Grand Opening This Saturday!

This weekend will be the 2012 Season Grand Opening for the Sanford Farmers' Market!  The weather looks beautiful for tomorrow, and we have lots of special guests and events planned.

From you local farmers at this weekend's farmers' market:

McDougal Orchards will be bringing cider donuts, rhubarb and a few lucky early customers will be able to snag the first cucumbers of the season!  Woolever Farm will have lamb, pork, yarn, fleece and a pelt.  Russel Springs Farm will be bringing fresh lettuces, endive, Swiss chard and bok choi.  Stonefield Farm will have jams, jellies, aprons, perennials, watercolors, raspberry brownies, scones and whoopie pies.  Flying Goat Farm will have goats' milk cheeses and goats' milk yogurt, and a few cuts of chevon.

In addition to the local fare from the farmers, this weekend we will be having live music, a raffle, and a special tent with kids' activities including farm story readings, coloring contest, and sidewalk chalk coloring.  Boomer from the Sanford Mainers will be making an appearance, and Flying Goat Farm and Woolever Farm will be bringing some baby farm animals for a market visit.

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow!

Week Three



The French Connection Restaurant in Springvale, ME

The Sanford Farmers Market: Week 3






Have you sampled the food from the French Connection Restaurant yet? Well, if you stop by the Sanford's Farmers Market, you'll find baked goods, sandwiches, wraps, coffee and more. The Chicken Wrap with arugula pesto is very tasty and the Ham Garden Wrap is surprising good with the added crunch of baby turnips. 

Baked goods from the French Connection














Bob's Bargain Plants offers a variety of house plants, herbs and perennials.
Last week, Bob had flowering strawberry plants ready to produce berries in your garden.

Bob's Bargain Plants

Russell Springs Farm returned to the market with a variety of lettuces.

Who doesn't want fresh lettuce this time of year? Russell Springs Farm brought hydroponic lettuce to the market on Saturday. Stop by and talk to Dave about his unique growing system.

You may think of apples when you see McDougal Orchards but if you arrive early to the market you might get the season's first hoop house cukes. 

Apple cider donuts made by Captain Jack McAdam of McDougal Orchard are always a hit at the market. With a hint of cinnamon, these mini size donuts melt in your mouth. Yum!

Collections by Joanne is one our new vendors.

If you're looking for a great piece of jewelry or a gift idea Collections by Joanne may have what you're looking for. Joanne offers necklace pendants, Pandora type beads, and photo cards.






 Flowers by the Roadside has a wonderful selection of perennials and potted flowers.

Saturday will be the markets Grand Opening in Central Park with our regular and new vendors. Stop by with the whole family for fun activities. Farm stories read to kids by local teacher, petting zoo with young goats from Flying Goat Farm, coloring contest, sidewalk chalk colorings, raffles and more. Special guest from Sanford Sound, Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's Science program and the Back Street Grill. It's sure to be a great morning in the park. Hope to see you there.

Like us on Facebook and get a chance to win $100 of market bucks!
http://www.facebook.com/SanfordFarmersMarket


We'd love to know how you like our new location. ~Diane

Week Two at the Sanford Farmer's Market

May 12, 2012

 Sanford Farmer's Market is the place to be on Saturday morning!


Flying Goat Farm

Saturday was a beautiful day. Not only was the sun shining brightly after what has seemed like two long weeks of rain, but it was a great day to stroll through Sanford's Farmer's Market in Central Park. By 8:00am shoppers were eager to find their favorite vendors and to investigate what the new vendors had bought to the market. You were sure to find something among the 14 vendors.

Goat cheese with chives ready to sample

It was worth the stop at Stone Field Farm for homemade jams and baked goods. 

Jams and Jellies from Stone Field Farm



Blueberry Scones and blueberry muffins, Yum!





Two Toad Farm bought mixed salad greens, salad turnips, radishes, and vegetable seedlings.


Two Toad Farm-Certified Organic Vegetables



Have you tried the salad turnips?



Vegetable seedlings have been a popular buy at the market

 Evergreen Nursery had many seedlings to choose from. Stop by and ask Chuck about Charlie's Mortgage tomato plants. They may be a sure winner in your garden this summer.


Chuck will be happy to talk to you about his many varieties of tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and more.

Annette's Gardens has many types of perennials to add to your garden. She also offers handmade pottery and ceramics. 

hostas, daylillies and more

 






Handmade hemp jewelry and blown glass by Late Light Farm

 Late Light Farm offers veggies, eggs, wool fleeces, blown glass, hemp jewelry, and dream catchers.

 













The Krafty Krafter was one of our new vendors on Saturday. Shirley Richer-Woodman had great Mother's Day gifts.


So many beautiful bags to choose from



Shirley offers hand bags, totes, change purses, cell
 phone bags, scarves and more.

Wool Ever Farm sells sheep products such as yarn and fleece.

Wool Ever Farm, new to the market on Saturday had fresh pork to offer. They will also offer yarn, fleece, sheep’s milk soap, and dairy products.












 
Maple Berry Farm's first day brought

Maple Berry Farm

blueberry jam, apple butter and baked goods. Stop by and sample the apple butter, it is delicious!



New additions to the market next Saturday will be hydroponic lettuce from Russell Springs Farm and baked bread and pastries from The Brothers in Alfred.

 There will be a container garden demonstration by Evergreen Nursery. Stop by and see how you can grow a garden in a patio container. Hope to see you at the market!

Did you stop by the market last Saturday?

What did you like at the market?

Diane

Opening Day 2012!

The Sanford Farmers' Market is opening for our 2012 season this Saturday, May 5, at 8:00AM!

We are moving to Central Park on Main Street in Sanford this year.  Vendors will be setting up on the School Street side of the park and plenty of parking is available close by at the Mid Town Mall.

We are excited to have some new vendors joining us this year, and are going to try to do a much better job at keeping everyone up to date with the farmers' market through this blog!

For Saturday, May 5th, some of our market offerings will be....

...salad and lettuce mix, asparagus, baby turnips, green garlic, radishes, and certified organic veggie seedlings from Two Toad Farm.

...jams and jellies, rhubarb, raspberry and rhubarb plants from Stonefield Farm.

...cider donuts and rhubarb from McDougal Orchards.

...free range eggs from Once Again Farm.

...goat cheeses, goats' milk yogurt, and goat meat from Flying Goat Farm.

...seed starts from Evergreen Nursery.

...perennials from Flowers by the Roadside.

We are looking forward to starting our season!  See you on Saturday!

Vote for Your Favorite Farmers' Market

The American Farmland Trust is running a contest to raise national awareness for local farmers' markets. You can visit America's Favorite Farmers' Markets website to learn more about the contest, as well as the "No Farms, No Food" message that the Farmland Trust is spreading.

You can also vote for your favorite farmers' market(s). You don't have to pick just one, if you visit more than one, vote for both!

July 17, 2010

For Saturday July 27, 2010:

More things are starting to come into season! This week at our market:

McDougal Orchards: New this week- tomatoes, apples and cucumbers!

Stone Field Farm: beets, green beans, lettuce, rhubarb, whoopie pies, scones, raspberry brownies.

Flying Goat Farm: all varieties of chevre (pesto, chive, roasted garlic, plain), feta, bread, granola. Flying Goat Farm will be running a goat kid naming contest this week!

Other vendors still have perennial plants, cut flowers, eggs, goats' milk soap, and organic produce! Come see us tomorrow morning!

What do I do with THAT?

With the arrival of summer, I am going to try to post a weekly feature on our Market blog detailing some ideas on how to use seasonal produce. Often at Market, farmers are asked, "What do I do with it?" in regards to particular produce, and I'm going to try to help answer that question.

This week's feature: Bok Choy.

Bok Choy (also referred to as pak choi), is a variety of Chinese cabbage. It is most often found as seen above in a mature plant form with white, succulent stems, and dark green leaves, or as baby bok choy, in which the stems are still green, and the entire plant is smaller "baby" size. Both types have a fresh, crisp, sweet, flavor, sometimes compared to celery, but without the stringiness. I, personally, think bok choy is much sweeter than celery, and have never found it to have the almost bitter tang of some celery stalks.

So, what do you do with it?

Bok choy is delicious in any kind of stir fry. The entire plant can be chopped and cleaned and added to the stir fry towards the end of the cooking, in order to maintain the delicious crunch of the stalks. It is also a great addition to filling for spring rolls or egg rolls, and can be used in place of the cabbage component.

Recently, we have discovered a delicious Thai side dish made from bok choy. This would be excellent served along side a teriyaki style meat, or is an excellent light lunch served over rice.

Bok Choy with Lime Dressing

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp oil (vegetable, sesame, or peanut oil work well)
• 3 fresh red chillies (if you don't like spicy food, you may substitute red bell pepper)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 spring onions (scallions) sliced
• 2 bok choy, chopped
• 1 Tbsp (or more!) chopped peanuts dressing:
• 2 Tbsp lime juice (approximately 1.5 limes)
• 1-2 Tbsp fish sauce (mushroom sauce may be substituted for vegetarian option)
• 1 cup coconut milk

Make the dressing:

Mix lime juice and fish sauce in a bowl. Be sure to add fish sauce slowly- it has strong flavor, and if you haven't used it before, you may want to try a little at a time. Going light on the fish sauce will not detract from the deliciousness of this dish! Gradually whisk in the coconut milk.

Heat oil in a wok. Stir fry the chillies for 2-3 minutes until crisp. Remove chillies from the oil and transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon. Add garlic to wok and stir fry for 30-60 seconds until golden brown. Remove garlic from wok with a slotted spoon and transfer to the plate with the chillies. You have now flavored the cooking oil.

Stir fry the white parts of the green onions for 2-3 minutes, then add the green parts and stir fry for 1 more minute. Transfer to the plate.

Bring a large pan of lightly salted water to a boil. When the water is boiling, add the bok choy, stir it twice, then drain immediately.

Put the bok choy in a serving bowl, and add dressing. Sprinkle with fried chili mixture and crushed peanuts. This dish may be served warm or cold.