Summer is winding down, humid hot days replaced with crisp nights and foggy mornings and days filled with cool breezes and sunshine-filled blue skies. And with the wane of the summer comes the wane of summer produce. Here and there at market these past two weeks, I've heard farmers tell of the "last of"s. The last of the plums and peaches, the last of the patty pan squash and blackberries.
But never fear! The end of summer is only the beginning of fall (my FAVES!). I hear more and more "til frost"s. There will be eggplant until first frost, and peppers. And coming on? Winter squash of every variety (butternut, acorn, crookneck), beautiful multi-colored corn, pawpaws, pumpkins, funny lookin' gourds, ground cherries, and still, tomatoes and peppers until you're drowning in salsa and sauce! Ah, we are blessed.
I wanted to let y'all know about the fun that is coming up at the farmer's market this month!
First of all, the Athens Farmer's Market is kickin' it every Wednesday and Saturday from 10am-1pm. It is so good to see you all there!
Second, come check out the market next Saturday, September 12 for the
Toyota Hybrid Farm to Table Tour. There will be up to 12 chefs from all of your favorite restaurants (Casa Nueva included!) that are paired up with farmers (and their products) from our wonderful market doing cooking demonstrations and giving out free samples of delicious foods! This is a great opportunity to experience the endless possibilities of recipes that can be concocted from foods that you can buy seasonally and locally from our market. You can also meet the chefs and the vendors and learn all about their products. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to test drive Toyota's third generation Prius or 2010 Highlander Hybrid; really, it doesn't get more fun. This tour has been to markets all over the country, and we are happy to have been selected and we welcome them!
The next fun event on our market plate is on Saturday, September 19.
The Friends of the Athens Farmer's Market will be putting on the
"Squash It!" cooking contest. Wanna enter the contest? You can make a sweet or savory dish with any type of farmer's market squash you can find. For more details, visit the Friends table at the market!
Last year's contest was a real smash...And finally, this is not a market event, but some info and a shout out! One of our vendors,
Integration Acres, is a major sponsor of the
Ohio Pawpaw Festival. This event will be on September 19-20 at Lake Snowden; as a result,
Casa Nueva will not be vending at the farmer's market on Saturday, September 19. Stop on by after the
Squash It! cooking contest!
Casa will also not be at market on Wednesday, September 23, as we will be debuting our
Autumn menu. Come celebrate the autumnal equinox that day after 5:00pm to experience some delicious new menu items that include products from
Shew's Orchard, Cherry Orchards,
Integration Acres,
King Family Farm,
Green Edge Gardens,
The Herbal Sage, Shade River Farm and more!
Coming soon... pics of autumn harvest! As the leaves turn shades of bright orange, yellow and crimson, we look forward to seeing you every Wednesday and Saturday at the Athens Farmer's Market!
The Toyota Farm to Table Tour was a huge success! Our chefs did an amazing job preparing food! Zoe, Salaam, China Fortune, Casa Nueva, Tigers and Strawberries, Jana's Soul Food Cafe and many more (please comment on those folks I didn't mention!) It was awesome to see all of our chefs dressed up and preparing food for our community. They looked hot!
I feel so much pride to have seen everyone's menus made with products from our local producers and farmers from the market! So many creative ideas from rabbit to pork belly to lamb, combined with fresh tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and herbs. GO ATHENS COUNTY CHEFS AND PRODUCERS! You made us all so proud!
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