Tag Archives: cauliflower

What the Farmers Market has for your Thanksgiving Shopping List

Thanksgiving gives us the chance to eat ourselves silly, with a big spread of delicious food. So get ready to pig out! Make those yummy holiday recipes with healthy fresh produce, meats and dairy from the Franklin Farmers Market and you’ll feel a little less guilty about stuffing yourself this Thanksgiving.

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Triple L Ranch great tasting hen right out of the oven!

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Saturday will be a day of Families doing their Thanksgiving shopping

Here’s a handy shopping list of some of the goodies you’ll find from the farmers at the market this Saturday to create the best Thanksgiving dinner ever.

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  • Beets – delicious roasted with honey!
  • Broccoli – a broccoli casserole hits the spot.
  • Cabbage – try it grilled or sautéed
  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower – pick up some fresh cheese and drizzle over the cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Chard
  • Chives
  • Greens – lots of winter greens available now
  • Leeks
  • Lettuce
  • Mushrooms
  • Onions
  • Potatoes – Got to have mashed potatoes with gravy
  • Radishes
  • Shallots
  • Squash/Pumpkins
  • Sweet Potatoes – sweet ‘tater casserole is a must!
  • Turnips
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Fresh Herbs and Lettuces from Rocky Glade Farm

Pick up fresh cheese at the market. Moonshadow Farm has delicious varieties of Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese and Noble Springs Dairy has fantastic goat cheese in different flavors. Hatcher Family Dairy Farm has the milk, cream and buttermilk you need for your recipes and the kids would love some Hatcher chocolate milk with Thanksgiving dinner.

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Farm Fresh Harvest from Pilgrims Produce

Don’t forget the eggs you need for special Thanksgiving desserts. Moonshadow Farm, River Cottage Farm, Gardners Grove and Triple L Ranch are just a few of the farms with fresh eggs at the market.

Who says you have to eat turkey on Thanksgiving? From chicken to beef or ham, you can find the meat you want at the market. Check out Triple L Ranch, Bear Creek Farm, West Wind Farm, Peaceful Pastures, River Cottage, Gardner Grove and Beaverdam Creek Farm for the cuts of meat you want. Johnson’s Honey Farm and Pilgrim’s Produce have the honey you need to spread on fresh rolls. And if you don’t feel like doing all the baking, you can pick up delicious breads, pastries, cakes and more at the market. Norton Family Farm, Lucy’s Kitchen and Jones Mill Farms have what you need. Jams, jellies and preserves can be found at the market too.

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Fresh Baked Breads from Flying S Farm

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Jams, Jellies and Preserves from Jones Mill Farm

So go ahead…. Eat it up! Happy Thanksgiving from the Franklin Farmers Market.

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Fresh Lettuces and root vegetables from Zadok the Natural Farmer

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Wonderful Thanksgiving fresh picked veggies from Paradise Produce

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Rocky Glade at your service!

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Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes and Honey from Pilgrims Produce

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Beaverdam Creek fresh Veggies

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Organic Fennel from Delvin Farms

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New Fall Events Coming to Farmers Market

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Norton Family Farm Fresh Carrots

Fall is definitely in the air. At the market this past Saturday, it was a bit cool with a light breeze, making it the perfect morning to stroll around with a warm doughnut and a cup of hot coffee from Ellie’s Doughnuts.

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Flying S Farm White Chocolate Friendship Bread

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Pumplin Rolls sell out fast from Norton Family Farm

Other signs of fall at the market too, like the first appearance of winter squash, more root veggies, apple cider…

…and lots of pumpkins.

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A Pumpkin Helper

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Cinderella Pumpkins

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King Farm Pumpkins Invade the FFM

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Small Pumpkins for young visitors

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King Farm Flat Bed Trailer Filled with Pumpkins of all colors and sizes

But the thing that tells us that fall is really here is the big question we’re asked every year – When do you close down for winter? The answer is, we don’t. The Franklin Farmers Market goes on year-round. Surprised? You’re not alone. A lot of folks wonder how a farmers market that’s dedicated to food from local farms can be open during the winter. In Tennessee, our winters are a bit milder and that allows farmers to extend their warm weather crops a little longer.

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Beautiful Tomatoes still in good supply

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Beaverdam Creek Farm Fall Eggplant

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Trish holding a CSA from Beaverdam Creek Farm

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Bloomsbury Farm Wheat Grass and Beets

And a number of farmers now use “tunnels” which consists of metal frames with plastic stretch over them. The plants are in the garden patch like they normally would be but the protection of the tunnel keeps frost from killing the plants. And finally, there are quite a few vegetables that prefer to grow in cool weather, like broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage or carrots and potatoes.  The winter season for the Franklin Farmers Market begins in November.

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Fall Mums and Custom Baskets from Bloomin’ Baskets

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Fresh Jams and Preserves from Jones Mill Farms

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Brenda of Moonshadow Farm hosting Kenny of Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese

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Pilgrims Produce with their fall produce selection

Meat lovers, rejoice! Next Saturday, October 5th is the Day of the Grill at the market with samples of tender beef, pork, chicken and lamb from our Tennessee meat farms at the market. Enjoy tasty bites of meat from Triple L Ranch, Bear Creek Farm, West Wind Farm, Peaceful Pastures, River Cottage Farm and Beaverdam Creek Farm.  Chef Jeff Lunsford will use his talents on the grill to prepare the delicious samples.  Chef Jeff is a grill expert extraordinaire from The Hearth and Grill Shop. The Hearth and Grill Shop is locally owned and has been Middle Tennessee’s favorite spot for top-notch grills for over 40 years. This is your chance to enjoy mouthwatering samples of meat grilled to perfection on a Big Green Egg Smoker & Grill, which considered by many to be the best grill ever made. Don’t miss it… next Saturday, the Day of the Grill at the Franklin Farmers Market!

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Persimmons bring a smile to Lauren of Bloomsbury Farm

Giant smiling pumpkins and tiny little scarecrows were spotted at the market this past Saturday and they were all pointing to one thing… The Invasion of the Scarecrows is coming soon with lots of fun for the family. How about a kids pumpkin patch, funny face painting and a pumpkin decoration booth? And the best part is it’s free. It’s happening on October 19th  – The Invasion of the Scarecrows at the Franklin Farmers Market.  Presented by our good friends at Williamson Medical Center.

Visit our Photo Gallery to view pictures from this past Saturday’s Market and all Saturday Markets since May of this year.

Farmers Bring Fresh Green Beans, Squash, Cucumbers, Blueberries, Peppers, Onions and More to Market

You know it’s going to be a good day when you spy the first of the blueberries at the market. They were the early variety, tasty and juicy. Those blueberries didn’t last long though, but that’s okay.

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Deb ringing in the Start of a wonderful Market Day

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Lot’s of new visitors and vacationers enjoying the day

The market was full of delicious food last Saturday. Green beans and new potatoes, along with cauliflower, beets and other fresh produce were plentiful. A lot of good farm eggs were snapped up too, along with tender steaks for the grill. Yummy breads, desserts and honey…. It was a food paradise!

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Fresh Flowers to Fresh Veggies at the market

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Lucy’s Kitchen always has Breakfast Treats ready

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First Cucumbers of Summer

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Where’s my Olive Oil and Outdoor Grill?

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Absolutely Beautiful Potatoes

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The new Franklin Farmers Market Recipe Book has wonderful Recipes from our Famers!

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We still have Strawberries…but not for long!

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Ellie’s Fresh Made Old Fashion Donuts

But sometimes you can’t find the vegetable you really want at the market. A lot of questions were asked Saturday about when would tomatoes show up at market; why weren’t there any watermelons and where was the corn? Georgia and Alabama produce typically is ripe and ready about two weeks before it is in Tennessee. The further south a farm is, the quicker the garden grows. Plus this year, we had a wet and cool spring, so some produce is running a little later than usual. But you need to be familiar with the seasonality of produce and fruit grown in Tennessee. Tomatoes typically are not ripe and plentiful until July. It’s the same thing with corn and watermelons are at their best in July and August too. Next Saturday, stop by the Market Information booth and pick up a free copy of Local Table. It’s a great guide to food and farming in Middle Tennessee, and it also has a big seasonality chart so you can get a better idea of when your favorite veggies and fruits are ripe and at market.

Speaking of tomatoes, nothing says summer like a deliciously ripe tomato. And we’re not talking about those tomatoes that are shipped in from other states or countries. We crave real tomatoes; the locally grown tomatoes. So when those first Middle Tennessee tomatoes are ripe and ready, it’s time to celebrate. And we’re going to do just that with our salute to tomatoes. Don’t miss the Franklin Farmers Market’s TomatoFest, July 27th. Fresh tomatoes are the stars of the show. Enjoy samples of delicious heirloom tomatoes. Watch cooking demos of Chef Steven from Amerigo. Learn seed-saving techniques and take part in the ugly tomato contest. It’s a tomato lover’s heaven… TomatoFest at the Franklin Farmers Market!

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New Fresh Peppers

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Lovely Green Onions

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The clean smell of Lavender was in the Air