While fresh, locally grown tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and melons are months away from availability, the bedding plants for many of these are now available from local growers at the Fayette County Farmers Market; last week many a shopper walked away with beautiful plants, both for future produce or beauty.
In the meantime, there are many fruits and vegetables that are in season now. These include lettuce, green onions, strawberries, asparagus, rhubarb, and radish. One can generally assume that the more vibrant the color of vegetables, the higher the nutrient value.
The salad you make from lettuce and other cool season crops from your own garden or purchased from a local grower, will be shades of darker green and reds than the traditional iceberg lettuce (which I once heard referred to by a nutritionist as “nutritionally bankrupt”). Romaine and other leaf lettuce are quite high in Vitamin A (essential for vision health, bone growth, and other health related functions). Strawberries have high levels of antioxidants (polyphenols). Rhubarb (actually a vegetable) has a great deal of both soluble and insoluble fiber along with the benefits of vitamin C, and calcium. The health benefits can be accentuated by adding raw, local honey for sweetening, instead of sugar.
For additional information about the benefits of specific produce items, you can always look it up on the internet, or if for a more social and fun activity, visit your local library; library staff are excited to assist with interests of any kind. Enjoy the bounty of the season.
The Fayette County Farmers Market is open Saturday morning from 8:30 to noon. It is located in the municipal parking lot on the corner of South Main and East East streets in Washington Court House. SNAP EBT food benefit cards and credit/debit cards are accepted. Those using the SNAP EBT card for food purchases receive matching dollar “Produce Perks” tokens ($1 for $1) good only for fruits, vegetables, and food producing plants. So,”buy one, get one” for up to $25 every market day. Five dollar coupons will be available again for Fayette County Farm Bureau members at each Saturday market; these can be spent at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets.
KK’s Grubb Hubb food truck will be back this Saturday.
The following list contains the names and products of the vendors that expect to set up this Saturday. Other vendors may participate as well.
Cozy Baby Blessings (Nancy Cutter): Handmade baby essentials including crochet baby blankets and hats, flannel burp cloths, teethers and pacifier clips. Also crochet dishcloths and pot scrubbers, beaded pens, key chains and wax melts.
DSC Produce Farm (Darren Cox): Pickled baby beets back (limited quantities). Habanerra bacon salsa and ten other flavors. Sampling Blueberry vinaigrette dressing.
Edlynns Attic (Robin Dement): Homemade dog biscuits, yarn, loveys and other baby items, knit animal baskets, baking mixes, and popsicle cozies.
Engeti (Alana Walters): pies, cakes, cinnamon rolls, yeast rolls, bread, cookies, poptarts, and some plants.
Fiddle Dee Pet Sets (Ellie Wait): Over the collar bandanas and scrunchie bandanas for dogs and for humans, headbands and scrunchies to match the dogs.
Greens & Greenery (Katrina Bush): Rhubarb, potted vegetable and perennial plants, raw unpasteurized honey, strawberry/honey jam, sourdough crackers, buckeye candy.
Hostetter Kitchen (Melody Martin): white bread, butter rolls, iced cinnamon buns, zucchini and banana (tea) breads, granola, muffins, strawberry and rhubarb pies, whoopie pies, cheese and herb breads, cakes, buckeyes, baby beads.
Jim’s Premium Ground Beef (Jim Hobbs): Premium ground beef in assorted packages (patties, bulk tubes).
Julie G’s Cookies (Julie Greenslade): Chocolate chip, Cracker Jack, funfetti, ginger, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, peanut butter jumbos, peanut butter fudge, snickerdoodle, pineapple, salted caramel butter bars, lemon bars, sugar and macadamia nut cookies.
The Jam Man (David Persinger): Apple butter, peach flamingo, ginger pear, hot pepper jelly, hot.hot.hot. pepper jelly, rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, peach, strawberry, blackberry, cherry, triple berry, red raspberry, grape, seedless blackberry, seedless red raspberry, strawberry jalapeno, red raspberry jalapeno, peach habanero, pineapple habanero, No added sugar: strawberry, triple berry. Texas sheet cakes, with or without pecans.
The Pie Lady and S. Plymouth Raw Honey (Julie & Dennis Mosny): cinni mini’s, Buns Bars, Banana cake and cinnamon rolls. Strawberry rhubarb, rhubarb, strawberry, apple, peach and cherry pies.
Wood Designs by DW (Debbie Welch): One of a kind handcrafted wood items— birdhouses, signs, tables, gnomes. Crocheted items including kitchen towels, pot scrubs, pot holders, baby booties, and afghans. Will take custom and special orders.
Your Other Mother’s Kitchen (Don & Sara Creamer): bread, muffins, brownies, sewing crafts.
Bridge View Gardens (Hunter & Lorelle Rohrer): Fresh produce: fresh cut lettuce, radishes, spring onions, bedding and vegetable transplants, potted herbs and succulents. Mother’s Day flowers, vegetable and herb garden plants, succulents.
Katrina Bush is a vendor with the Fayette County Farmers Market.
