Tag Archives: Whole Foods

Market Customers Taste Local Farm Meats

Warm sunshine with sizzling local farm meats on the grill – it was the perfect combo for the official last weekend of summer at the Franklin Farmers Market. Grill Day at the FFM this past Saturday was a delicious way to bid summer goodbye, with a variety of local meats to sample and enjoy from our local meat farmers. The expertise of Chef Michael Martin of Whole Foods made everything extra tasty. Our friends at the Hearth and Grill Shop provided the Big Green Egg and Fire Magic Gas Grill to grill the local farm meats to perfection.

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Friends from Whole Foods

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Over 50 pounds of grilled meats

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Chef Michael

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Friends from Hearth & Grill Shop

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Veggies on a Fire Magic grill

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Grill Day

Everyone loved the tasty samples of beef, lamb, chicken and sausage from Bear Creek Farm, Peaceful Pastures, West Wind Farm, Triple L Ranch, River Cottage Farm and Hatcher Dairy Farm. Again, it was the absolute perfect way to say goodbye to summer and hello to football tailgating season!

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Grilled to perfection by Chef Michael

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Grilled local beef on a Big Green Egg

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Summer veggies still in market

Fall officially starts on Tuesday and there’s been a lot of people asking when the FFM will shut down for the year. The answer is we don’t – the Franklin Farmers Market is a year-round market. Our local farmers keep growing and while the variety of farm grown vegetables changes with the season, you can still enjoy the best of fresh food from local farms all throughout the winter. Plus with the cooler weather of fall, comes a whole lot of fun events and activities. Find out what’s coming up at the Franklin Farmers Market by taking a look at our Events page.

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Colorful Peppers from Bloomsbury Farm

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Sweet Cherry Tomatoes

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Fresh Basil

All of the colorful veggies and smiling faces at the FFM each Saturday make for some great photos. You should see the ones taken during Grill Day! Visit the market’s photo gallery to see what and who we snapped photos of this past Saturday.

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Pumpkin Roll from Norton Family Farm

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Collard and Turnip Greens

Grass Fed Meats Enjoyed by Local Market Customers

The delicious smell of grass fed meats grilling on a Big Green Egg just can’t be beat. It makes your mouth water and the taste buds crave a bite of whatever cut of meat is on the grill. Just ask anyone who was at the market. The Hearth and Grill Shop and Chef Michael Martin of Whole Foods got together and grilled tender cuts of beef, pork, chicken, lamb and sausage.

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Hayes & Stephen from Hearth & Grill Shop answered questions about the Big Green Egg and other grills best for grilling

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Chef Michael Martin of Whole Foods grilled over 50 pounds of local farm beef, chicken, pork and sausages

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Many customers had never sampled the great flavor of local Tennessee farm meats

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Market customers kept Chef Michael busy all market day

All of the local farm meats were provided by our meat farmers and free samples were handed out to enjoy. It was irresistible. You could not walk past the Grill Day tent without grabbing one of the grass fed meat samples to munch. Just goes to show that grass fed meats straight from the farm is the best. Our thanks to West Wind Farms, Peaceful Pastures, Triple L Ranch, Bear Creek Farm, River Cottage Farm, Hatcher Family Dairy and Beaverdam Creek Farm for contributing the local farm meats for the market’s Grill Day.  Jones Mill Farm provided the fresh baked kaiser buns and sourdough rolls with Moonshadow Farm supplying the Kenny’s Cheddar Cheese.

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Great tasting local meats

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Grilled beef slider with chopped Jalapeño and Kenny’s Cheddar cheese

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A tasty pork loin cooked to perfection!

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Certified Organically grown produce from Delvin Farms

What is it about the perfect summer day that makes everyone smile?  There was a whole lot of smiling going on at the FFM. After a week of steady rain, the sun finally decided to shine bright and fresh summer veggies were all over the market. Tomatoes and squash, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, onions and a whole lot more could be found, as well as the first of the blueberries and blackberries of the season. As we’ve said before, some farmers have crops just a little earlier than normal because of hoop house and row covers protecting their plants from cold weather and pests. But to know when your favorites will be ripe and ready at the market, you need to have a good idea of when peak season for their harvest takes place. We were glad to see so many of you stopping at the info booth to pick up a copy of Local Table, with its’ big seasonality chart to reference on harvest times for veggies and fruits.

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Fresh Blueberries from Pilgrims Produce

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Just picked Blackberries from Beaverdam Creek Farm

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Fresh squash and other produce from Paradise Farm

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Cucumbers from Napier Farm

All in all, with happy noses and smiling faces, it was a very good day at the market!  Be sure to check out our market day photos to see what went on at the Franklin Tennessee farmers market this past Saturday.

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Great tasting organic tomatoes from Delvin Farms have arrived!

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Farm fresh local produce from Beaverdam Creek Farm

Summer Farmers Market loaded with Fresh Vegetables

Every day at the farmers market is a good day, but at this time of the year, it’s even better with summer fresh vegetables from local Tennessee farmers. You can practically bet that every time the FFM is open, you’re going to find something new to eat. For example, the first blueberries of the season were at the market this past Saturday. And so were the first tomatoes. People were lining up, anxious to get a bite of real tomatoes and other fresh vegetables.

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Blueberries from Pilgrims Produce

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Organic tomatoes from Delvin Farms

Broccoli, squash, radishes, potatoes, lettuce, and herbs – it was all at the market. The warm Tennessee weather is really making the gardens grow providing some of the best fresh vegetables in recent years.

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Organic grown Broccoli from Delvin Farms

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Farm fresh zucchini from Kirkview Farm

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Multi colored carrots and radishes from Bloomsbury Farm

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Potatoes, peas and tomatoes from Pilgrims Produce

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Fresh picked herbs from Bloomsbury Farm

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Green beans right from the farm from Napier Farm

grill day slider2And a lot of you were getting ready for a big backyard grill out too, with tender cuts of meat from our farmers. If you have not tasted the beef, chicken, pork and lamb the FFM farmers have, you don’t know what you’re missing. Next Saturday, you’ll get your chance to find out what we’re talking about. On June 14th, the Hearth and Grill Shop and Chef Michael Martin of Whole Foods will come together for Grill Day at the Franklin Farmers Market. This is your chance to taste the best meat you’ll ever find and it’s all from the local meat farmers at the FFM. Big Green Egg Grills, the choice of grill masters everywhere will be used for the beef, pork, chicken, lamb and sausage seasoned and seared to perfection by Chef Michael.

Once you’ve tasted what our local farms have, you’ll know why meat from the FFM is so popular.  You can view market pictures here.

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So we’ll say it again – this is the time of the year when there’s something delicious and new to eat every week at the market… Wonder what you’ll find next Saturday?

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Sweet farm carrots are a healthy snack at the FFM

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Beautiful yellow squash from Kirkview Farm

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Farm Fresh Eggs from Moon Shadow Farm

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Beautiful Sun Flowers grace market Saturday

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Fresh veggies from Beaverdam Creek Farm

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Cucumbers and Green onions from Napier Farm

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Nineteenth-Century French heirloom carrots from Bloomsbury farm are a favorite of gourmet chefs

Farmer Market Meats, Fresh Vegetables and Apple Cider great for Fall Football Tailgating

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Apples!  Apples!  Apples!  So many varieties to choose from!

We’ve got to say, this past Saturday at the Franklin Farmers Market was just right… beautiful blue skies, perfect weather and the absolute best of fresh food from local farms. Who could ask for anything more? The first official day of fall is actually next Sunday, but the delicious food of the season is starting to come into the market now. Crisp apples and apple cider, root veggies and squash – fall is definitely just around the corner.

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Beautiful just picked Squash from Rainbow Hill Farm

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Collard Greens from Norris Family Farm

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Fresh Apple Cider from Kirkview Farm

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Multi-colored peppers are still in good supply and great for grilling

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Fresh picked Apples from Rainbow Hill Farm, Apple Pie Anyone?

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Fresh picked Lettuces from Norris Family Farm

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Triple L Ranch Fresh Beef Ribeye’s

Or maybe we should call it something else besides fall. Maybe we should call it football tailgating season, because a lot of you are picking up beef, chicken, pork and more from the meat farmers now. The market is the place for meats and veggies to be outdoor grilling before the football games.

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Grilling Triple L Ranch Ribeye’s on a Big Green Egg

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Fall Football Tailgating with Farm Fresh Beef , Chicken and Pork Delivers unmatched Flavor!

And there was a lot of talk about scarecrows at the market this past Saturday too. The Invasion of the Scarecrows takes place on October 19th, with lots and lots of scarecrows taking over the Franklin Farmers Market. It’s a big day of family fun, with a free pumpkin patch for the kids and much more. Look for more details soon. The Invasion of the Scarecrows is brought to you by the Williamson Medical Center.

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Finally, this past Saturday was also a great day at the market’s Growing Kids Educational Garden. While the kids have gone back to school and the garden classes are over for the year, there’s a lot that needs to be done to put the garden to bed for the winter. And the community team from Whole Foods came out and took a big step in helping us get the garden cleaned up and ready to grow next spring. From pulling up weeds to taking out dead veggie plants, our friends from Whole Foods did a great job on the garden.

So we’ll say it again… all in all, this past Saturday was just right!