Tag Archives: Strawberry Festival

Large Crowds Pack Farmers Market for Franklin Strawberry Festival

Franklin Strawberry FestivalThis year the Franklin Strawberry Festival brought smiles to everyone! A fun day for ALL, especially the kids loving the sweet tasting strawberries, strawberry shortcakes and donuts. We had our largest crowd of the year even with scattered rain showers. We are blessed to have so many customers who support our local farmers each Saturday of the year looking for fresh farm produce, baked goods and unique artisan crafts. A big THANK YOU to all our local farmers who picked strawberries Saturday morning, making 2nd deliveries of strawberries to market for Festival customers. We are grateful for having Ford Lincoln of Franklin as our Strawberry Festival Sponsor. imagesWithout Greg Brown’s generous support of our market and Tennessee Farmers, it would be difficult to have such a large Strawberry Festival. Please support Greg and his Ford Lincoln of Franklin local business!

franklin Farmers marketThank you to Norton Family Farms for baking over 600 shortcakes and Ellie’s Old Fashioned Doughnuts for over 600 strawberry doughnuts. Whipped cream was supplied by Hatcher Family Dairy. The fresh local strawberries came from Delvin Farms, Kelley’s Berry Farm, Kirkview Farm, and Rocky Glade Farm. All the festival preparation and serving of strawberry shortcakes could not have been accomplished without our army of volunteers. You guys are the BEST!!!

Strawberry Festival JudgesA special thanks to our Celebrity Judges who had the difficult task of making the tough decisions of Best Tasting Strawberry and Best Decorated Strawberry Booth. All of you did an outstanding job! We appreciate your time and dedication to judging this years Franklin Strawberry Festival!

-Joe Dubin, WSMV Channel 4 Sports Team, Emmy Award winner and two-time Edward R. Murrow Award         winner while at WKRN
-Marianne DeMeyers, President of Downtown Franklin Association, Owner of Tin Cottage
-Cassie Jones, Director of Sales for Southern Exposure Magazine & The Williamson Herald
-Chef Carlos Garcia, Homestead Manor’s Executive Chef

DSC_3186 2Best Tasting Strawberry Awards to:
1st Place – Rocky Glade Farm, Jim Vaughn and son Dylem
2nd Place – Olivia Olive Oil, Christi Lassen
3rd Place – Evans Produce, Tonya Evans

Best Decorated Strawberry Booth Awards to:
1st Place – The Barkers Market, Eric & Jeanne Floyd
2nd Place – Bloomsbury Farm, Lauren Palmer
3rd Place – Triple L Ranch, Ann Lee & Daniel Fold
Strawberry Festival Franklin TN
From all our Market staff, Farmers, Bakers and Artisans…THANK YOU!!! The Franklin Farmers Market enjoys putting on this event each year. We appreciate all our customers to come out to support our market each Saturday!

Visit our market photo gallery to see pictures of all the fun we had during this years Strawberry Festival!

Thank you to the Williamson Herald for covering this years market Strawberry Festival!  

Squash, Cucumbers and Tomatoes Enter Market!

Chilly with gray skies and a little sprinkle of rain here and there – doesn’t sound like a great day at the market, does it? But despite the weather, this past Saturday was a good day at the FFM. After all, there were lots of good late spring vegetables, such as broccoli, green onions and asparagus.

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Delicious asparagus

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Fresh green onions

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In this corner, everything needed for a salad!

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A colorful display of turnips, shallots and radishes

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Early season green beans

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A springtime favorite – green peas

And there was a little hint of the good things to come with some early cucumbers, squash and tomatoes – yes, tomatoes! Those hoop houses the farmers use can really speed up the growing times on veggies.

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Early tomatoes from Napier Farm

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How about a cool cucumber?

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Fresh radishes to munch

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Bloomsbury Farm lettuce

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Nothing like the flavor of onions

Of course, there were strawberries too – lots of them. It’s definitely berry time in Tennessee. As we do every year at the FFM, we celebrate the arrival of strawberries with our annual Strawberry Festival. It takes place next Saturday (May 24th) and the weather is predicted to be sunny and warm – perfect for a day of homemade strawberry shortcakes, games for the kids and the Barnyard Petting Zoo.

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Strawberry time in Tennessee!

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We agree – eat locally grown food

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Mark your calendar!

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Grill Day has been rescheduled for June 7th

Lots of folks were also going home Saturday with delicious cuts of meat, stocking up early for their backyard Memorial Day grilling to kick off summer in a delicious fashion. Speaking of grilling, the market’s Grill Day has been rescheduled to June 7th and hopefully the weather will match the great taste of the pork, beef, lamb and chicken from our meat farmers.

Chef Jeff Lunsford of the Hearth and Grill Shop will use his skills to grill lip-smacking samples for you to enjoy.

And finally, we notice this past Saturday that there’s more of the sweet treats at the market too, such as delicious Greek pastries and incredibly decadent toffee. We saw you munching. Confession time – we did the same thing! So yeah, it was less than perfect weather at the market. But it was still a great delicious day at the FFM!

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Sweet treats at the FFM to enjoy

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The first of the summer squash now at market

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Fresh, locally grown food and a day at the Franklin Farmers Market always make people happy! 

Finally! March is Here and Spring is in Sight!

So the sun wasn’t shining at the market this past Saturday, but nobody seemed to care. Why? Because it was the first day of March which means spring is just around the corner and we can kiss that polar vortex weather goodbye. And while it won’t be long before you start seeing spring veggies, there are still plenty of tasty winter vegetables to be found. There were lots of winter greens at the market on Saturday to enjoy, along with the ingredients for a fresh salad of tender just picked lettuce, carrots and radishes.

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Norton Family Farm just picked lettuce mix

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Farm Fresh Carrots from Norton Family Farm

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Beautiful fresh lettuces, kale, radishes and herbs from Rocky Glade Farm

And while a lot of you were picking up fresh vegetables from the market farms, we saw plenty of you munching on sweets too, such as muffins, donuts and cookies as you walked around the market.

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Fresh Baked Cookies by Dozen

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Flying S Farm Apple pies

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Oh so good!  An Ellie’s Old Fashioned Doughnut fan

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Kirkview Farm Kale, Carrots and Butternut Squash

The official first day of spring is March 20th, but you don’t need a calendar to tell you that spring is fast approaching. All you have to do is look around the market and see all of the farms with CSA signs. Now’s the time to sign up for a CSA share from your favorite farm so that you’ll get a weekly box of the best, in-season fruits and vegetables throughout the spring and summer. Many of the farms a CSA program, so look for their CSA signs or ask if they offer CSA’s.

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Greg Brown, owner of Ford Lincoln of Franklin , our new Corporate Sponsor for 2014 with market management and farmers

And it’s now official – Ford Lincoln of Franklin is the first corporate sponsor of the Franklin Farmers Market. The Franklin Farmers Market is a non-profit 501(c)5 agricultural organization and with all of the support from the great sponsors of the market, we are able to help local farms to keep growing. And it also helps us bring great events to the market, such as the FFM Strawberry Festival and supports projects such as the Growing Kids Educational Garden. Our sincere thanks to Greg Brown, owner of Ford-Lincoln of Franklin – Welcome to the market family!

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Alpaca hand knitted ski caps by Legacy Acres Alpaca Farm

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Hand made Soy Candles by Intoxicating Aromas

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Custom creation of Miniatures by Phillip

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Red Rooster painted on real barn wood by Tom the Furniture Guy

Strawberry Festival Brings Record Crowd to Franklin Farmers Market

It was the first sweet bite of spring and boy, did everyone enjoy it! The 2nd annual Franklin Farmers Market Strawberry Festival was great fun for everyone this past Saturday with games and music, the Barnyard Petting Zoo and of course, lots and lots of delicious fresh Tennessee strawberries.

Delvin Farms Strawberries 1st Place Winner

Delvin Farms Strawberries 1st Place Winner

Whole Foods Serving up Hatcher Dairy Farm Gelato

Whole Foods Serving up Hatcher Dairy Farm Gelato

A record number of mouthwatering homemade strawberry shortcakes were sold. These festival favorites were made by Norton Family Farm and topped with sweet berries from the farms of the market and whipped cream from the Hatcher Family Dairy. Our thanks to everyone who bought a shortcake and supported the market. All proceeds from the shortcakes help to support the Franklin Farmers Market’s special projects, such as the Growing Kids Educational Garden program. And the delicious strawberry gelato from Whole Foods Market also sold out quickly, with proceeds again going to the Franklin Farmers Market operational fund. Our thanks to Whole Foods Market for being the presenting sponsor of this year’s festival.

Record Number of Strawberry Shortcakes Sold

Record Number of Strawberry Shortcakes Sold

Record Crowd Gobbles up Farm Fresh Strawberries

Record Crowd Gobbles up Farm Fresh Strawberries

And congratulations to Delvin Farms for winning the contest for the best-tasting strawberries at the festival. Their sweet Chandler variety strawberries were favorites with judges Richard Herrington, President and CEO of Franklin Synergy Bank; Marilyn Lehew, co-founder of The Factory and Stoveworks Restaurant; Chef Chuck While, Personal Chef and co-author of the cookbook, “If It Makes You Healthy” with artist Sheryl Crow and Erika Kurre, Fox 17 Weekend News Anchor. The judges also chose Noble Springs Farm’s booth as the “Strawberriest” with its decorations, while Alfresco Pasta and Beaverdam Creek Farm came in 2nd and 3rd place. All in all, it was a berry fun day!

3rd Place Winner Beaver Creek Farm

3rd Place Winner Beaver Creek Farm

This Strawberry gets a Kiss from Daddy!

This Strawberry gets a Kiss from Daddy!

Hatcher Dairy Farm on NBC Today Show with Al Roker!

Did you get to see the Hatcher Family on the NBC Today Show yesterday morning? If you missed Al Roker of the Today Show broadcasting from the Hatcher Family Dairy Farm in College Grove, Tennessee, here are a few links to coverage of the show broadcast from the Hatcher Family Dairy.  What great weather for a special NBC Today Show segment with Al Roker direct from the Hatcher Family Farm!

Charlie Hatcher told me last week how excited they were that Sharon had entered a contest called “Wake Up With Al” 2 weeks ago.  After entering Hatcher Family Dairy online into the “Wake Up With Al” contest Sharon Hatcher received a phone call within a few hours asking them to be available for an interview.  From there, Charlie says it all happened so fast.  Congrats to the Hatcher Family on representing Middle Tennessee and Tennessee Farmers so well!  We are all so proud to have Hatcher Family Dairy as part of the Franklin Farmers Market!

Real Farmers!   Real Food!   Real Good!

Video of The Today Show broadcast


Watch it at Today.com

Charlie Hatcher Shares the Experience

Related Links

If you find any more footage from the Today Show segment “Wake Up With Al”, please email us and we will add it here.