There’s no doubt about it – y’all sure do love strawberries! This past Saturday was a quite literally a red letter day at the FFM. Our 3rd annual Strawberry Festival brought in droves of berry lovers. And the market was the place to be for all things strawberry. From strawberry cakes and jams to strawberry donuts, it was berry heaven.

Customers celebrating a bumper crop of fresh local strawberries

Local Tennessee families enjoy farm made strawberry short cakes

Fresh picked strawberries bring smiles

Ann dressed the part getting her some strawberries

Kelley’s Berries sold a record 2 truck loads of Strawberries

And there was the ultimate treat – homemade strawberry shortcakes. They were deliciously decadent. The shortcakes were made by Karen Norton of Norton Family Farms and the strawberries for the shortcakes came from Delvin Farms, Kirkview Farm and the Kelley’s Berry Farm. To top it all off was the sweet dollop of cream from Hatcher Family Dairy. It really was a strawberry lover’s dream come true.

Volunteers served up over 1,700 Strawberry Shortcakes

Yum! Fresh Stawberries with Norton Family Farm baked shortcake and Hatcher Family Dairy cream

Franklin First Lady Linda Moore can’t resist some strawberry shortcake

There was a lot of fun for the kids too, with the special Kids Game Zone. And of course, the Barnyard Petting Zoo was also a big hit.

We love animals!

My new beaded necklace!

The Petting Zoo was a popular stop for kids to see and pet their favorite animals

Our Strawberry Judges of the day

And what would a festival be without a little competition going on? First off was the competition for the strawberriest vendor booth at the FFM. Our honorary judges were Najahe Sherman, News2 WKRN-TV Weekend News Anchor, Linda Moore, the First Lady of Franklin and wife of Mayor Ken Moore, Claire Crowell, Puckett’s Director of Operations, and Greg Brown, CEO of Ford –Lincoln of Franklin, the presenting Sponsor of the FFM’s Strawberry Festival. It was their job to decide who had the best strawberry spirit going on and the winner they picked was Giraffe Works Studio, followed by Carol’s Soaps and Barkers Market.

Giraffe Works Studio took home 1st Place

Linda’s Soaps took home 2nd Place

Barkers Market took home 3rd Place

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers for baking, washing, cutting and serving yummy shortcakes

Then it was on to the big contest of the day – which farmer had the best tasting strawberries at the festival. It was a very tight, tasty-sweet competition. But when it was all over, Kelley’s Berry Farm walked off with the trophy.

Strawberry Festival Judges had the best job of tasting all the strawberry entries from local farms

Kelly’s Berry Farm took home 1st Place for best tasting Strawberries

Of course, all of the strawberries at the festival were fresh and sweet and before lunchtime. every last strawberry the farmers had brought to market had been snatched up and were gone. Like we said before, y’all sure do love strawberries!

To enjoy more of the Strawberry Festival you can see pictures of the day in our market Photo Gallery.

Our local farmers and artisans decorated their booths with Giraffe Works Studio winning First Place!

Organically grown Strawberries from Delvin Farms

May is always a good month at the Franklin Farmers Market. New produce coming into season, warmer temperatures and plenty of sunshine make it a good time to be outside. But one of the best things at the market in May is the colors – the fresh vegetables like purple asparagus, rich green broccoli or the eye-popping red of delicious strawberries. And then there are all of the flowers. It’s an explosion of the color spectrum, that’s absolutely beautiful. Even though this past Saturday started off cloudy, it was still a bright and colorful day at the FFM.

Beautiful Broccoli from Norton Family Farm

Fresh Picked asparagus,onions and kale from Delvin Farms

Brightly colored garden flowers from Kirkview Farm

Please, take me home and plant me!

A Teresa creation from Purple Tree Farm

Organic Fresh Farm Greens from Delvin Farms

Norton Family Farm fresh picked Kale

Beautiful Greens from Rocky Glade Farm

Beautiful Onions from Norton Family Farm

Lettuce Mix from Norton Family Farm

Somebody’s proud of her farm strawberries!

Local Market meats hot off the Big Green Egg smoker and grill prepared by Chef Jeff From Hearth and Grill Shop

May is also the time of year when outdoor grilling starts in earnest. Who can resist the delicious aroma of the perfect steak being grilled to perfection? We’re going to put you to the test next Saturday (May 17th) when grill master Chef Jeff Lunsford of the Hearth and Grill Shop comes to the market. Chef Jeff will be grilling delicious meats from the meat farmers at the market. It’s your chance to sample the tender cuts of beef, chicken, pork and lamb that our farmers have for you every Saturday. It will all be grilled to perfection on special grills from the Hearth and Grill s Shop, including on the Big Green Egg, the choice of grill masters everywhere.

And finally, there is one other thing that makes May so special. Strawberries are in season and at the market. Those perfect little red bites of sweet but tangy deliciousness mean that winter is definitely over. It’s enough to make you want to celebrate. So we’ll do just that at the market on May 24th with the FFM’s annual Strawberry Festival. It’s a great family day with games and the Barnyard Petting Zoo for the kids, plus incredible homemade strawberry shortcakes to munch on. These are not those prepackaged little imitation cakes found in grocery stores. These are sure enough real shortcakes, prepared by Karen Norton of the Norton Family Farm. All in all, It’s a deliciously fun day at the FFM, presented by our friends at Ford – Lincoln of Franklin and it’s just another reason why May is a very good month to be at the Franklin Farmers Market!