Bloomsbury Farm was all Strawberry Red & Green!
The 7th annual Franklin Strawberry Festival was our largest one yet as we celebrate the market’s 15th anniversary with over 10,000 market customers who supported our farmers, and 6,000 quarts of strawberries sold! This has been a tough year for our strawberry farms with a hard freeze in April after plants set blooms and the recent wet weather that causes berries to deteriorate quickly. Despite the challenging growing season, our farmers were able to bring the best that they had. Some farmers had to send for help back at the farm for more berries to arrive, and within minutes even those were sold out. Our Strawberry Festival and market sponsor, Greg Brown, owner of Ford Lincoln in Franklin, made it possible for us to have such a large festival. Thank you, Greg!
Visit our Strawberry Festival Photo Gallery.
Market Director Amy Tavalin with our four “Best Tasting Strawberry” Judges ready to bite into their first Strawberries!
Karen Norton, of Norton Family Farms made over 700 strawberry shortcakes that were nothing short of amazing. Clearview Baptist Church volunteers spent hours preparing the strawberries and assembling the shortcakes on Friday evening. The strawberries were provided by Kirkview Farm, Delvin Farms, Conry Farms, Kelley’s Berry Farm and cream provided by Hatcher Dairy Farm for this years Strawberry Festival.
Ellie’s Donuts made over 500 special strawberry donuts that were a big hit among children and adults. The line for the donuts never ceased, but the general consensus was that it was worth the wait! Belle Springs Lemonade sold over 300 strawberry lemonades made with fresh strawberries from our farmers at the market. We love the way our food vendors use local ingredients from our farmers!
Children were entertained with free games and art activities, and parents enjoyed live blue grass music on our patio with food from our food trucks, Et Voila, Califarmia and Jay’s Chicago.
The most popular event at the market among our farmers is the best tasting strawberry contest. Winning this contest gives the farmer bragging rights for the rest of the year. It was a close contest, but our winners are:
1st Place Jones Mill Farm
2nd Delvin Farms
3rd Place Rocky Glade Farm
1st Place Best Tasting Strawberry winner Jones Mill Farm, from left J.R. Stroud, Judy Stroud and Jessi Cart
We don’t envy our celebrity judges who had to make a decision from the 8 farms who entered their berries because we know how good they all tasted!
Thank you to our judges:
Emily Magid, Williamson County Resident
Jason Collins, Owner of Juice Bar
Linda Childs, Heritage Foundation
Cassie Jones, Williamson Herald and Southern Exposure
This years Franklin Strawberry Festival Judges from left Cassie Jones, Williamson Herald; Emily Magid of Franklin; Linda Childs, Heritage Foundation; and Jason Collins of Juice Bar Franklin.
With over 80 volunteers from Clearview Baptist Church working behind the scenes, the festival ran smoothly and efficiently. Thank you so much to our volunteers, and market staff Ryan Palmer for coordinating the event. Ryan spent weeks planning and coordinating this huge event! Our other market staff who helped make this event possible: Deb Grant, market manager, Ron Beagle, media specialist and Amy Tavalin, market director. And finally, thank you to our market customers who attended our market to support to the farmers. We hope you had a “BERRY” good time! Visit this link to view more photos of the fun filled day!
The Franklin Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 8am-1pm behind the Factory in Franklin, TN. The market is a 15 yr old producers only market with the largest assembly of local farmers providing fresh farm food all year long each Saturday morning. Find us at 230 Franklin Road behind the Factory. Visit us online at www.franklinfarmersmarket.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for the latest market news.
What seemed like our largest crowd ever enjoyed Tennessee Strawberries, Strawberry Shortcakes with lots of local food!