Monthly Archives: June 2014

Locally Grown Tomatoes now in Market

If you had to pick between getting some delicious fresh, locally grown tomatoes or staying out of the rain, which would you do? Apparently, quite a few of you would pick the tomatoes, along with all the other good food at the Franklin Farmers Market.

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Heirloom Tomatoes from Evans Produce

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Allenbrooke Farms fresh picked tomatoes

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Deb ringing in the start of market at 8am

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Organic grown tomatoes from Delvin Farms

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Beaverdam Creek Farm delicious tomatoes

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Delvin Farms CSA

This past Saturday, there was two or three rain showers that hit, but that didn’t stop anyone from visiting the market. After all, there were a lot of summer veggies and fruits at the FFM, ripe and ready to eat and enjoy. There were locally grown tomatoes that tasted like a tomato should and fresh green beans too. Cucumbers, squash and okra were plentiful, along with tender lettuce, peppers and potatoes – there was a really big selection of fresh vegetables to choose from.

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Kids loving veggies!

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Rainy day fun!

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Fresh picked Green Beans from Colvin Family Farm

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Rainbow Hill Farm Squash and Brocolli

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Beaverdam Creek Farm cucumbers, garlic and onions

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Sweet farm carrots from Pilgrims Produce

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French Heirloom Fingerling Potatoes from Allenbrooke Farms

And for berry lovers, there were lots of blackberries and blueberries. Plus sweet juicy peaches too! All of that good food put some big smiles on lots of faces. Check out the market’s photo gallery and see what we mean.

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Fresh picked Blackberries 

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Blueberries, blueberry syrup and jam from Blue Honey Farm

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Volunteers serving up chocolate bread french toast from Jones Mill Farm

A lot of you also enjoy getting a bite of the French toast samples at the FFM. The sweet treat was made from the “secret recipe” chocolate bread of Jones Mill Farms, Hatcher Dairy milk, Moonshadow Farm eggs and topped with honey from Johnson’s Honey Farm or blueberry syrup from Blue Honey Farm. It was a tasty example of what can be made with ingredients from the market. Several of you also picked up a copy of the FFM’s “Eating in Season” cookbook, which is packed with recipes made from the fresh food at the market. The “Eating in Season” cookbook is available every Saturday at the FFM Info booth at the front of the market for just $15 plus tax.

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Fresh veggies from Allenbrooke Farms

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Fresh cut sunflowers from Beaverdam Creek Farm

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Market Recipe Cookbook

Franklin Tomato FestWith all of the tomatoes that were flying out of the market this past Saturday, it was real easy to see that locally grown tomatoes are at the top of the list when it comes to summertime veggies. That’s why we celebrate with the FFM’s annual TomatoFest. Mark your calendars for July 26th and look for more details on TomatoFest later this week!

And don’t forget to check out the Franklin Farmers Market Photo Gallery to see if you see yourself, family or friends.  It was a wonderful day at the market with so many new fresh veggies coming to our farmers market.

Happy 4th of July everyone!!!

Farm Fresh Tomatoes now Arriving

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Kelley’s Berries now selling Blackberries and Blueberries

Whew! It was a hot one at the market this past Saturday, but it didn’t seem to matter much as there was quite the crowd looking for those Tennessee farm fresh tomatoes, green beans and delicious blueberries. Who could blame them? There’s nothing like the taste of a real tomato – a tomato with a little bite to it that wakes up the taste buds and makes the mouth go mmmmm good!

Blueberries and blackberries were a big hit too. Lots of fresh berries and lots of baked goods made with those berries helped make the hot day a lot better.

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Outstanding crop of Blueberries from Kirkview Farm

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Kelley’s Blackberries, just beautiful!

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Fresh Green Beans

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Green fresh Bell Peppers

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Beaverdam Creek Farm fresh produce

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Fresh Made Pasta from City Pasta

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Fresh baked breads from Jones Mill Farm

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Fried Green Tomatoes anyone?

The fresh tomatoes at the FFM are just a preview of what’s to come. Soon, there will be a wide variety of tomatoes at the market that includes a big selection of tasty heirloom tomatoes. That’s a good enough reason for us to celebrate, so we will give the tomato the glory it deserves with our 2nd annual TomatoFest. Our good friends at Amerigo Restaurant have teamed up with us again for this salute to a summertime favorite.

More details are coming soon, but mark your calendar now for July 26th and TomatoFest!

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Certified Organic Tomatoes from Delvin Farms

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Allenbrooke Farm fresh picked produce

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Farm Fresh Produce

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Lovin’ a fresh green bean

One more thing – we noticed a lot of you doing the vogue-thing at the FFM this past Saturday as the market paparazzi roamed around snapping photos. Yeah, it was a hot day, but it was pretty cool to be seen at the Franklin Farmers Market. It looks like a lot of you like being a star in the market’s photo gallery. Did you get your picture taken? Is there a great photo of someone you know in the photo gallery?

 

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Delvin Farms organic squash and bell peppers

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Fresh Cucumbers taste so much better just picked

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Farm Potatoes

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

Market Fresh Vegetables Looking Great!

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Fresh squeezed Strawberry Lemonade anyone?

You know that old saying about the early bird getting the worm? It’s true because that’s what happened at the market this past Saturday. All the early birds got to the market when it opened at 8 and snatched up all of the fresh vegetables and strawberries. A couple of hours later and there wasn’t a strawberry to be found. Plenty of berries were brought to market. But when some fruit or veggies that everyone’s been craving all winter long shows up, it disappears in a hurry and that’s what happen to the strawberries. And it wasn’t just the berries – the same thing started happening with produce like fresh broccoli, sugar snap peas and squash.

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Bumper crop of Sugar Snap Peas

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Beautiful summer squash

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Beautiful Flowers from Bloomin’ Baskets

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Fresh cut flowers from Sue’s Farm

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Country Music at the Market

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Fresh lettuces from Zadok the Natural Farmer

Things settle out a bit once when we get further into the summer season, but right now, if there’s something you (and everyone else) have the big craving for, it’s best to get to the market early. Just ask the people who missed out on the strawberries.

You can tell the grilling season has started in earnest. There were a lot of folks at the market this past Saturday buying hamburger, steaks, pork chops and more to throw on the backyard grill at home. Who could blame them? There’s nothing like the sizzle of meat on a grill, especially when that meat came from one of our local farms. Store bought meat is no match to meat from a local farmer. Find out for yourself next Saturday at the FFM as we celebrate Grill Day. Chef Jeff Lunsford of the Hearth and Grill Shop will be preparing grilled samples of meat from all of our meat farmers.

Absolutely mouthwatering good!

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The dinning and music area is a popular spot

Finally, we spent this past Saturday at the market, doing one of our favorite things – people watching. From older couples to young “foodies”, you never know what you’re going to see at the market. Check it out for yourself.

Click here and visit the FFM photo gallery. Who knows… we might have caught you smiling at the market!

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Fresh baked cookies from Dozen

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Totty’s Bend Goat Farm Soaps oh so good for your skin