Market UpdateSeptember 2008 | Volume 1, Issue 1

Alliance

FARMERSMarket

Market Manager’s MinuteGreetings all for our very first newsletter! What an exciting summer it’s been! I don’t think any of us could have imagined that this farmers’ market would be such a blessing to our community and to all the partici-pants. Some of us small farmers and others, including Dorsey Ney, have been wishing for and attempting to create a direct connection between producers and consumers for a number of years. We had our first meet-ing on April 20 of like-minded people that the One Book, One Community selection entitled Plenty had helped bring together. The Alliance Farmers’ Market is the result!

Hasn’t it been wonderful to see old friends and make new ones while we are achieving healthier lifestyles for our families and our planet? Here we are already headed into fall! Every Saturday has been an opportunity to try new foods and the remaining ones will be no different. More variet-ies of tomatoes, peppers, squashes, etc. than you would think possible will be available. Next year will be even more amazing because growers will be able to plant their crops with the knowledge that there’s a local market available to them. Well, thanks for reading. Feel free to offer suggestions on how to im-prove our market by offering your comments and recipes. See you next Saturday!

Mary Ellen Rohr-DeStefano

“It’s the best thing that ever

happened to downtown.

It amazes me.” - Denis Larkins

We Encourage BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag)Did you know that if you use just one cloth bag, you can save six plastic bags a week - that’s 24 a month and 288 a year! A lot of cities, and even some countries, are banning the use of plastic bags which will decrease our dependency on foreign oil, decrease dangers to animals and birds and decrease the cost of recycling plastic bags. We have seen many customers bringing their own cloth bags in which to carry their goodies home. We encourage everyone to try to help decrease the use of new plastic bags – if you don’t have cloth bags, consider bringing plastic bags you have received while shopping at local stores and letting the vendors put your items in them instead of giving you new plastic bags for each purchase.

Winner of Our Tote Give-AwaySally Bennett of Sebring was chosen winner of our cloth tote give-away earlier this summer. In answer to the question “What do you like about our Farmers’ Market?” she responded, “It’s a wonderful set-up. Lots of produce…and the baked goods were great!” Thanks, Sally, for support-ing our market.

WIC VendorsWe are glad to announce that we have two vendors who are currently WIC certified – Arrowhead Orchard and Snyders Orchard. Applications for certification for Brenckle Farm and BHR Farm are in process, and they are accepting WIC coupons on an interim basis until their certifi-cation is complete. Each of the vendors will have a sign at their booth indicating they are certified to accept coupons.

Rodman Public Library Bookmobile a Big Hit“I haven’t been on the Bookmobile in years.” “We’re very pleased the Bookmobile is here to serve our children while we’re selling our goods at the Farm-ers’ Market.” These are just a couple of the comments the librarians have heard since they started bringing the Bookmobile to the market. In the first five visits they had an av-erage of 65 visitors per week and had given out 15 new library cards, collected some overdue fines and checked out over 200 various materials. They had also sold four large Friends of the Library cloth bags for a special price of $8 (regularly a $15 value) that can be used for market shopping as well as carrying library books. Stop in for a visit the next time you see them.

Reasons to Shop at Our Market1 “Um, um, good” – the taste

is great when vegetables and fruits are really fresh

2 Transportation costs are greatly reduced, thus saving

fuel and decreasing the time to get food to the consumers

3 It’s a great place to see friends – chat; compare

purchases; sit in the shade, sip coffee and listen to music and enjoy the fresh air

4 The market gives farmers, bakers and other vendors

an outlet for their produce and food products

Coming Up September 6Music Chameleon Quartet (Jazz)

Demo Betsy Cornell, supervisor of food services for Alliance City Schools will demonstrate sev-eral recipes showing “Garden to Table” cooking.

Community TableHaines House

September 13Music Doug Stuck (Christian Acoustic)

September 20Music Michelle Ferguson and Guest Soloists (Acoustic)

Community TableYWCA

September 27Music John Whitaker (Celtic Music)

Community TableAlliance for Children and FamiliesVoter Registration

October 4Music Senior Center Line Dancers

Community TableAlliance Health Department

October 11Music Michael Searching Bear (Flute Music Honoring Native American Tradition)

October 18 MusicDarren Thompson (Acoustic)

Community TableKeep Alliance Beautirful

VendorProfilesErica McGrath’s Baked GoodsErica McGrath has brought her delicious baked goods to the market since our opening day. Her husband, Thomas, mentioned an article he had read in the Farm and Dairy newspaper about our market opening on July 5. Baking is her hobby and she was willing to give our market a try. The first week she sold out by 10:30 a.m. and vowed to bring at least twice as much in future weeks. Even now she sells out early after bringing over 150 homemade pies, loaves of bread and plates of cookies per week. “I enjoy coming and seeing everybody and interacting with people after being home all week,” said Erica. Her baked goods are also available at Molesky’s Market the middle of each week. Erica’s e-mail address is fedamorefarm@aol.com if you would like to contact her.

BHR Farms’ Fresh ProduceBHR Farms is represented at our market by Mark Hines (the “H” in BHR). Mark saw our market mentioned on the Local Harvest website and came to visit one Saturday morning. He was impressed with the number of vendors as well as the customer base and decided to sign up. He is very pleased with the outcome. Mark sells a variety of produce and has recently planted beets, beans, peas and spinach so that he will have new produce toward the end of the market season. He is planning on planting earlier varieties next spring so he will be able to come earlier in the season. If you wish to contact him, his e-mail is 3305842438379@earthlink.net.

Cindy and Joe Rogel’s Homemade ProductsCindy and Joe Rogel enjoy growing many kinds of fruits, vegetables and herbs on their half acre lot. Cindy uses her herbs and fruits in preparing several types of jellies as well as herbal salves and homemade soaps. She also really enjoys cooking with herbs and said that not a day goes by that they don’t have something for a meal that includes some of their homegrown herbs. In addition to these items, they also bring some of their produce to sell at our market. If you are interested in more infor-mation about their products, they can be reached at countryherbals@earthlink.net.

Green Beans in Lemon Honey(Beans so different every-one will eat!)

2 T. butter or margarine 1 unpared tart apple, cored and diced 2-3 T. honey 1 medium onion, coarsely choppedl tsp. cider vinegar 1 tsp. cornstarch1/2 tsp. salt 1 T. water1/2 lemon, thinly sliced 2 cups cooked green beans

Mix together honey, butter, vinegar, salt, and lemon slices. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly five min-utes. Stir in apples and onions and cook covered until apples are tender, about seven minutes. Mix together cornstarch and water, stir into apple mixture. Bring to a boil and cook gently three minutes. Stir in beans and heat thoroughly. Serves four.

Basil Pestofrom www.seasonalchef.com/recipe7.htm

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed½ cup flat-leaf Italian parsley, packed (optional)¼ cup grated parmesan cheese½ cup olive oil¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts2 garlic cloves, mincedsalt and cracked black pepper to taste

Tasty RecipesMaking the Most of Your Farmers’ Market Produce

Place ingredients in a food proces-sor, starting with half of the ingredi-ents if the processor bowl is small, stopping occasionally to scrape down sides of container. Blend

until pesto forms a thick, smooth paste. Store in refrigerator in a tightly closed container for up to a week, or freeze for a few months.