There are few who don’t eat tomatoes in one form or another, raw or cooked.
For those who like them fresh and uncooked, right off the vine can’t be beat, be they of the small “pop in your mouth” cherry type, or the larger, eat like an apple/warm juice running down your chin variety.
Next best to right off the vine, is picking them out at the Fayette County Farmers Market! We see children choosing cherry and pear tomatoes, yellow and red, and eating them as they stroll through the market. Each year, the variety of tomatoes grows, with a wealth of heirloom and colorful tomatoes available. Outside of growing your own, the market is the go-to place for the best tomatoes.
Raw tomatoes for salsa, tomato bruschetta, salads of tomatoes and almost any other vegetable, including cucumber, green beans or corn, and featured with mozzarella or goat cheese. Cooked tomatoes are more nutritious, with more concentrated lycopene. Simply saute cherry tomatoes in olive oil with garlic and serve with fresh herbs. Or bake whole tomatoes with olive oil and garlic, and serve with pesto or cheese. And while a pasta sauce with tomatoes with lots of herbs is what many are familiar with, try tomatoes simply cooked in butter and served with pasta.
Tomatoes are mostly water, but still packed with a number of vitamins and minerals. Lycopene (a natural antioxidant) is what makes red tomatoes red. The redder the tomato, the more lycopene. So other than personal preferences, this is the only reason I can find to choose red tomatoes over yellow or green (which do not contain lycopene at all). And cherry tomatoes have much higher concentrations of lycopene than do the large tomatoes (think concentrated goodness)!
Randy and David of WCHC-TV will be at the Market again this week for the second monthly Facebook Live broadcasts coined “What’s happening at the Market today?” This live stream event can be viewed on the WCHC TV Facebook page starting shortly after 9 a.m. and is brought to you by the Fayette County Travel and Tourism Bureau.
The Market is open Saturday morning from 8:30 to 12 noon and is located in the municipal parking lot on the corner of South Main and East East streets in Washington C.H. 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.
The following list contains the names and products of the vendors that expect to set up this Saturday. Other vendors may participate as well.
Persinger Produce and Cottage Foods (David Persinger and Julie Mosny): The Jam Man will have ginger pear,peach flamingo, pineapple habanero, blackberry and blackberry seedless jams, red raspberry, black raspberry, strawberry, strawberry-rhubarb, and red raspberry jalapeno jams, hot pepper jelly, rhubarb, cherry, peach, blueberry, triple berry, and no sugar added peach, and seedless blackberry jam. Also white Texas sheet cake and zucchini bread. The Pie Lady will have local honey and cut comb. Pies: black raspberry, blackberry, cherry, rhubarb, strawberry rhubarb, peach, apple and strawberry pies. Baked goods: cinnamon rolls, Bun’s bars, cinni mini’s and oatmeal raisin cookies.
Waffle Barn (Kay Nicole Terry): unique waffles of homemade Liege dough (rather than batter) originating from Belgium.
Wood by DW (Debbie Welch): Wood crafts and sewn kitchen crafts.
Your Other Mother’s Kitchen (Don and Sara Creamer, 740-572-0134): Bread blueberry crisp, muffins, brownies.
AG Cutie Farms (A.J. and Grace Armintrout): Farm fresh eggs from right here in Fayette County.
Bellefield Flower Farm (Brook Waddell): mixed bundles and mason jar bouquets of sunflowers, asters, cosmos, zinnias, verbena, celosia, and more.
Bridge View Garden (Hunter and Lorelle Rohrer, 740-505-5125): Blackberries, slicing and cherry tomatoes, potatoes, onions, cucumbers, peppers, potted sunflowers.
Cozy Baby Blessings (Nancy Cutter): Hand poured wax melts, handmade earrings, crochet dish cloths and pot scrubbers. Handmade baby essentials including crocheted baby blankets and hats, flannel burp cloths, crinkle toys, infant bows and teethers.
Engeti (Alana Walters): Baked goods including dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cakes, pies, cookies.
Greens & Greenery (Katrina Bush): Sustainably grown seasonal produce, including tomatillos, green beans, and green onions. Fresh Baklava and fudgey brownies Sourdough crackers and sourdough pretzels. Local honey. Natural insect repellent.
Jim’s Premium Ground Beef (Jim Hobbs): Premium Ground Beef which includes steak, loins, chuck and brisket all in our ground beef, vacuum packed in 1#, 5# and patties 3/#.
Julie G’s Cookies (Julie Greenslade): Homemade cookies: oatmeal toffee bars, ginger, sugar, chocolate chip, double fudge brownies, snickerdoodle, Cracker Jack, peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter jumbos, lemon bars, salted caramel bars, fudge brownies, peanut butter no bakes, peanut butter fudge and funfetti cookies. Fresh garden produce.
Little Farmstead Flowers (Eicher family): Fresh cut sunflowers, zinnias, dahlias, cosmos and more, as well as some dried flowers, fresh cut herbs and succulents.
King Farms (Jeff and Sandi King): Super sweet corn, green beans, beets, red potatoes, Yukon Gold potatoes, zucchini.
