Support a Farmer for Earth Day

From the Earth comes our food – with the help of farmers and the grace of God. As if by miracle, from that tiny seed grows the food that feeds and sustains us. A tentative wiggle and a push and…poof! Life bursts forth sending leaves up and roots to snake down through the soil and find water and nourishment.

Lets celebrate our bountiful planet by being kind to it. Replenish it. Heap goodness upon it and demonstrate to our children how its done.

Perhaps it is time to start that garden as a way to celebrate Earth Day. Any size garden – even your little pot of lettuce – will reflect your care and eventually become food. Contemplate digging up a little patch in your yard and turning in some compost. Scan your flowerbed for an empty spot that can produce a little food to feed your belly or some flowers to feed your soul.

When you visit your favorite Tailgate Market, pick out a few veggie plants for

Purple Haze Carrots

your garden and pop them in the ground. Get it going! I am late getting my own garden in, but there is still plenty of time to plant a really productive garden, Don’t hold back. Every farmer out there has bedding plants for sale. Laura Bower already has her tomato poster up showing all the different kinds of tomatoes she has for sale. Herbs too.

Not planning on gardening? No way, no how!? Then go to the Tailgate Market and buy something delicious to eat – something that comes to us with mountain soil clinging to its roots. Support a farmer for Earth Day!

More Weekend Tailgate Market Openings!

Saturday is coming right up – with at least two market openings, and another market opening on Sunday.

The North Asheville Tailgate Market opens this Saturday, April 14, from 8-12. The market takes place in a parking lot at UNCA and the woodsy setting makes it one of the prettiest markets around the area. Many loyal customers visit this market every week.

The Haywood Historic Farmers’ Market also opens this Saturday, April 14, from 8-12 at 250 Pigeon Street (276S) in Waynesville. You may also recognize their location as the Hart Theatre parking lot. This market is also open every Wednesday in the same location from 8-12.

This Sunday, April 15, the Marshall Island Farmers Market opens from 12-4 (sometimes called Sundays on the Island). This market has a unique setting on an island in the French Broad River that is just a stone’s throw from the County Courthouse in downtown Marshall. Marshall High Studios is also on the Island, so you might be able to visit the artist studios while you are there too.

Other Saturday Markets already open: Remember that the Asheville City Market (161 S. Charlotte St.) is already open on Saturdays from 8-1. So is the Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market – on Saturdays from 9-1 (located on Highway 213, Mars Hill College campus, Mars Hill). You can also catch the Dillingham Family Farm Winter Market on Saturday from 10-1 (on Dillingham Road in Barnardsville).

I visited the West Asheville Tailgate Market this past Tuesday. Vendors were out in force and there were plenty of customers throughout the afternoon. I showed up hungry (big mistake!) so everything looked extra-delicious. Salad greens, greens, meats, cheeses, baked goods, and veggie & herb plants were plentiful. I also spotted duck eggs, baby fir trees, and Japanese maples. The wind was crazy and it actually demolished Ron Gagliano’s pop-up tent. Other vendors were holding down their tents during gusts, while bits of acoustic music floated across the wind – for all of us to enjoy.

And remember all of the Wednesday Markets too…French Broad Food Coop Wednesday Market, Wednesdays from 2-6:30, 76 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville;  Haywood Historic Farmers Market, Wednesdays & Saturdays from 8-Noon, Waynesville, 250 Pigeon Street (276S), Hart Theatre parking lot;  and Weaverville Tailgate Market, Wednesday from 2:30-6:30, upper parking lot above Lake Louise in Weaverville, Merrimon Avenue.

Show up and give our farmers a warm welcome! They have been battling the danger of frost most of the week. We are looking at a nice warm spell starting Friday, so buy some transplants from the farmers and plant your own little garden.

LOCAL Food is Back!

NEWSFLASH! Your favorite tailgate market is either open right now, it opens this week, or will open very soon. Hard-core tailgate market lovers have been attending various wintertime markets, BUT it is time to rescue those market baskets from the back of the closet. Make a note of the market times on your calendar or phone, and revel in this gorgeous spring. Get outside and welcome the farmers back with enthusiasm and start another season of good eating!

What’s open already?

Asheville City Market, Saturdays from 8-1, 161 S. Charlotte Street, Asheville, accepting EBT, Debit & Credit Cards

Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market, Saturdays from 9-1, on Highway 213, Mars Hill College campus, Mars Hill, accepting EBT, Debit & Credit Cards

French Broad Food Coop Wednesday Market, Wednesdays from 2-6:30, 76 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville

Dillingham Family Farm Winter Market, Saturdays from 10-1, Dillingham Road in Barnardsville

 

Opening Tuesday, April 10 (that’s tomorrow!):

West Asheville Tailgate Market, Tuesdays from 3:30-6:30, 718 Haywood Rd., West Asheville, Grace Baptist Church parking lot, one block east of Brevard Road, accepting EBT, Debit & Credit Cards.

 

Opening Wednesday, April 11:

Weaverville Tailgate Market, Wednesday from 2:30-6:30, upper parking lot above Lake Louise, Merrimon Avenue

 

Opening Saturday, April 14:

North Asheville Tailgate Market, Saturday from 8-Noon, parking lot at UNCA, Asheville

Haywood Historic Farmers Market, Wednesdays & Saturdays from 8-Noon, Waynesville, 250 Pigeon Street (276S), Hart Theatre parking lot

 Opening Sunday, April 15:

Marshall Island Farmers’ Market, Sundays from 12-4, on the island across the river from downtown Marshall, Sundays, 12-4

Wednesday FBFC Market Opens Today

It’s starting…another Tailgate Market season. Hallelujah.

Visit the French Broad Food Coop Wednesday Tailgate Market at 76 Biltmore Avenue in the Build It Naturally parking lot from 2-6:30 starting today – Wednesday, April 4.

As well as vegetables (especially early greens and lettuces), you will find seafood, meats, cheeses, breads & baked goods, eggs and other wonderful treats.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/French-Broad-Food-Co-op-Wednesday-Tailgate-Market/155698901169392?ref=ts

CSA Fair Today at Grove Arcade

If you are contemplating buying a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), and want a chance to check out many farms in one place…attend the CSA Fair today from 3-6 at the Grove Arcade (Thursday, March 29, 2012).

This is a great opportunity to check out many farms very conveniently.Meet the farmers, and talk to them about their Community Supported Agriculture program and how it works. Then figure out which farm most appeals to you. The Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project is sponsoring this fair to make it easy for farmers and potential CSA shareholders to connect.

What is a CSA? It stands for Community Supported Agriculture and this is how it works. Usually each family purchases a share that allows you to receive a weekly (usually) share of the farmers harvest throughout the season. Sometimes people get together and split a share. As the season progresses, your weekly allotment will become more and more diverse as the growing season moves forward. CSA shareholders often have the option to receive eggs and meat, and even flowers, as part of your CSA. Visit the CSA Fair, determine which farm you want to buy your share from, and get ready to enjoy a season of delicious, homegrown local food!

As a share recipient, you will share in the bounty of the harvest all season long. If a crop is showered by hale or otherwise harmed, you will also experience the farmer’s loss of that crop – until it can be replanted. You and your family will become very attuned to the special treats each part of the growing season offers…from strawberries to tomatoes to collard greens and apples.

Carolina Ground & Annie’s Naturally Bakery

In conjunction with attending the Asheville Artisan Bread Festival at AB Tech, many festival go-ers swung by the old Square D building in West Asheville to see the new wholesale production facility of Annie’s Naturally Bakery’s and to glimpse Carolina Ground’s new mill. Annie Ritota (owner of Annie’s bakery) and her husband Joe are both very genuine people who are full of heart. They love

The Mill, Carolina Ground

their new baking facility and (once they sell their home in Sylva) they plan to move to the Asheville area. Right now they have a very long daily commute. We wish them all the best!

The mill at Carolina Ground is up and running after various electrical snags. It is an absolutely beautiful piece of machinery that was hand-made in Austria. Jennifer Lapidus, director of the North Carolina Organic Bread Flour Project, was busy showing folks around and explaining the workings of the mill. As one of the many Kickstarter donors to the mill project, I came home with a bag of Turkey Wheat Flour…freshly ground by the new mill! I can’t wait to bake some bread with it.

This was followed by a delightful dinner of fabulous food and exuberant conversation.

Jennifer Lapidus in front of various grains that are waiting to be milled. The grain was raised organically by Kenny Haines in Eastern NC.

Jennifer Explaining How the Mill Works

ARTISAN BREAD FEST 2012 Moves to AB Tech

Bread lovers alert! Where can you find all the best bakers in the area in one place at one time? The Artisan Bread Festival! The eighth ASHEVILLE ARTISAN BREAD FESTIVAL will be held this Saturday, March 24, 2012. This is your chance to sample and buy breads from area bakers, AND attend hands-on workshops and lectures about artisan baking, milling, and wheat itself. The fest happens from 9am to 6pm, with the bread tasting & sale from 10 – 2, and workshops from 10 – 4. Everything will be held at AB Tech in the Magnolia Building, with an Open House and a Bakers Guild Dinner to follow the event at 128 Bingham Road (see details for the Bread Fest, Open House, and Dinner below).

Asheville Artisan Bread Festival - Collage from their Website

 BREAD TASTING & SALE

10-2 at the Magnolia Building on the AB Tech Campus

Please note AB Tech location! Last year this part of the festival was held at Greenlife Grocery. The bakers will be selling only at AB Tech this year.

This is your chance to SAMPLE and BUY lots of amazing breads…and meet the bakers behind the bread. Buy a loaf and get a ticket to one of the Bread Fest Classes while supplies last.

Featured Bakeries in 2012 are:

Annie’s Naturally Bakery

Braken Mountain Bakery

Bread Technique

Brother Moon Bakery

City Bakery

Hillside Bakery

Farm & Sparrow Bakery

Flat Rock Village Bakery

Loaf Child Bakery

Riverblaze Bakery

Stick Boy Bakery

Tellico Grains Bakery

Wake Robin Farm Breads

West End Bakery

Wildflower Bakery

Author Treska Lindsey will also have a booth selling her wonderfully written and illustrated book – “How Batistine Made Bread”.

HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS & LECTURES

10 am to 4 pm at AB Tech (mostly)

The theme of this year’s festival is “Local Grain, Local Flour, and Local Bread”; the festival will feature experts on local grain production, milling, and baking with local and heirloom wheat. How do you attend a class? Tickets are required for all workshops, and online ticket sales have ended. BUT (and this is one of the ultra-cool aspects of this event) when you buy a loaf of bread from a baker, you will receive a free ticket to attend one of the classes. You may not be able to choose which class, but any of the classes will be fabulous for bread-enthusiasts who want to improve their baking skills. You have a great chance of attending Peter Reinhardt’s class on Gluten-free baking because the classroom can accommodate 150 people. Check out the class schedule and a mouth-watering slide show of the Bread Fest at: http://www.ashevillebreadfestival.com/

OPEN HOUSE ~ 4:30 to 6:30

Carolina Ground Mill & Annie’s Naturally Bakery

128 Bingham Road, Suite 350, Asheville 28806 (the former Square D facility)

In conjunction with the Asheville Artisan Bread Festival, Carolina Ground http://ncobfp.blogspot.com/ will have an open house at their newly running flour mill. This beautiful mill will grind flour for local artisan bakers, specifically organic grain that was raised right here in North Carolina. Plus Annie’s Naturally will be celebrating their expansion in the same building – a new wholesale and production facility at the former Square D plant at Bingham Road. Directions link.

GUILD HALL DINNER

There will be a Bread Bakers Guild of America Guild Hall Dinner starting at 6:30 in the same building as Carolina Ground and Annie’s (128 Bingham Road, Suite 350, Asheville 28806). The dinner costs $30, includes wine and beer, and will be catered by the Culinary Commandos (recommended by Mark Rosenstein). There are a limited number of seats that are mostly full…so if you want to attend, arrive early and take your chances on getting a ticket.