I'm trying to remind myself of on this cold, sleety day.

As winter turns into spring, the Market's hours will be shifting back to our spring/summer hours!

Saturday Market: Summer Hours, 8am-Noon start on April 5th!
Wednesday Market: Re-opens on Wednesday April 16th! Wednesday Hours are 3:30-6:30pm.

For now, as we get through the final throes of winter, here are some things to on-farm events and one tasty winter recipe for you to enjoy.

Celebrity Dairy will be opening their barns this weekend for you to meet their new baby goats! This Saturday and Sunday, from 12-5pm, you can visit the farm and hug a baby goat!
CelebrityDairy.com

Next Saturday, March 15th from 11am-5pm, Stoney Mountain Farm's sheep will lose their winter coats at their annual Shearing Day! Olga and John invite people to come to the farm and watch professional shearers give the sheep their annual shear! StoneyMountainFarm.com 

See you at the Market,
Erin Kauffman
Market Manager
Follow DFM on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Fresh this Week....
VEGETABLES: Arugula, Asian Greens, Beets, Beet Greens, Cabbage, Carrots, Collards, Daikon Radish, Dried Shiitake Mushrooms, Fennel, Fresh & Dried Herbs, Jerusalem Artichokes, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Miners Lettuce, Minutina, Potatoes, Napa Cabbage, Parsnips (possibly), Pea Shoots, Radishes, Salad Mix, Scallions, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Sweet Potatoes, Greenhouse Grown Tomatoes, Turnips, Turnip Greens, Winter Squash, and more
MEATS AND EGGS: Pork, Beef, Quail, Lamb & Mutton, Bison, Chicken, Duck, Goat/Chevon/Cabrito, Veal
CHEESES: Fresh and aged COW and GOAT milk cheeses.
PLANTS: A few House Plants.
FLOWERS: Anemones, Poppies, Tulips, Stock, Mixed Bouquets, Dried Bouquets
SPECIALTY ITEMS: Gluten Free Baked Goods, Raw & Creamed Honey, Pasta, Flour, Cornmeal, Grits, Baked Goods including Pies, Breads, Cookies & Pastries, Fermented Foods, Beer, Wine, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Preserves, Wool
CRAFTS: Pottery, Woodwork, Photographs, Hand-dyed Clothing and other items, Handmade Clothing, Goats Milk Soaps, Body Butters, Lotions, Yarn, Roving, and much more...

Produce availability depends on weather conditions 

This Week at the South Durham Farmer's Market

This  Week at the Market

• Saturday 9am-Noon Greenwood Commons 54110 Hwy 55 Durham, NC 27713
• Community Cooking Club Serving Corned Beef
• In Season: broccolini, squash, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, green onions, lettuce, potatoes, yams  and more!

Our First Food Truck!
We want the South Durham Farmers’ Market to be a place that brings together all the different players in our rich local food economy, and we are especially eager to include the area’s fine food trucks. This Saturday, we welcome our first ever food truck, Will & Pop’s. They will serving hot brunch items featuring local cheeses, meats and bread.

We hope they will be the first food truck of many, so let your favorite chef on wheels know that we are accepting applications!

Goodbye to Winter
The recent freezing rains aside, signs of spring are beginning to emerge. The daffodils are peaking through the soil, lettuce greens are returning to market, and we will have our first tomatoes of 2014 this Saturday!

All I can say is, 'Thank goodness!' It’s been a cold winter replete with snow, ice and wind – tough conditions for enticing locals to an outdoor market, but even tougher for actually growing any produce to bring to market. Our vendors persevered, and you all continued to come out even on the days that puddles took over the main thoroughfare and the wind threatened to steal our tents. Thank you all for keeping this a truly year-round market.

I happily welcome warmer days, and consider the lost hour of sleep this weekend a fair trade for the extra light in the evening. Hello tomatoes, goodbye winter!