The 8^th annual Franklin Strawberry Festival was a big hit with market customers and the Franklin community. This has been a tough year for our strawberry farms with a hard freeze in April after plants set blooms, but despite the challenging growing season, our farmers were able to bring the very best to celebrate the strawberry!  Our Strawberry Festival and market sponsor, Williamson Medical Center made it possible for us to have such a large festival.
Visit this link for photos of the Strawberry Festival. 

Strawberry Judges enjoying delicious Strawberry Shortcake! From left Brandy Blanton, City of Franklin Alderman and Editor of Southern Exposure Magazine; Andy Marshall, A. Marshall Hospitality; Jan Marshall, A. Marshall Hospitality; Jenna Eckert, Williamson Medical Center

Karen Norton, of Norton Family Farms made over 600 strawberry shortcakes that were nothing short of amazing. Clearview Baptist Church volunteers spent hours preparing the strawberries that topped the shortcakes on Friday evening. Customers were able to choose more than the traditional shortcake to enjoy the local berries. Chef Michael Martin from Southfork Catering prepared 400 buttermilk biscuits and Ellie’s Donuts made 400 of their original donuts. All three shortcake variations were topped with strawberries from our farmers and cream from Hatcher Dairy. 

Ellie’s Donuts made over 400 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 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 including storytelling by Magda the Storyspider and a local balloon artist. Parents enjoyed live music on our patio with food from our food trucks 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 Kelley’s Berry Farm
2nd Beaverdam Creek Farm
3rd Conry Farm

1st Place Winner Best Tasting Strawberry of 2018 Patrick Kelley of Kelley’s Berry Farm

We don’t envy our celebrity judges who had to make a decision from the 7 farms who entered their berries because we know how good they all tasted! A big thank you to Kristy Williams of the Franklin Heritage Foundation for organizing our judging contest. 

Thank you to our judges:

Jenna Eckert, Williamson Medical Center
Andy Marshall, A. Marshall Hospitality
Jan Marshall, A. Marshall Hospitality
Brandy Blanton, City of Franklin Alderman and Owner, Southern Exposure Magazine

The Celebrity Strawberry Judges have a tough job selecting the Best Tasting Strawberry, they take this responsibilty very seriously as each farmer anxiously waits to here their results

With over 50 volunteers from Clearview Baptist Church working behind the scenes, the festival ran smoothly and efficiently. Thank you so much to our volunteers! 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! 

Thank you market sponsor Williamson Medical Center! Our community Strawberry Festival is not possible without your support each year! From left, Katherine Hellard of WMC, FFM Market Director Amy Tavalin, Jenna Eckert of Williamson Medical Center

The Franklin Farmers Market is held every Saturday from 8am-1pm behind the Factory in Franklin, TN. The market is a 16 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. 

The Franklin Farmers Market hosted its annual Franklin Watermelon Festival on Saturday, August 19th presented by Market sponsor, Williamson Medical Center. You can view all the photos of the Watermelon Festival here.

The annual Watermelon Festival grows larger every year, and this year the Franklin Farmers Market had record crowds to celebrate the fruit of summer. Fun events included a seed spitting contest for adults and kids and a very popular watermelon eating contest for both kids and adults. Other watermelon festival activities included free face painting and games for the whole family.

One contest had over 400 entries- the Guess the Weight contest. The largest melon at the market came in at 49lbs 8oz. The weight was guessed perfectly by market customer, Terri Dixon who got to take the melon home.

One of the most popular contests of the day is the Watermelon Eating Contest. Adults and kids get their own contest and eagerly participate for bragging rights on who can eat a piece of watermelon the fastest (with hands behind their back, of course). This year in an amazing coincidence, our winners of the kids and adult contests are father and son- the fun must run in the family!

The winners of the 2017 Kids Watermelon Eating Contest are:
1st Place- Thomas Malone
2nd Jason Wang
3rd Place Kellen Sakkinen

The winners of the 2017 Kids Watermelon Eating Contest are 1st Place Thomas Malone, 2nd Place Oakley Smith and 3rd Place Kellen Sakkinen. Congratulation to all the kids who participated!

Kids love watermelon!

The winners of the 2017 Adult Watermelon Eating Contest are:
1st Place- Tim Malone
2nd Place-Oakley Smith
3rd Place- Nicole Medina

The winners of the Adult Watermelon Eating Contest are right to left, 1st Place Tim Malone, 2nd Place Oakley Smith, and 3rd Place Nicole Medina. Congratulations on a great job by everyone!

We think the Adult winners had the most fun!

To help us celebrate the watermelon even more, the Leiper’s Fork Carving Club carved beautiful and unique creations from watermelons in a matter of minutes! It was truly amazing to see what they could do with an ordinary watermelon and customers enjoyed learning more about their artwork.

The watermelon seed-spitting contest continued throughout the morning and the winners were announced at 11:30am. It was amazing to see how far some of our smallest “spitters” could get their seed to go!

The winners of the 2017 Kids Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest are:
1st Place- Warner Campbell at 17ft.5in
2nd Place- Gavin Murphy at 16ft 11in
3rd Place- Isabell Campbell at 15ft 9in

The winners of the 2017 Adult Watermelon Seed Spitting Contest are:
1st Place- Mark Mickholtzick at 32ft 9in
2nd Place- Steve Redding at 30ft 5in
3rd Place- Todd Atkins at 28ft 5in

A Huge Thank You Williamson Medical Center for your 6th year of supporting our farmers market! This event is not possible without your support!

The Franklin Farmers Market vendors and local farmers joined in the fun celebration in their own way. Padrino’s Pops quickly sold out of their famous watermelon pops, and Belle Springs Lemonade wowed the crowd with their handmade watermelon lemonade with melons sourced from the farmers, and Califarmia had their own homemade watermelon water concoction. By 11am Delvin Farms had given away 250 watermelons in samples along with Colbert Farm who gave hundreds of free watermelon samples to the many customers who attended the festival. The Franklin Watermelon Festival ends the summer with a bang!

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. Visit this link to view all the photos of this years Franklin Watermelon Festival.

A Big Thank You to the Williamson Herald for your coverage and promotion of this years Franklin Watermelon Festival!

The Franklin Farmers Market will host its annual Franklin Watermelon Festival on Saturday, August 19th from 8am-1pm. Market sponsor, Williamson Medical Center, is hosting what is sure to be the highlight of your weekend as we celebrate summer’s favorite treat. Williamson Medical Center is an invaluable partner for our market, providing not only medical care for our farmers and customers, but wellness programs and classes to help us make the best healthy food choice, such as watermelon. At the Franklin Watermelon Festival, our local farmers will have the best of their watermelon crops ready for tasting, and customers will have their chance to guess the weight of the largest watermelon ever grown!

The Watermelon Eating Contest is the most favorite kid and adult event of the year!

We are so very grateful for the support of Williamson Medical Center and what they mean to our local community 24/7 all year long! Pictured from left to right is Paul Bolin, Chief Financial Officer; Julie Miller, Chief Operating Officer; Stephanie Clark, Director of Marketing and Business Development; and Lori Orme, R.N., Chief Nursing Officer, F.A.C.H.E.

Our produce farmers have carefully tended the watermelons in the field in preparation of this annual event and they tell us that this year is a record year for delicious watermelons. Colbert Farm, Delvin Farms and Kirkview Farm will have watermelons ripe and ready for tasting, seed spitting, carving and more.

Fun events include a seed-spitting contest for adults and kids beginning at 9:30am, watermelon eating contest beginning at 9:30am for kids and 10:30 for adults. There will also be a kids activity area with face painting and games for fun for the whole family. For a special treat, the Leiper’s Fork carving club will be carving beautiful creations from watermelons. Come out to see the amazing artwork and marvel at the unique designs.

Big and Juicy Sweet Watermelon from Colbert Farm, Delvin Farms and Kirkview Farm

Our vendors and local farmers are joining in the fun celebration in their own way. Padrino’s Pops will have watermelon pops, Belle Springs will have watermelon lemonade and Ellie’s Old Fashioned Doughnuts will have a special red donut that is sure to be superb. Join us from 8-1pm Saturday August 27th for a fun celebration to see what other vendors have prepared for the Watermelon Festival.

The Franklin Watermelon Festival is more than just celebrating the best of summer. It is a fun, family friendly event celebrating all that is good about our community farmers market, from wonderful market sponsors such as Williamson Medical Center, to our loyal customers who support our farmers every week, rain or shine.

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.

The Franklin Farmers Market held its 7th annual Tomato Festival on Saturday, July 15, hosted by market sponsor, Amerigo Italian Restaurant. Amerigo Chef Steven Robilio delighted us with his delicious caprese salad and free samples made with ingredients from our farmers. Amerigo is a seven year sponsor and hosts the popular Farm Dinner Series each month at their Brentwood and Nashville restaurants with next dates July 24th & 25th in Brentwood.

Chef Steven, Paul and Ali serving up Caprese Salad for a Big Festival Crowd

Rain didn’t keep market customers away and children had fun with games and free face painting. But our local farmers weren’t interested in face painting; they were ready to compete in what has become the bragging right for the year- the best tasting tomato!

Market customers cast ballots and chose the best tasting tomato in a blind taste test and were invited to check out the Franklin Farmers Market website “news” page after the event to see if their favorite tomato won and what farmer grew it. With over fourteen farms at the market with homegrown tomatoes, from heirloom to standard, slicing and cherry tomatoes, it was hard for customers to choose just one!

The contest was divided into two categories: Heirloom Tomatoes and Standard Tomatoes. The term heirloom is given to the variety of tomato seed that is fifty or more years old. Some heirloom varieties are as much as $1 per seed! The term standard is given to hybrid varieties of tomatoes, grown for their commercially attractive characteristics.

“Every year our Tomato Festival grows bigger and we are blown away by the number of tomato entries grown by our local farmers. We are honored to have the largest selection of farmers in middle TN in one location, and proud to be a producers only market. You won’t find a better tasting homegrown tomato than right here in Franklin, grown by the farmers who are here,” says Franklin Farmers Market Event Coordinator, Ryan Palmer.

After hundreds of ballots were cast by our market customers, the decision was made and our winners are:

Best Tasting Heirloom Tomato:
1st Place- Colbert Farm (#27 in the blind taste test)
2nd Place- Beaverdam Creek Farm (#25 in the blind taste test)
3rd Place-Jones Mill Farm (#30 in the blind taste test)

1st Place Best Tasting Heirloom Tomato Winner Colbert Farm

Best Tasting Standard Tomato:
1st Place- Norton Family Farm (#79 in the blind taste test)
2nd Place- Delvin Farms (#76 in the blind taste test)
3rd Place- Bloomsbury Farm (#75 in the blind taste test)

1st Place Best Tasting Standard Tomato Winner Norton Family Farm

The decision was announced with much enthusiasm as market staff presented each winning farm with a ribbon and certificate. Another year of bragging rights for our farmers is in the books.

Festival attendees enjoyed all that our market has to offer- fresh, locally grown produce, locally made artisan goods and local food trucks for breakfast and lunch. Admission to the festival and the market as always was free. Visit this link to view more photos of this years Franklin Tomato Festival! 

Customers lined up to vote this years Best Tasting Tomato Winners! Thank you to all our customers for voting and leaving with local tomatoes from our farmers!

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.

Many thanks and appreciation to 7 Year Market Sponsor Amerigo Italian Restaurant. Our Franklin Tomato Festival is not possible without your support each year!

The Franklin Farmers Market will host its 7th annual Tomato Festival on Saturday, July 15 beginning at 8am, hosted by market sponsor, Amerigo Italian Restaurant. Farmers will vie for the best tasting tomato in the popular taste test judged by you, the customer and children will have many free activities for fun and entertainment. 

Customers will be in for a real treat with free tomato tasting from our local farmers. Amerigo Chef Steven Robilio will delight us with his famous menu with free samples made from ingredients from our farmers. No one will want to miss the tomato tasting contest. This year our contest will be a blind taste test judged by the customers attending the market between the hours of 8:00am-10:30am. Winners of the contest will be announced at 11am.

Chef Steven Robilio and Amerigo owner Paul Schramkowski, sponsors of the Franklin Farmers Market for seven years.

“The farmers market summer season is in full swing now that the “queen” of the farm has made her way to the market. Everyone waits for the perfect homegrown tomato and that wait is finally over! We are honored to have the largest selection of farmers in middle TN in one location, and proud to be a producers only market. You won’t find a better tasting homegrown tomato than right here in Franklin, grown by the farmers who are here,” says Franklin Farmers Market Event Coordinator, Ryan Palmer.

It’s a family affair at the Franklin Tomato Festival with free children’s activities, free samples from Amerigo, tomato tastings and locally grown tomatoes from our farmers picked less than 48 hours before the event. You can’t find a better, homegrown event than the Franklin Tomato Festival!

Festival attendees can enjoy all that our market has to offer- fresh, locally grown produce, locally made artisan goods and local food trucks for breakfast and lunch. Admission to the festival and the market is free.

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.

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!

1,000 Shortcakes to be served

The Franklin Farmers Market will host its 7th annual Franklin Strawberry Festival on Saturday, May 13 beginning at 8am, hosted by market sponsor, Ford Lincoln of Franklin. Farmers will vie for the best tasting strawberry in the popular taste test judged by local celebrity judges, and children will have many free activities for fun and entertainment.

Karen’s famous short cakes, a local favorite tradition from Norton Family farm, will once again be the popular dessert in the celebration. Karen Norton will be making 1,000 homemade short cakes for the occasion, topped with local berries from our farmers and whip cream made from Hatcher Dairy cream. Ellie’s Donuts will serve up their delicious strawberry donuts and many vendors will have their own strawberry surprises for customers including fresh crushed Strawberry Lemonade from Belle Springs Farm.

It’s a family affair at the Franklin Strawberry Festival with free children’s activities, homemade shortcakes by Norton Family Farms and locally grown strawberries from our farmers picked less than 24 hours before the event. You can’t find a sweeter event than the strawberry festival!

We are grateful and blessed to have corporate Sponsor Ford Lincoln of Franklin as Presenting Sponsor for this years Franklin Strawberry Festival, for a 3rd Year!  Greg Brown, Owner & Managing Partner pictured left with last years “Best Tasting Strawberry” judges, Laura Musgrave President of Music City Concierge Association, Chris Harris of WSMV Channel 4 News and Eric Stuckey City Administrator for the City of Franklin

Preserve the Best of the Best Strawberries for All Year Goodness

Strawberry season doesn’t last long, and neither do the berries once they’re picked. To keep your berries fresh, you want to keep them cold and dry so they don’t mold. For short term, arrange the berries (without washing or removing the stems) on a paper towel-lined tray and cover with plastic wrap; then refrigerate. Before eating or using them, wash the berries under cool water and then remove stems. If you remove the stems before you are ready to eat them they will get soft and start molding.

For long term you can freeze your berries and enjoy that goodness all year! Take advantage of peak season of strawberries at the Franklin market and freeze your strawberries for smoothies, shortcakes, and cereal. To do this, place rinsed, dried, and stemmed whole berries, cut sides down, on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet; freeze, uncovered, for six hours, then transfer to a freezer bag. Another option is to freeze them whole! You simply have to remove the stem and core, place them on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet in a freezer then transfer to a freezer bag approximately 1 hour later. You can store them in the freezer for up to six months and enjoy them in the off-season, too!

2016 Best Tasting Strawberry winner was Delvin Farms, a Certified Organic Farm

The Franklin Strawberry Festival isn’t all that is happening at the market. Festival attendees can enjoy all that our market has to offer- fresh, locally grown produce, locally made artisan goods and food trucks, Califarmia, Jay’s Chicago and Et Voila for breakfast and lunch. Admission to the festival and the market is free! The Franklin Farmers Market is located at the corner of Liberty Pike and Franklin Road, behind The Factory.

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.

The farmers at the Franklin Farmers Market will spice things up at the Local Farmers’ Chili Cook-Off on Saturday, March 25, 2017 from 9am till 12noon. Eight meat producing farms will be participating in what has become a free popular event at the market. Customers will be treated to each of the farmers’ special recipe made from either chicken, beef, lamb and even bison! Tasting begins at 9am and customers are invited to cast their ballots in a race to find out which farmer has the best chili. Voting ends at 10:45am with the new Grand Champion announced in front of the market at 11:30am. You can pick up ballots to vote at the market information booth, at each farm booth or download your ballot with this link.

The Franklin Farmers Market has the largest selection of local meats in middle Tennessee. Participating farms are Triple L Ranch, Red Cedar Bison Ranch, Tavalin Tails Farm, Little Spring Creek Farm, Hatcher Family Dairy, River Cottage Farm, and West Wind Farms.

Last years Grand Champion Brock and Dennis of Red Cedar Bison Ranch pictured with Tom the Furniture Guy who handmade the real barn wood sign award

Franklin market customer, Bonnie Ferguson, exclaimed at last year’s event, “This was so much fun and I can’t believe it was free!” She went on to say that tasting chili from each of the eight meat vendors gave her the opportunity to meet farmers she wouldn’t have normally met, and now she knows what other vendors have to offer. “I’ll make sure to shop with them in the future,” Ferguson said, “ It was so nice talking to the farmers participating in the cook off and getting to know more about their farm.”

Over one hundred customers sampled and cast their vote in 2016 and Red Cedar Bison was crowned the Grand Champion of the first ever local farmers’ chili cook-off. Owners of the second generation family business, Dennis Fioravanti and Brock Hughey were ecstatic to prove that their bison chili recipe is the best and this year they will defend their crown to be the 2017 winners!

Franklin Farmers market artisan, Tom the Furniture Guy, donated his talent to the chili cook-off by making the Grand Champion sign and said he was “Very proud to be part of the Franklin Farmers Market and excited to support all the special projects the market does.” Come out this Saturday and choose the farmer who has the best chili and deserves the beautiful handmade champion barn wood sign!

For more information about the participating vendors in the Local Farmers’ Chili Cook-Off, visit the Franklin Farmers Market every Saturday at the Franklin Factory, 230 Franklin Road, Franklin, TN 9am-12pm.

Triple L Ranch

Red Cedar Bison Ranch

West Wind Farms

Tavalin Tails Farm

River Cottage Farm

Hatcher Family Dairy

Little Spring Creek Farm

Beaverdam Creek Farm

The Franklin Farmers Market will host its second annual CSA Day on March 11 sponsored by Williamson Medical Center and Amerigo Italian Restaurant. In a CSA, a farmer “contracts” with other people in the community to provide them with a portion of the year’s harvest. CSA customers pay the farmer before the produce season begins, allowing the farmer to buy necessary seed, fertilizer, fuel and other inputs to farm for the year. When crops start coming in, the customer’s fresh, local food is already bought and paid for. For the meat farmer, a CSA commitment helps the farmer know how many animals to raise and helps with the cost of feed and processing. CSA members can come to the Franklin Farmers Market to pick up their shares. Here’s your CSA Day Passport!

Why join a CSA? The reasons are many, but the most important reasons are the nutritional value in freshly harvested food and supporting your local economy. We all have a doctor for our health, but what about a farmer? With a CSA you can have a personal relationship with your farmer and get to know who is growing your food and how. By buying a CSA, your money goes directly to your local economy, your personal farmer, and you are helping to keep the family farm alive while having access to healthy, nutritious food.

The CSA model has changed frequently through the years, but the idea is to have a “share” of the harvest. Some farmers offer a “market style” CSA where members choose what is in their share, and some put shares together for the members with recipes on how to prepare the food.

CSAs aren’t confined to produce. Some farmers include the option for shareholders to buy shares of eggs, homemade bread, meat, cheese, fruit, flowers or other farm products along with their veggies. Some farmers have just meat in their CSA, where members get a monthly or bimonthly share of mixed beef, pork, chicken and lamb. At the Franklin Farmers Market we have all kinds of options for customers. Our CSA day is designed for customers to spend some time talking with the farmers to see what is the best fit for them!

The Franklin Farmers Market has more CSA vendors than any other market in the area. Customers can find meat AND vegetable CSA farmers at the Franklin Farmers Market, including:

Each CSA box or basket contains newly harvested produce your farm of choice

Beaverdam Creek Farm  (vegetables)
Bloomsbury Farm  (vegetables)
Delvin Farms  (vegetables)
Flying S Farms (vegetables, eggs)
Hatcher Family Dairy (meat, milk, eggs)
Jones Mill Farm (baked goods, jams, vegetable )
Kirkview Farm  (vegetables)
Peaceful Pastures (meat)
Red Cedar Bison Ranch  (bison meat)
Tavalin Tails Farm (meat)
Triple L Ranch  (meat)
West Wind Farms (meat, milk, eggs)

Pick up a CSA Day Passport from our market Information booth identifying the farms you can visit about their CSA program. Or download a CSA Passport with this link.
Find a vegetable and meat CSA farmer at the Franklin Farmers Market’s first CSA day on March 11 from 9:00 am- 12:00 pm. The market is located at 230 Franklin Road behind the Factory.

LTR, Ed Harlan Assistant Agriculture Commissioner, Ashlea Hogancamp Owner Herban Market, Sue & Adam Turtle of Earth Advocates Research Farm, Danny the Turkey, Franklin Mayor Ken Moore, Dr. Charles Hatcher of Hatcher Family Dairy, Market Executive Director Amy Tavalin, Danny the Turkey’s handler Grace with kids from Liberty Elementary and 2nd Grade Teacher Cara Thompson

The Franklin Farmers Market 2nd annual Pardoning of the Turkey was a hit on Saturday, November 19th sponsored by Herban Market. Danny the Turkey of Earth’s Advocates Research Farm sat royally on his bale of hay as children and adults hugged him. Danny is a pro at being the center of attention and children gathered around him for a chance to pet their first turkey.

Second Graders from Liberty Elementary School wrote over 90 letters to Mayor Ken Moore on Danny’s behalf and delivered them to the Mayor asking him to pardon Danny for Thanksgiving. The Mayor was happy to oblige and graciously pardoned Danny in front of hundreds of market attendees.

Assistant Commissioner of Agriculture, Ed Harlan, delighted the crowd with turkey facts and State Veterinarian Dr. Charlie Hatcher gave insight into the farmers who provide us with Thanksgiving fare. Ellie’s Donuts provided donuts for the children who wrote letters to the mayor and the fun day was complete with many “selfies” taken with Danny. It’s not everyday that one can say they took a picture with a Royal Palm Heritage breed turkey, but the customers of the Franklin Farmers Market can check off that one on their bucket list!

The Franklin Farmers Market is open 52 weeks a year. Gone are the days of markets closing down in the winter months due to no produce. The farmers at the Franklin Farmers Market grow year-round thanks to crop row covers, hoop houses and green houses. The meat producers provide beef, pork, chicken, lamb, turkey and bison, and vegetable producers have leafy greens, winter squashes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, lettuces and more. It’s not hard to eat seasonally and locally right here in our hometown! This Thanksgiving we are grateful for the farmers who provide us with healthy, locally grown food to nourish our bodies and we are thankful to live in such a wonderful community of Franklin, TN.

LTR Ed Harlan Assistant Agriculture Commissioner, Ashlea Hogancamp owner of Herban Market, Sue and Adam Turtle of Earth Advocates Research Farm, Danny the Turkey, Franklin Mayor Ken Moore and Market Executive Director Amy Tavalin

The Franklin Farmers Market is open year round with winter hours of 9am-1pm in November and December and 9am-12pm January-April. The market is located at 230 Franklin Road behind the Factory. Our