Does a Little Bad Weather Stop Us? The Show Must Go On…Indoors!

Dear Market Goers,

Wow…last week’s e-mail talked about ChChChCh Changes, but this spring weather is getting ridiculous!  In case you haven’t heard, the weather forecast is not so good for Saturday!  But, much like “The Show”, The Market MUST GO ON!   Since the forecast is for possible severe weather, WE WILL BE INDOORS at It’s Bazaar…our home sweet home away from home, where the buffalo do not roam, although it would not surprise me to spy a buffalo inside that interesting and exotic establishment.  We are committed to bringing you the best, fresh, local, tasty food every week!

Here’s the best advice I got all week…It’s by Melody Beattie and I’ve taken the liberty of paraphrasing parts of it….

Living is an individual process that necessitates making mistakes, struggling through problems, and facing tough issues.

Expecting ourselves to be perfect slows this process; it puts us in a guilty and anxious state. Expecting others to be perfect is equally destructive; it makes others feel ashamed and may interfere with their growth.

People are human and vulnerable, and that is wonderful. We can accept and cherish that idea. Expecting others to be perfect puts us in a state of moral superiority. Expecting ourselves to be perfect makes us feel rigid and inferior.
We can let go of both ideas.

We do not need to go to the other extreme; tolerating anything people throw our way. We can still expect appropriate, responsible behavior from ourselves. But most of us can afford to loosen up a bit. And when we stop expecting others to be perfect, we may discover that they’re doing much better than we thought. When we stop expecting ourselves to be perfect, we’ll discover the beauty in ourselves.

Here’s some vendor tidbits….

Picking Season:  Harvest adds style to farmers’ market produce….a neat article about Chef Chris Carey, of Harvest Market that appeared in the Tasting Table, a Food Culture Daily.  Check it out!!! http://tastingtable.com/entry_detail/dc/3246/Harvest_adds_style_to_farmers_market_produce.htm.

A sample of Singing Frog Farm's Flowers

Meredith Kope of Singing Frog Farms wants to let everybody know that she is offering flower shares this year, in addition to her CSA…

Singing Frog Farms 2011 Flower Share Program

This year we are trying a new flower share program. Each week during our 15 week season, you will receive a large bouquet of our beautiful, fresh flowers ($15 market value) in a large mason jar. Our shares are priced at $180/season.  This year we are growing over 30 varieties of flowers so your bouquet will be different each week as the season progresses. We think they would make a wonderful Mother’s Day gift!

You can pick up your share at the P-ville market or at King Street Coffee in downtown Leesburg or we will bring it to Saturday morning market for you! Please email (meredith@singingfrogfarm.com) or call (571-212-5625) to reserve a share.  Thanks so very much!!! I was also thinking they would also be fun for an office to go in on together!

And here’s a message from Mary, the Lavender Lady, from Woodgrove Farm:

I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth. We are starting to get ready for the new plants, which should arrive next week. We will be adding another 100 Hidcote (English) to our already 400 – I anticipate we will be”getting back on the market” by May. Hope that works for all.

Miss you guys.

Mary & Dave Lewis

Woodgrove Lavender Farm

Here’s who is at the market this week.

New Vendor Alert!!!

Wildwood’s Hickory Syrup…you heard correctly, there’s a couple that actually make syrup from Hidkory sap rather than Maple sap?  Are we the only market in the world that has this unique product?

Floyd and Vera sent a message that they have their first crop of spring shiitakes and will be bringing them on Saturday!  I’ve been missing those shiitakes…Here’s a bit of shiitake trivia from Kate….. In the East, shiitake mushrooms are considered a long-standing delicacy as well as a medicinal mushroom. I also found this information on Shiitake Mushrooms on the American Cancer Society and will be ingesting as many mushrooms as I can from now on!! http://www.cancer.org/Treatment/TreatmentsandSideEffects/ComplementaryandAlternativeMedicine/DietandNutrition/shiitake-mushroom.

Lothar’s Gourmet Sausages is back this week…here’s their message to you….

Dear Valued Customers and Friends of Good Taste,

Gonzales Produce will be back again with potted plants:  basil, oregano, thyme, chives, cilantro, parsley, catnip, rosemary, sage, tarragon, mint, rue, all in four inch pots,very healthy,and are pesticide free.  Fed with organic plant food, no chemicals, not certified but they are still as good as organic. Strawberry pots and hanging baskets, as well some potted tomato plants, swiss chard, and ornamentals.

Man, are we ever lucky to have Micaela, of Millstone Bakers, and her beautiful family at our market!!!  She will have a beautiful, heavenly tasting selection of artisan breads this week including baguettes, focaccia, ciabatta, challah, whole wheat bread and scones.

Herban Avenues, will be back with their incredible teas and lotions. They will have their CLEANSE TEA for spring “cleaning” of urinary tract, kidney, and digestive (includes dandelion, licorice, nettles & peppermint).  Also COLD CARE tea takes care of sinus congestion. They also made their popular Bread Dip Seasoning Mix again which goes great with Micaela’s baguettes.

Joey, of Cornerstone Bakery, has a message:

l think I brought enough Whoopie Pies last week to keep everyone happy.  I hope if your trying them you are enjoying them. If you have not tried them yet your in for a real treat when you do.

Cupcake flavors this week include Lemon 3-Ways (lemon cake with lemon buttercream and a homemade lemon curd injection), Chocolate Raspberry (chocolate cake with a raspberry buttercream), Sticky Toffee Pudding (densedark toffee soaked cake with sweet whipped cream topping), Vanilla Vanilla (decorated for Spring) and Espresso. Look for new flavors starting next week.

I will have donuts at the market this week. They are baked cake donuts and the flavors include plain chocolate, plain vanilla, cinnamon sugar, chocolate covered vanilla, chocolate glazed and chocolate chocolate.

We will have our all-natural sugar free Doggie Delicious Cookies and Pupcakes at the market this week. I have a lot of repeat customers on my dog treats. The Pupcakes are a carrot and applesauce based dog cupcake and the cookies are peanut butter, chicken and parsley breath buster. A package has at least one of each cookie.

The Beauteous Betty, of Betty’s Salsa, will have her to-die-for corn chips, bean dip, and salsa.  Betty is working on expanding her business and adding more products….I, for one, am very happy to hear it!  Bring back the enchiladas…

The Magnolia Girls are taking a break this week due to a death in the family…..good thing I bought ahead and put some cookies in the freezer.  Can’t live without the Ginger cookie!

Pamela brought chickens for Rob!

Rob, the cutie farmer, (as the ladies call him) of Community Gardens, will be back this week.  He will also be expanding his product line this spring.  I can’t wait to see what he has to offer.  I hope he does more salad dressings.

Hondo Coffee and Pickled Goods - He’s coming with his local and non-local pickled goods…tasty pickles, sauerkraut, pickled beets…..and coffee.  In fact, my friend Kim Nevin, owner of King Street Coffee, actually had a Saturday off from her kid’s sports and came out to visit our little market.  She mentioned that she loved Hondo’s Mom’s beets, and Betty’s Chips and….!!!  If you are in Leesburg, visit King Street Coffee…it’s the best coffee in Leesburg!!!!

Liberty Hill Farm provides pastured raised chicken, free range eggs and freshly ground whole wheat breads.

Our pasture-raised chickens are raised on fresh grass and non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms) feed.    Fresh grass is extremely good for the chickens and contribute to a good taste and nutrition to the consumer.

Free range eggs are very healthy for you as they create the “perfect food”, providing a perfect balance of Omega 3 and 6.  Our chickens are enjoying the Springtime grass.

Our organic whole wheat products include:  freshly ground whole wheat bread, pizza crusts, apple cinnamon bread, cinnamon raisin bread and chocolate chip cookies.   We also provide apple cinnamon, cinnamon rolls and granola.      Our product provides a couple of characteristics that are beneficial to you:  organic and freshly ground.   Organic wheat can’t have pesticides used on them or in the ground where they grow.    The benefit to you is that you don’t have chemicals going into your organs which is obviously not good for you.  We freshly ground our wheat before we bake–thus preserving the best nutrition for you.   Any type of flour found in packages in stores have been robbed of 25 to 30 vitamins/minerals in order to allow the flour to last for a very long time.   This is good for the flour business but is extremely bad for you.

Visit our website at www.LibertyHillFarmVA.com to get more information about our products or to place orders for market pickup.   See you at the market!

The Matich Family:  Ken, Andrea, Samuel, Treasure

Ken doing his part to keep our customers clean!

Liz Handcrafted Soaps will be here this week with a fresh batch of Goat’s Milk & Lemongrass, as well as Bug-Me-Not. We have just about everything you need, so come on out and get your natural, handmade (not to mention beautiful) soap and listen to your body say, “AHHHH”.

We hope you stop by North Gate Vineyard’s beautiful new tasting room.  Check out their facebook page to see the pics of their new, LEED Certified tasting room and their sweet, dedicated staff.  Thelovely Fiona will be at the market with their selection of great Virginia wines.

The Stifler Family of What’s for Dinner Now will NOT be at the market with their delicous, all-natural, pasture-raised, grain-finished beef.  They’re not comfortable leaving everything on the farm unattended during severe weather but will be at the market next weekend.

Chris Carey, of HarvestMarket, will be at the market this week..Here’s his blog posting:

Inspiration

The other day as I was strolling through the vegetable garden of a client, I came upon one of my favorite early spring herbs, sorrel. Its’ pungent, lemony, bitter, put-a-pucker on your face flavor one cannot forget. And in one of those serendipitous moments, I changed the menu. Why? (I like to make it difficult on myself!!) Inspiration can happen at any time. Something catches your eye and in mere moments, a flood of ideas, memories, thoughts come alive.

A few years ago, my wife and I were dining at the famed French Laundry in Napa, CA. Our amuse-bouche was a perfect pair of “cornets.” Perfect miniature ice cream cones filled with salmon tartare and another with braised Belgium endive. Where did Chef Keller get the idea years ago for this amuse? At a Baskin-Robbins ice cream store!! My sorrel transformed itself into “potage a l’oseille avec caviar de saumon.”(Sorrel soup with salmon caviar)

Those little moments remind me of shopping at the great farmers markets in Paris, France when I was a student and stagiere. Each day brought about new discoveries of food from around France. When working at Restaurant Daniel (the first Daniel) years ago, chef would describe how each morning all the great chefs, Bocuse, Troisgros, Chapel, Vacombe,  would gather at the market in Lyon and shop for the specials of the day.

The market inspires! Let’s be inspired!

Menu for this week:

Honey and ginger roasted parsnips (vegetarian, gluten-free)

Parsnip salad with an orange-yogurt dressing (vegetarian, gluten-free)

Wild mushroom ragout on polenta cakes (vegetarian)

Baby Swiss chard with garlic, gold raisins, chilies (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free)

Sunchoke soup (vegetarian, gluten-free)

Portabello mushroom, caramelized onion and blue cheese tart (vegetarian)

Duck Salad of Jerusalem artichoke, apples, and watercress (meat, gluten-free)

Limited quantities of:

Pork and mushroom pate (meat)

Shaved sunchoke, celery, olive salad with orange vinaigrette (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free)

from www.harvestmarketdc.blogspot.com.  He’s also on Facebook:   HarvestMarketDC, and Twitter:   HarvestMarketDC/Twitter.

Samantha, of Holy Cow Delivery, will be selling her cousin’s (South Mountain Creamery) whole, cream top, 2%, skim, and chocolate milk, fantastic yogurt and yogurt drinks, to die-for cream cheeses, regular butter and honey butter. Here’s a message from Samantha:

HOLY COW !!!! We are having an EASTER SPECIAL!!

Buy 2 flavored butter or flavored cream cheese for $8.00 or mix and match and get one of each.  Dill and Garlic flavored cream cheese goes great on your mashed potatots and the brown sugar and cinnamon goes even better on sweet potatoes and who wouldn’t want our fantastic Honey Butter on your Easter biscuits.  Our flavored cream cheeses are Cajun Crab, Gourmet Vegetable, Apple Raisin and Cinnamon, Horseradish Cheddar, and Smoked Salmon.  They go great with crackers delicious appetizer.

TOATS, is a wheat, egg, and dairy-free cookie made right here in Loudoun County!  They have 0 trans fats and even the box is organic. Marisol won’t be here this week but will be back again next week (www.toatsorganic.com).

Everona Dairy, will be at the market this week!  Here’s a video they posted of some day old lambs on facebook…lamb video.

If you’re jonesin’ for one of  The Smoothie Guy’s (Mike Schreiber) fresh fruit smoothies, don’t forget he’s at the Purcellville Sports Pavilion in his Smoothie Hut.  I’m not kidding, it looks like an Island hut.  Just walk in, even if you’re not a member, and order one of those fantastic smoothies…he’ll be back at the Best Little Market in Loudoun when the weather gets warmer..

Linna the Locavore

The days are longer, the air is warmer, and the April rains are upon us.  Here are some ‘rules of thumb’ for planting this month:

Sow directly into your garden soil: beets, carrots, corn, dill, kohlrabi, lettuce, parsnips, kale, peas, radishes, spinach, swiss chard, potatoes

Transplant into the garden: beets, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, leeks, lettuce, onions, strawberries

Start seedlings indoors: cucumbers, eggplants, melons, new zealand spinach, okra, onions, peppers, squash, tomatoes

Happy planting!

——————–

‘Linna the Locavore’

Motivational Garden Speaker & Teacher

www.foodscaper.com

www.linnasgarden.blogspot.com

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Loudoun_locavores

**************************************

P'ville Town Hall

We really appreciate your support and hope that we have been a positive influence in your lives beyond providing great, healthy food for you and your families.  Check out our website at www.purcellvillecommunitymarket.com, our info on www.loudounfarms.org and on facebook, where we post pictures of happy customers and vendors almost every week! Check the market table for all kinds of info, cookbooks, recipes, community events, local businesses, and health information.

Don’t forget to try to remember to bring your Purcellville Green and Buy Fresh, Buy Local shopping bags…

So come out on Saturday, try all of our samples, purchase some GREAT, HEALTHY, LOCAL foods, have a chat with your faithful vendors, happy neighbors, and enlightened folks from other communities and sip some fresh coffee and have a bite to eat. We will be there from 10 am to 1 pm at the Town Hall parking lot in beautiful, downtown Purcellville.  We’re right across from the gunshop.  Just look for the Howitzer…it’s pointin’ right at us!

Enjoy!

Juanita Tool

703.967.0431

yours truly

No Responses So Far... Leave a Reply: