Literally! High 90s and very humid was our weather for the day but that didn't stop us from having another successful turnout! We were grateful to all of our seven farmers that came out again today and our eighty participants who came to support these farmers. As the summer continues on, more and more produce is coming in season and each week we look forward to seeing what the farmer's have to sell. This week there was lots to choose from: corn, shelled peas, cucumbers, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, honey, peaches, leafy greens, pears, and much more! We even had plants for sale!
This is John and his wife; they were a great new addition to the market this week. They brought baskets and baskets of tomatoes as well as shelled peas. He is a great salesman, gives great deals, and is a lot of fun to talk to about his growing. Stop by next week to meet this great team!
Here is Breanna one of our awesome 4-H teens, posing with produce from her family's farm with Katie McKee our 4-H Agent. This was Breanna and her mom's second week to the market and they continue to bring great, fresh produce picked as early as the morning of the market. They always have a variety and yesterday they even had delicious blueberries!
"T" Heirs is one of our regulars that has been coming every week since mid May. They have lots to choose from and are very nice to work with. Corn, tomatoes, honey, watermelon, and peaches are just a few of their biggest sellers.
Zane was one of our new farmers pictured in last week's post. This week he brought his granddaughter Atlanta with him to help sell their pears, tomatoes, squash, and plants. They had pepper plants and tomato plants selling for a great price.
Jim and Avis were back again this week to brave the heat and sell more gardenias and plants!
Our food sample this week was baked sweet potato chips! They were so delicious that our basket was empty before the market was even over! We sliced up our sweet potatoes with a mandolin to make sure they were thin enough but you can just use a knife or even a peeler will work! We put just a little bit of olive oil on them and a little bit of sea salt and then baked them for 1 hour at 250 degrees. Oven times varied so it is good to check them often. Flip them halfway through and when they get to desired crispiness take them out and enjoy! Sweet potatoes are considered a super food and have many nutrients. One of the main nutrients in sweet potatoes is beta-carotene, which our body converts to vitamin A and helps with vision, bone growth, reproduction, and keeping lining in our digestive and respiratory tracts healthy. Sweet potatoes contain numerous vitamins and are also low in fat, loaded with potassium, and contain properties that help regulate blood sugar making this a good choice for diabetics. There are many ways to eat sweet potatoes: roasted, baked, grilled, and mashed are just a few. Our challenge for this weekend is to try a new sweet potato recipe or a new way of preparing them and let us know how it turns out by commenting down below!
Our raffle this week was a bundle that included a collapsible meal kit, a super cute dish towel, and a set of 3 cutting mats to help with food safety by having a different color mat for produce, meat, and cheeses. Congratulations to Sherry in the Register of Deeds office who won yesterday's raffle!
Each week our market is continuing to grow and we appreciate all the advertising, support, and feedback our consumers have! We'd love to hear from you if you have great ideas or would like to see something done as our sample one week. If you or someone you know is a small, local farmer and would like to sell at our market have them come out next Thursday or call the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension Office at 910-253-2610 for more information. We look forward to seeing everyone and their coworkers back next Thursday in front of the complex cafeteria from 11am-1pm for another great market.
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