No Masking Our Joy
Black Earth Valley brought in their first tomatoes of 2020 last weekend
No Masking Our Joy
Throughout the struggles of 2020, we've held tightly onto the belief that no matter what restrictive measures we must take to make it happen safely, providing access to the farm fresh food is essential. Ten weeks into the 2020 season we can all say things aren't quite normal, but that desire for good food is as strong as it ever was. The first weekend in July brought us more of that joy in the form of the first blueberries from Flyte Family Farms. They were as tasty as ever, and reminded us that regardless of the hardships this year has put our way, little wonders like fresh blueberries can't be diminished. We look forward to more blueberries this week from Flyte's as well as JenEhr Family Farm.
The summer adventures are limited this year as well, but for many of us that has opened up new kitchen adventures to explore and find comfort in. Fresh corn & spinach tortillas (pictured) from Tortillas Los Angeles serve as the uncharted map of flavor to fill in with crisp summer lettuce, braised pork and fresh tomatoes. With new produce rolling in every week, their tortillas are fantastic to lay the base of any exploratory meal. The season of adventurous eating is opening up before us each week, with things like fresh zucchini from Emerald Meadows Family Farm & Don's Produce, and the first green beans from Happy Valley Farm. Despite the ongoing struggle against COVID-19, July has some great things for us to look forward to. Ten Eyck Orchard will return to the market in the next week or so with their first apples of the season, and Green's Pleasant Springs Orchard will be back soon too with their amazing field grown melons. While we can look forward to the great farm products coming into market this month, it remains more important than ever that we all keep up our efforts to fight COVID-19 by wearing a mask to market and sending just one person per household, along with following our other guidelines (listed below). A mask is such a minor inconvenience when the payoff is keeping our community safe and our access to farm fresh Wisconsin products open. See you at market! Ben Zimmerman Market Manager P.S. Check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates on the market as the season kicks off!
Double Dollars are Back!
The Double Dollars program has returned, starting Saturday, July 4th. FoodShare shoppers can get up to $25 matched each market. Swing by the Information Tent with your FoodShare card and our market staff can assist you. This season the Double Dollars are in the form of green plastic tokens. If you still have a few white paper Double Dollars, you can still spend those with our vendors. For the 2020 season, the Double Dollars program is hoping to run through August, depending on funding. After the Double Dollars program ends, the market will still accept FoodShare Dollars.
Master Gardeners Helpline
We wanted to pass along a great resource from our friends the Master Gardeners. While they can't come out to table at the market this season, UW Dane County Extension is maintaining its Horticulture Helpline with Master Gardener volunteers daily 5 days a week, 9am-12 noon. You can reach them by answering machine (608-224-3721) or by emailing your questions and your photographs to horticulture@countyofdane.com.
Shopping Safely This Season
Before you make your first trip to market, we'd like you to know what will be different for this season and we ask for your help in keeping things safe. We have an adjusted layout for this season, with single sided vendor aisles spread out with a gap between each vendor. Much like the grocery store, we're asking that foot traffic move in one direction through each market aisle, indicated by our yellow sandwich board signs. We ask you to please follow these directions and be patient as we all adapt to this different flow. As you shop the stalls, please mind the six foot spacing lines in front of vendors' tents. Give each other space to shop and don't crowd into vendor booths. While reusable shopping totes are not banned, if you're using your own bags, please do not ask vendors to pack them for you. Planning your market trip may be the easiest way to get what you need, while keeping the market safe. Many of our vendors will be offering pre-orders that you may place during the week for a quick pick up at their stall on Saturday morning. Below we'll detail what options for pre-order are available this weekend and we'll update that weekly as more vendors add that option. For what you can't pre-order, consider making a shopping list by vendor before you get to the market. Having a plan of action will speed things up and help you get what you need as quickly as possible. We know that these methods won't work for everyone, but those of you who can adapt will be helping everyone with your efficiency. We're also asking everyone to send just one person per household to the market, which will aid us in lowering the crowd count each week. You can also help out by altering your shopping time, consider coming early in the morning (we open at 7am) or later (open until 12:30pm) to lower the crowd pressure during the peak hours. These little adjustments can really help make things operate smoothly and ensure we don't become too crowded. We encourage you all to wear a mask too. Even a bandana is better than nothing and can help lower the risk of transmission. Wash your hands before you come to market, wash them when you get home and with our four handwashing stations set up around the market, you can wash them while you visit too.
Vendor Updates & Pre-Order Options
Our amazing vendors are providing options for your shopping these season. Find all the latest pre-order options and weekly market offering here. Check back each week for notices about pre-ordering, vendor absences and other special vendor notices. Blue Moon Community Farm's preorder program for seedlings has wrapped up for the season, however the remaining selection of their organic vegetable and herb seedlings will be available at their market stand. Chris & Lori's Bakehouse is offering the following for this weekend: * Flower and Cow Cutout Cookies * Chocolate Chip Sconuts * Vanilla Almond Scones * Coconut Dark Chocolate Scones * Rhubarb Oat Scones (last chance this year!) * Cinnamon Oat Scones * Blueberry Oat Scones * Whole Grain Dark Chocolate Chunk Scones * Whole Grain Cranberry Orange Oat Scones * Whole Grain Carrot Raisin Oat Scones * GF Vegan Mocha Scones * GF Vegan Raspberry Scones
All scones are $18/ Half Doz one flavor Or $30/ Doz one flavor
Email your order at CLBakehouse@gmail.com Orders due by noon on Thursday. Don's Produce will be offering bundles of their Arena grown, pesticide free, heirloom cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. They'll also be offering 5lb bags of their sweet potatoes. Door County Fruit Markets will not be joining the market for the 2020 season, but you can find their fresh Door County fruit at the Willy Street Co-op Grocery Stores. Dreamfarm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up by calling (608) 767-3442 or emailing diana@dreamfarm.biz Driftless Chocolates is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. Flyte Family Farm is offering pre-orders by calling (715) 228-2304 Fungi Farmers (formerly know as Herb n Oyster) are offering pre-orders through their website. Highland Spring Farm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. Honey Bee Bakery will be offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website. JenEhr Family Farm will be offering a great array of their farm fresh organic products, from fresh broccoli, salads greens and head lettuce to great pasture raised chicken for the grill. Madison Sourdough will be doing pre-orders only this weekend. Get your order in by Wednesday evening on their website. McCluskey Brothers Shillelagh Glen Farms is offering pre-ordering on their website.
Natalie's Garden & Greenhouse will be offering a weekly veggie box, available at the market, off the farm or for delivery. Each $25 box is packed with their great fresh produce. This weeks selection includes: Broccoli, Rainbow Swiss Chard, Sweet Candy Onions, Red Leaf Lettuce, Green Leaf Lettuce, Curly Kale, Kohlrabi, Summer Squash, and Zucchini. Check out their website for more information and to place your order. Open Kettle Farms is offering pre-orders of their maple syrup. Contact them on their Facebook page to order. ParKelm Farm is offering pre-orders for market pick-up on their website.
Block cheeses and curd from McCluskey Brothers Shillelagh Glen Farms
Connect with our Vendors!
This list of alternative means to get our vendors' products will grow as new offerings roll in. Please check back regularly and feel free to email Market Manager Ben if you're looking to connect with any vendor not listed. Vendor Purchasing Alternatives (PDF)
