The CFCM opened today and - as a supporter of local farms and businesses - I just had to go see what I could find. I ran out of money. I came away with .... - plants: multiple hostas, two mints, rosemary - honey lip balm - handmade jewelry pouch (present) - homemade kettle corn (another present) - homemade hot pork sausage (dinner) - natural eggs (did I mention dinner) - vanilla pound cake and a pecan nut bar that will be gone very shortly - strawberries - black bean and corn salsa - sunflower bread and a whoopie pie - pepper relish I was also able to participate in a raffle drawing for items such as handpainted gourd houses, handmade sewing and woven baskets, honey products (that cinnamon honey spread is on my wish list), produce, natural meats, etc. (several CSAs were represented). They had some serious ginger ale for sampling, beautiful flowers and plants everywhere (I'm wishing I had gotten those iris), organic bug repellant products and just a whole host of nice people. I had to run home to get my sausage in the frig as the music was starting but it looks like it is going to be a nice nice day for wandering around and finding cool stuff. No - I am not a vendor - associated with the market or anyone selling there. I just like supporting local markets and really had a good time. I will be going back. I would recommend checking it out. Martha
I checked it out too,around 9am or so,it was nice! I almost bought some eggs too but I had to go to Kohls afterward so I'll buy them next time,didn't see the organic meats,maybe I was too early. Did buy some foccacia bread and some herbs for the garden.Smith Nursery was there as well with strawberries and plants.
I went out there too! I got out there about 10:30, the musician was set up and playing some acoustic guitar songs, he sounded really good. TayLee Organics was the vendor who had the organic, grain-fed meat. Here is a link to their website, she said they were signed up to be a vendor for the season. http://tayleeorganics.com/aboutus.aspx I came away with a few goodies, a jar of pickled asparagas from TayLee, and a package of their beef stew meat. They had a roast in the crockpot, and I got a sample of that, it was to die for! Unfortunatley, they had already sold out of the roasts. Toad Song Farm had great looking veggie plants, herbs & hanging baskets. I saw the beautiful iris's too, and had to restrain myself... my will be blooming soon enough!! One of the vendors with the herbs was very helpful, I had a few questions to ask about growing my own this year. She had the herbs that were all very small still, and lots of Stevia plants (near Cleveland Cake & Coffee tent). I had a great time walking around and seeing what the vendors had, and can't wait to see more fresh produce coming out.
Had lots of fun walking around ... got ideas for things I want to buy next week when I go back. *grin* Did buy strawberries from Smiths ... couldnt resist some freshly (yesterday) picked strawberries! So many other things that I wanted to buy, but making myself wait.
do u think there will be more vendors this season than there were last season? I sure hope so. I really hope the market is a success. db's wife
Thanks for the link to TayLee,will have to check them out next time,that roast in the crockpot you described did sound good!
I also read an update on Facebook from the CFCM, here is a copy and paste of it for anyone who doesn't have Facebook. It also includes a link at the end to sign up for their newsletter ***************************************************** What to expect at CFCM next Saturday ... Share Today at 12:40pm OH, my goodness!!! Yesterday was OPENING DAY at CFCM and it was beautiful and fantabulous and wondermous! We reconnected with friends we had missed over the Winter months and met many new wonderful people we hope to see again and again through the season. Several of our vendors (Toad Song, Happy Hollow, Sunday Morning, Smith's, T&L) contributed plants to our Garden Full of Veggies raffle yesterday. Al Hildreth (the honey man) and I were in mad competition to win those boxes full of plants, but our strategy of stuffing the raffle jar with fist fulls of purchased tickets was stymied. Congratulations to Hank Harris who won the Garden Full of Fresh Veggies raffle yesterday. Another Saturday at CFCM is shaping up to be awesome for April 17th. Make your plans to stop by this coming Saturday sometime between 9am & 3pm to check it out. Vendors will once again have good stuff for you to taste before you buy next weekend. We'll have additional vendors and vendors will have additional products. My mother was absolutely thrilled to find Stevia plants from Sunday Morning Farms yesterday. If you're looking to get away from using sugar and artificial sweeteners in your home, but you've found stevia to be expensive, be sure to come out and talk to B.J. Whitley about growing your own stevia. She can teach you how to make your own natural sweetener from the plant leaves. She'll be at CFCM next week with plenty of little stevia, French tarragon and basil plants. Toad Song Farms will have another fantastic assortment of herb and garden plants next week, including heirloom tomato, eggplant, squash, pepper and cucumber plants. Rich with Cleveland Bakery will have more wonderful fresh baked breads and snack cakes and Benisha will have more of her wonderful pound cake, cupcakes, brownies, cookies and muffins. Shamrock's Buzzy Bee will be at the market again on the 17th with their local honey. If you have trouble with allergies and have not tried taking a couple spoonfuls of local honey every day to help alleviate the problem, I'll just say that it can't hurt you and it can't possibly be any more expensive a therapy than popping a pharmaceutical pill every day, so what's not to love? And it really does have to be local honey. You can't use mountain honey or Virginia honey or North Dakota honey here in Johnston County, NC and expect it to help you. It's the tiny doses of local pollen you get from local honey that helps your body learn to deal more rationally with the onslaught of happy trees and grasses puffing their polleny allergens into the air at any time of the year. Come see Al and Kathy next week and give their honey a try. Our egg producers are in full swing, y'all!! Their happy free-range hens are laying fresh eggs daily. Pastured free-range eggs are known to be very healthful, packed with many times more good stuff than mass-production chicken house eggs: Omega 3 oils, vitamins A & E, and plenty of natural proteins that make eating meat every day unnecessary for a truly healthy lifestyle. Take a dozen eggs from one of our CFCM vendors home next week to cook for Sunday breakfast or brunch. You'll see for yourself why they are different from the eggs you're used to buying. Smith's Nursery will definitely be back next week with berries and flowers and our other produce vendors' fields are coming in nicely. Get to the market early to get your pick. As the weeks roll on, you can expect to see more good fresh greens, legumes, berries and root crops in greater and greater abundance. If the weather stays nice, by May several of our produce vendors will have good fresh fantastically fabulous veggies at their stands. TayLee Organics (T&L Farms) is ordering chocolate and plain milk from Jackson's Dairy to have on hand for the kids, sweet cream butter for Cleveland Bakery's good breads, fresh whipping cream for Smith's strawberries and half-n-half for Craig Lee's coffee. The dairy products from Jackson's is all natural, hormone free and anti-biotic free. It comes from happy cows who live on wide-open green-grass pastures. I've visited and seen them myself. T&L will also have some more of that most scrumpdillylicous grass-fed beef for you to taste and to buy. Matthew Garrett will be with us again next week with his all natural old time country sausage made from pasture raised hogs. He'll be cooking it for you to taste again next week and he's going to bring some chops, too. A family emergency kept our local coffee roaster away yesterday so send his family all your good thoughts and prayers. He thinks he may be able to make it out to be with us this coming Saturday the 17th, brewing his nice fresh hot coffee but I'll update y'all as the week goes. I'll have daily updates all week on vendors, etc., so if your friends who love good fresh local food are not on facebook, please feel free to forward updates to them and encourage them to sign up for our newsletter through the CFCM website ... www.clayton-farmers-market.org
Glad it went well as I enjoyed it last year although they did not have many vendors when our family visited. I hope they grow and grow and grow! Sherry
Just wanted to make a quick post, the meat I bought from TayLee Organics was wonderful!! I bought a package of Stew Beef meat, and used it last night in stewed beef! It was so yummy!!! I definitely will be buying that again, and the roast this coming weekend if there are any left when I get there.
I thought they were reasonable for the quality. Can't say cheap, nothing organic is. I paid around $8 for almost 2 lbs.
Is this something they'll have every weekend, or just these few weekends this month, or once a month, or ... ? I never even knew we had a local farmer's market til last week ... sheer bliss!! *grin* I've been dying for fresh fruit and veg, and to support locally (extremely locally!) grown produce ... excellent!!
Every Saturday, through the summer! http://www.clayton-farmers-market.org/market/Home.html And they're on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!...nd-Community-Market/51913563108?v=wall&ref=ts
