Fresh Sheet: May 22nd

Another market day is just around the corner! Filled with great food, beautiful jewellery, the creative works of wonderful artisans, and fantastic busking entertainment, there's sure to be something for everyone.

If you are looking for a particular vendor, stop in at the SWEFM Info Tent where you can view a map of the market and figure out where to find your favourite stalls (though we make every effort to keep vendors in consistent locations, our market make-up fluctuates from week to week to accommodate both our part time vendors, and the vendors who bring seasonal items)... of course sometimes, it's more fun to simply wander and happen upon them!

Our veggie growers will have plants ready for your gardens and hanging baskets all set to beautify your front porches, balconies and backyard decks.

Alberta Beverage Container Recycling Corporation will be on site with their mascot, MT (pronounced "Empty") to help us to recycle bottles and cans on site and educate all of us about the importance of recycling.

Remember, next week, May 29th, is our Annual Garden Festival... so please continue saving your egg cartons, old pennies and bags of rice (along with any other food items you might like to donate) to the food bank. The Edmonton Food Bank will be on site accepting donations, we'll be filling a wheelbarrow to overflowing (we hope!) with bags of sealed rice, and Servus Credit Union will be there, organizing and collecting pennies in their community-inspired penny drive on behalf of the food bank.

Here's what you can expect to find at your community market this week...

For The Kids

The giant inflatable slide will be here!!! From now on, each Wednesday, kids can come and have a blast on the towering, incredibly huge, ever-so-fun giant inflatable slide! It's 16 feet wide, 30 feet long and 22 feet high!! Just think how much energy your kids will expend racing up and down this slide... and how well they'll sleep at night! Rides will be $1 each, or $5 for unlimited slides.

Once again, wee ones can be transformed into butterflies and tigers when they get their faces painted with wonderfully creative and vivid designs by The Dolphin Lady that will be sure to spark their imaginations and instil a little wonderment into their lives. Pretzel will be there as well, creating amazing balloon figures in fabulous designs and colours as only he can, sure to amaze the inner child in all of us!

For Your Kitchen

Though the farmers' fields have yet to produce crops with fresh fruits and veggies to bring to market, there are still lots of great offerings to be found on site, Wednesday. Dargatz Family Farms, The Holden Colony and Riverbend Gardens will have their over-wintered potatoes, carrots and squashes on hand. There will be eggs and honey as well. And of course, Good Morning Honey will have their bee-made products on hand.

There are other staples available as well, such as... fresh bread at Prairie Mill Bakery or gluten free bread at Celebrate, Gluten Free. Do you have a hankering for something Mediterranean (think Italy, Greece & Turkey)? There are pre-made items like dips at Theo's Greek Kuzina and Turkish food at Melodi's Kitchen. There are pastas... both regular and gluten-free at Back To Basics.

There's plenty of fresh produce available from our local greenhouses! TR Greenhouses and The Holden Colony will have cucumbers (large, long English and small sized, great for snacking & packing in lunches for the kids), tomatoes (including small, sweet tomatoes on the vine and my personal favourite... the incredibly chewy, meaty & unbelievably flavour filled zebra tomatoes) and peppers (sweet & hot).

Plenty of options are available for meat for your weekday meals, from whole chickens, cuts of beef and bison through to prepared sausages, deli meats and jerkies. Be sure to check out what is available this week... and remember, vendors like Red Tractor Meats and Sunworks Family Farm all accept pre-orders which make your market shopping very simple. Just go to our website (http://www.swefm.ca/meat-vendors.html), find their profile (in alphabetical order on our list) and click on their links to connect to their websites to place your order. Then, show up on wednesday and make your last stop at their booths, pick up and pay for your order, and head straight home to your fridges and freezers.

For Your Wednesday Night "Dinner at the Market"

The food trucks are back! Once again, expect to find delicious comfort food from the food trucks, those gourmet kitchens on wheels. Bully will be back, serving great, inventive foods that feature meat, bread, fruit  & veggie vendors at our market (remember last week's Red Tractor Meats topped salad?). Sailin' On will be on hiatus this week, replaced by Food Fighters (they have served steak sandwiches and chicken parmesan sandwiches in the past). There may be one more meal truck on site this week. And then, of course, Fat Franks will be on hand serving hot dogs and cooked smokies & sausages. Desserts can always be found at Pink Kernel (ice cream, mini donuts, cotton candy), Sweet Stuff (cupcakes), Phil's Fudge, and soft icecream cones at The Butchers' Bus.

This Week's Line-Up

There are new vendors at the market this week, including a few familiar faces... Jenny's Gems will be back. There are also a couple of new vendors, Moonshine Doughnuts (formerly Heritage Baked Goods), Hemperial Fidelis (selling hemp oil and products) and Ada's Soap Shop.

For information on these vendors, and the ones listed below, be sure to go to our website Browse Vendors By Category. There you will find excellent descriptions & eye catching photos of the vendors that come to our market & the products that they bring. Browse by category to find out more about the personalities behind the creations, the produce & the food items, and to find out what each vendor will be bringing to market. Please note that not all vendors you see here will be at EVERY market as some come part time (like when their items are in season, or once or twice a month, etc.).

You will be amazed when you see the wealth of creativity, the level of inspiration and the amazing quality of goods that will be at the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market... your neighbourhood market where communities, artisans and farmers all come together .... this season.

Artisans & Crafts People:
Ada's Soap Shop (natural products that do not irritate eczema, olive oil soap, soap shapes)
Hemperial Fidelis (soaps, lotions, natural bug spray (body/bath stuff), soy candles, 1/4" twine, raw hemp, hemp seeds, organic and pressed hemp oil)
Jenny's Gems (jewellery)
Jewels by Amy (crystal & silver jewellery)

Baked Goods:

Celebrate Gluten Free (gluten free; flax bread, cheese buns & bread, multi grain bread, banana & lemon loaves, cookies, cupcakes, cinnamon buns, brownies)

El Mercado Tortillas (2 types of authentic Mexican corn tortillas)

Inked Cakes (sweet breads & loaves, brownies, bars & squares... formerly Robert's Loaves from Alberta Beach)

Moonshine Doughnuts (gourmet doughnuts in various flavours... formerly Heritage Baked Goods)
Prairie Mill Bread (organic, preservative-free bread)

Raspberry & Cocoa (Tea cakes, puff pastry, croissant, green tea)
Sweet Stuff Cakes (cupcakes)

Meat & Dairy:

Butchers' Bus (Sausage, smokies, pepperoni, pork or turkey jerky)
Food Direct (fish)
Red Tractor Family Farm (fresh, frozen meat) 
Sunworks Organic Farm (chicken, beef, prepared sausages)

Food Trucks & Concessions:
Bully Food Truck (gourmet comfort foods like mac & cheese, poutine, turkey burger, salad, pulled pork grilled cheese sandwich) 
Fat Franks (gourmet hot dogs, smokies & drinks) 
Food Fighters (gourmet sandwiches)
Original Canadian Kettle Popcorn (kettle corn, cotton candy, soft drinks)
 The Pink Kernel (mini donuts, cotton candy, shaved ice, kettle corn, lemonade, water, yo yo balloons)

Fruits And Vegetables:

*** Note... many of our vegetable producers will be bringing plant starts, stored potatoes and garden plants to the first few market days until their produce is ready. Only greenhouse operators will have fresh vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, long beans and cucumbers at the early season markets. Fruit vendors do not start coming until mid June.

Dargatz Family Farm (produce, bedding plants, eggs, pickles)
Holden Colony (vegetables, pickles, salsa, garlic powder)

Riverbend Gardens (vegetables)
TR Greenhouses (veggies, jellies & salt)

Prepared Foods:

Back to Basics (frozen lasagna using fresh pasta including gluten free and vegetarian versions, homemade soup, homemade ice-cream & icecream sandwiches)
Fruits of Sherbrooke (jams, jellies & condiments)

The Glass Pantry (premixed cookie, scone, muffin, bar... in a mason jar)

Good Morning Honey (packaged honey in various sizes, beeswax candles, beeswax, lip balm, night cream)
The Mallow Fellow (gourmet marshmallows in 20 flavours)

Melodi's Kitchen (Turkish food)

Phil's Fudge Factory (Fudge, fudge dipped apples)

Simply Supper (burgers, ribs & ready to go meals)

Theo's Greek Kouzina (prepared Greek food... like amazing tzatziki, humus & red pepper feta dips!!)

A Few Reminders:

Don't forget that the market has moved slightly to a new location... no longer hidden to the west of the rec centre, you will find the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market in the first parking lot, bordered by 23rd Avenue on its south side. Look for the signs, inflatable slide, flags and tents... you can't miss it.

Remember that there is always overflow parking to the west of the Terwillegar Recreation Centre, just follow the signs. Many of the parking lots between the west doors of the rec centre (down the arena hallway) and the Catholic High School (Mother Mary Margaret) are often virtually vacant.

Please drive slowly when visiting the Farmers' Market. Leger Road and the parking lots surrounding the Terwillegar Recreation Centre will have lots of people on foot at market time. There are 2 crosswalks that lead to the market location. Please be mindful of our traffic patrol volunteers.

Volunteers will be on site doing everything from answering questions, manning the Community & Info Tents, entertaining kids and directing traffic to schlepping things and directing people within the rec centre itself. Please be sure to give them a smile and thank them for helping to make our market such a community driven, friendly & inspired place to be.

Visit our website at http://www.swefm.ca
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Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee