Our Produce department has carrots from the root cellars of two local farms!
How great is it to have local, winter storage crops in December?!?
Royalton Roots is a community organization that supports the South Royalton Farm-to-School program. Their third (!) annual supper, silent auction, and educational program takes place on Friday, October 21. Details below. Reservations recommended; we’ve sold out in the past! Tickets on sale at the Market.
Super :: Silent Auction :: Program
Two Seatings of Supper: 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm
Free program: 6:00 PM “Bringing Vermont’s Farm to Plate Initiative Home: A Local Vision of the Next Ten Years*”
Cost: $10 ($5 ages 12 and under) suggested donation
Location: Royalton School, 223 South Windsor Street, South Royalton
Supper is co-sponsored by Royalton Roots, South Royalton School and BALE (Building A Local Economy). Program in collaboration with First Branch Sustainability Network, Local Resource Network, and Pompanoosuc Agricultural Society.
Questions? E-mail: sorodinner@gmail.com or 802-498-8438
*with Erica Campbell, Program Director of Vermont’s Farm to Plate Initiative
Despite receiving considerable damage to their own farm in Royalton, Rachel and Jim Bigelow brought extra vegetables to the Market’s “Got Extra?” collection on Tuesday, September 6.
Rachel and Jim have been steady supporters of the “Got Extra?” program this summer, donating tens of pounds of fresh, locally grown garden vegetables. The Market, in turn, has delivered them to local food pantries for further distribution.
Thank you, Rachel and Jim, for your generous hearts and hands.
A note to anyone looking for sweet corn in quantity (to freeze, for example): Bigelow Farm’s sweet corn survived the flood and is ready to go. They have it in quantity. Sale of the sweet corn will help to offset their loss of field corn (winter feed for their dairy cattle).
Got Extra? is a community outreach program that delivers fresh, local produce to the local senior center and food pantries.
Our August collection brought in 135 pounds of summer squash, cabbage, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, wax beans and more. We thank the following farms, home gardeners and community gardeners for sharing their ‘extras’
The Market and the recipients are grateful for your generosity.
The zucchini, summer squash, and cucumbers love this hot weather. Before you get tired of eating them fresh, think about pickling them. Pickles can be made in the freezer or canned in a steam-bath.
You’ll find a special display of canning jars, caps, and vinegars near the registers. Deb, our bulk buyer, has received a good supply of spices, including pickling spice mix; red pepper flakes; and the mustard, celery, and dill seed.
Basic information on canning and freezing can be found at university extension education websites. Look for some recipe suggestions on the wooden table by the window in the Market’s Produce section.
If you have questions, feel free to e-mail Elizabeth Ferry, the Market’s Education & Community Outreach Coordinator, or catch her when she’s at the Market on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Here’s to summer!
During the summer growing season, the Market runs a community program called “Got Extra?” It is a play with three acts:
Our July collection delivered 75 pounds of cukes, zukes, broccoli, green beans, and more.
Thanks to our generous donors, all from Royalton: Bigelow Farm, Luna Bleu, and home-gardener Wendy Judge.
During the summer months, the Market sponsors a once-a-month local food collection. We call the program “Got Extra?”. Donations come from local farmers, gardeners, and shoppers (who make a purchase from the Produce Department and add it it to the basket).
Our first collection was Tuesday, June 21. We thank the following people for donating beautiful greens–lettuce, arugula, beet greens, garlic scapes:
And thanks to Dandelion Acres of Bethel for the seedlings for the Community Gardens!
The next collection is Tuesday, July 19. For more information, e-mail or call Elizabeth Ferry, Education & Community Outreach Coordinator at the Market: 763-2400 or soromarket@gmail.com
Local eggs are bountiful at this time of year. If you are looking for cooking inspiration from a fresh, local, in-season ingredient, eggs are the answer.
Some suggestions for recipes where the farm-fresh flavor comes through:
The Market’s coolers are well stocked with eggs–from ducks, pullets, and heritage and common breeds of chickens–from five local farms: Ducklilicious in Bethel, Cajun Moon in Bethel, Armstrong Farm in Randolph Center, Four Springs Farm in Royalton, and Luna Bleu Farm in South Royalton.
We have Vermont-grown apples in 11 varieties! This news carries extra meaning this year, as many growers had their crop ‘nipped in the bud’ when a late frost froze the apple blossoms in several locations. But fear not–from Macs and Cortlands to Honey Crisp, Gingergold, and Pitmaston Pineapple, we have them!
If you like to drink your apples, look for Champlain Orchards cider in the cooler.
“Got Extra?,” the Market’s summer fresh produce food drive, collected a total of 270 pounds of beautiful, delicious, and nutritious locally grown fruits and vegetables this year. The food was donated to three area food pantries: Journey Church (South Royalton), Sharon, and Tunbridge.
The Market serves as a drop-off center for donations. Market staffer Elizabeth Ferry sorts the food and coordinates deliveries to the food shelves.
The “Got Extra?” program, announced through posters at the Market, ran on July 27, August 24, and October 4. Donations ranged from lettuce, kale, and chard to tomatoes, cucumbers, broccoli, green beans, melons, summer and winter squash, corn, leeks, and more!
Food shelves are grateful. Here is a statistic that may surprise you. The Sharon Free Food Shelf is open twice a week. From July through September, 455 people came to the food shelf for help in meeting their food needs. And that’s just one of our three food pantries!
We thank the local growers and gardeners who participated, including: Chap Family Farm, Balla MacCrea, Fern Wood, and Luna Bleu farms; Sue Cain and Wendy Judge, each from Royalton, and Mark from East Randolph.
With help from the community, we’ll do it again next summer.
