Paris Arkansas Farmers Market:  Go Local!!

Howdy folks!

Just a friendly reminder to get those orders in online for the Paris Farmers market!!

www.parisarkansas.locallygrown.net

We very much appreciate your support of our local farmers, and know that you all understand the importance of shopping local! We are working hard to bring our community all of the locally grown bounty that our region has to offer, and we hope you enjoy the convenience and sense of local pride that is felt when you go local!

We now have nearly 200 items listed, and more being added all the time! Please stop on by before the weekend is up, and check our wonderful selection of meats, cheeses, eggs, veggies, baked goods, beautiful goats milk soaps, crafts and more!

Thank you all for your support…we hope to build this market and keep it supported year-round!

PAFM

StPete.LocallyGrown.Net:  PLS READ The Future of SPLG - Jan. 24, 2016

Valued Locavores:
I have finally made a decision on the future of SPLG’s Market. I announced my retirement plans at last night’s potluck social with intentions of keeping the Market open until the end of March. As you might imagine, it has taken much thought, angst, and self reflection to come to this decision but I know it is the right thing for me to do.

I hope that all of you will commit to SPLG until its conclusion as all of us are just as committed as ever to delivering the best produce, products, and customer service until then. I have asked for a commitment from the Growers and Volunteers and I ask for the same from you. I value the part you have played in keeping us going. Without all of you, I would never have experienced such an honorable responsibility of funneling locally grown, chemical-free vegetables into the St. Petersburg Community.

SPLG will close effective March 31st. I truly hope that, sooner or later, someone will approach me and want to pickup this well documented business model where I’ve left off. At that point, I believe I’ll be willing to consult to make that happen.

FYI, if you have paid a membership fee since we re-opened on Nov. 2nd, your account will be credited $30 for the three months of April, May, and June. Please spend that money on market goods to spare me the refund requests. FYI, I have every intention of following through on our pork PRE-ORDERS by purchasing it sometime in February or sooner if we have the minimum order covered. I have already purchased the PRE-ORDERS for beef and will deliver on your next order. Also, I intend to publish all sources I have for access to the meat products we have been purchasing on behalf of our customers. I also have new ones to share.

I will send out more details as they occur and I welcome any questions you may have via email. If you can hold off until after the Market opens tomorrow, that would help me focus on my work today. The Market opens at 3pm tomorrow!

My heartfelt thanks to each one of you,
Tina

The Wednesday Market:  The Market is Open!

Good afternoon to all.

The Wednesday Market is open for orders. Please place your order by 10 p.m. Monday. Orders are ready for pick up between 3 and 6 p.m. Wednesday. Visit the website for this week’s product listings. Here is the link: http://wednesdaymarket.locallygrown.net/market

Thankfully, our area was spared the blizzard that hit Nashville, Washington, D.C., New York and places in between. I did make a run to Freshway on Friday afternoon. Although I didn’t really need anything, I wanted to see how local people were reacting to the potential for bad weather. The parking lot was packed, and customers were bustling up and down the aisles collecting items for their buggies. The dairy department was still well-stocked with milk products, but the bread aisle was decimated, and stock clerks were moving a huge pallet of bottled water into the beverage aisle. It is always better to be safe than sorry, but now that our area is safe from a Snowpocalypse, it is funny to look back at Friday’s scene of mass hysteria and laugh about it. My Facebook newsfeed is full of satirical memes this weekend, including a still-life of a loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, and a roll of toilet paper. You just have love Southerners and our reaction to even a hint of snowy weather! The sun is shining today, and the temperature now is 46 degrees – warm enough for my son’s soccer team to hold practice. So, off we go.

I hope all of you get an opportunity to get outside and enough the sun today, too. Have a great Sunday, and we’ll see you Wednesday at the Market.

Thanks,

Beverly

Siloam Springs, AR:  Weblog Entry

Russellville Community Market:  RCM Opening Bell

Hey everyone, and welcome to a new market week!

Be sure to check out the newly listed items this week! Lots of great, local products to be had!

Happy shopping! Eat Local!

Check out the “Featured Items” section as well as the “What’s New” section at the top of the market page for all the latest products available.

Be sure to “Like” our Facebook page for updates and food-related events in your community!

To ensure your order is placed, make sure you click the “Place My Order” button once you have completed your shopping. Remember, you have until 10:00pm Tuesday evening to place your orders.

Happy Shopping! See you on Thursday!

Russellville Community Market

FRESH.LOCAL.ONLINE.

Champaign, OH:  Local Love!

Happy Sunday, little local market of love customers!!

Today, in our continued series of Local Love via our vendors, I am excited to bring you, Joe and Charlene of Swisher Hill Herbs!! You know Charlene as one of your assistant managers of this market, she has been a driving force in this local movement when it was really, simple…just local. Before we had to make it an actual movement, just to get it all back on track.

Here you go…Local Love…

The Question put forth to all vendors of the Champaign Virtual Market is
Why are you part of this Local food movement? Speaking for one half of this Swisher Hill Herbs
partnership it is easy to answer, but hard to write about. Perhaps you have heard the term “You
can take the girl off of the farm, but you can’t take the farm out of the girl.” I truly believe that
being raised on a farm and the life skills and work ethic instilled in me by my parents and family
have grounded me throughout my entire life. When you live with fresh from the garden to the
table, gathering the eggs, helping your father in the milking parlor and having to help scrub
down the milk house, help with planting the garden. Dad assigned you a row in the unplanted
prepared garden, hand you a cupful of bean seeds, gave you planting instruction and informed
your butt was a lot closer to the ground for perfect placement of the seeds.( message received”
Don’t mess this up !”) Life wasn’t always easy and at times there would be grumbling in the
ranks about chores. My father and mother’s simple statement is always with me. “Grow where
you are planted.” It seemed everything was a community effort. Neighbors helping neighbors,
word of mouth through the church, and other community leaders we were informed of families in
need. We learned to share with others what we had in excess.
My husband Joe and I during our first 20 years of marriage moved from one side of the United
State to the other and back. We spent 4 years in Germany and traveled throughout Europe with
our little family of 5. We lived in the small village of Igstadt for 2 years. We were the only
American family in that village. The local residents embraced us. The village had a flower shop,
bakery, grocery, meat market, and a drug store. I shopped 3 times a week in the little village and
enjoyed the benefits of supporting the local economy, learning a new language and meeting my
neighbors. Every move we made, everywhere we lived we planted a small garden, whether it
was on the second floor balcony of an apartment or a small section of yard by our house and we
would seek out Farm market stands and other sources of fresh local baked goods, fruits,
vegetables, eggs, and meat products.
Supporting your local Farmers Market’s help…
Enhance local economy: By purchasing produce and other items from local growers you are
providing stability to your local economy through the support of local businesses.
Save natural resources: Buying locally makes you an invaluable link in the process of saving
resources such as fossil fuels and packaging materials. We are right here in your community so
the expense of transportation and delivery is kept to a minimum.
Provide learning opportunities: Locally Grown supporters provide member growers the
means to help educate our community about the importance of sustainable agriculture.
Supporting a way of life: When you their food come from as well as helping to preserve the
Family Farm an honest and worthy means of making a living.
Take Thyme,
Joe and Charlene Stapleton

Suwanee Whole Life Co-op:  Reminder: Place your co-op order today! Group Buy this weekend!

Just a friendly reminder that market orders are due online today by 6 pm.

Group Buy Grass Fed Cheeses – Last chance to order cheese!

Please remember that we need to hit certain minimums in order for our farmers and vendors to deliver to us.

Lastly, we still need a volunteer for 3pm shift. I can not cover this shift and really need someone to help! Please click this link to sign up http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a44aea623a7fa7-volunteer

Thank you for placing your order and supporting local farms and businesses!

See you on Tuesday!

Click Here to Place Your Order

Stones River Market:  Time to Order Local Food - Exciting Changes This Week!

Market News

Welcome back to another week of locally grown and made products. Last week was another interesting week of weather and fortunately, the Market was not drastically affected. I hope everyone made it safely through the snow.

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I started Stones River Market in 2008 with just a handful of vendors. Farmers and producers have come and gone through the years. Progressively we have grown to where we are today and there have been many changes along the way.

All this time I have had a full-time job in Nashville. Now that I have “retired,” I am busier than before. With one of my current jobs, I have the opportunity to travel to places I have never been and can no longer give the Market the attention it needs.

Effective immediately, management of Stones River Market is being transferred to Tracey Burks and Ashleigh Newnes. They have been a part of the Market for several years as Botanical Harmony. As I have been training Tracey and Ashleigh these last couple of weeks, they have been focused on making the transfer as smooth as possible for both the vendors and our customers. They bring with them some new ideas for expanding our vendor base and I am excited to see the potential growth for Stones River Market.

You will still see me at the Market since I will continue to grow produce and flowers. I will also be assisting Tracey and Ashleigh as needed as we move forward. Many of you have been with the Market a long time and I consider you friends not just customers. Please give Tracey and Ashleigh the same support that you have given me all these years.

Sincerely,

John

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As for other Market news:

Alfresco Pasta is having a special on some of his products including the butternut squash ravioli and portabella spinach ravioli. Look under Noodles, Pasta and Italian Sauces for the complete list.

Flying S Farms keeps changing the soup options so this week she has added a potato shroom variety.

Rod with Double Star Bar Farms continues his work in kitchen and has now added New York style bagels. You will find plain and salted this week.

There are plenty of other products available this week. Browse the categories to see what your will find.

Thanks so much for your support of Stones River Market, all of our growers, local food, and our rights to eat it. We’ll see you on Wednesday at Southern Stained Glass at 310 West Main Street from 5:00 to 6: 30 pm!

Recipes

Please, share your recipes with us on the Recipes tab. We’d all love to know how you use your Stones River Market products, so we can try it too!

I am taking a break from recipes. Look for them to return soon.

ALFN Local Food Club:  Market Reminder

The market is open.

Update: New Vendor & Community Market Day

We have a new vendor in the market this week. Viney Creek Farm is a dairy goat farm out of Dover, AR. The farm raises Nigerian Dwarf goats, a breed prized for their milk with a butterfat content more than cows and other goat breeds. Viney Creek transforms their goat milk into goat soap. You can find their products on ALFN’s market under Bath, Beauty & Health. Welcome Viney Creek!

Community Market Day

As mentioned in previous posts, this year we will be celebrating local ingenuity, knowledge and skill on the last Saturday of every month. This Saturday, we will have our first Community Market Day of the year. Tammy Pope of Tammy Sue’s Critters will be at the market meeting members and showcasing her products. Tammy Sue’s is a remarkable farm with an outstanding array of products. Many of you love the lotions and soaps made on the farm, but they are also known for their eggs. This Saturday, take an extra few minutes and get to know Tammy and her critters. It is an exceptional opportunity to converse with those who commune with our domesticated animals…especially goats:) During this market, we will have locally brewed coffee available. As a year-round market, ALFN specializes in providing a consistent pick-up point for regional products. However, I hope it will be enjoyable to not just pick-up, but chat for a few minutes with our local producers and thinkers during these Community Market Days. I look forward to seeing all you this Saturday. Remember, if you have something you want to share during one of our Community Market Days, shoot me an email, and we can make it happen!

For those of use washed in critter products, lathered in the butterfat of even-toed ungulates, purified by the ancient, feral Pan god, here is a poem to consider the wild, unflinching goat-gaze. May we all find ways to climb over pasture fences and sit on the knoll with this noble beast and stare back at the rush of civilization.

The Goat and I
by Robert William Service

Each sunny day upon my way
A goat I pass;
He has a beard of silver grey,
A bell of brass.
And all the while I am in sight
He seems to muse,
And stares at me with all his might
And chews and chews.

Upon the hill so thymy sweet
With joy of Spring,
He hails me with a tiny bleat
Of welcoming.
Though half the globe is drenched with blood
And cities flare,
Contentedly he chews the cud
And does not care.

Oh gentle friend, I know not what
Your age may be,
But of my years I’d give the lot
Yet left to me,
To chew a thistle and not choke,
But bright of eye
Gaze at the old world-weary bloke
Who hobbles by.

Alas! though bards make verse sublime,
And lines to quote,
It takes a fool like me to rhyme
About a goat.

United States Virgin Islands:  This week in VI Locally Grown

Greetings All! The market is open for orders. See you Wed!

Blessings,
Your VI Locally Grown Growers