Fresh Sheet: May 14, 2014

 

Welcome to the 2014 Market Season!

Join us WEDNESDAY in the Terwillegar Recreation Center Parking Lot from 4:30-7:30

Opening day is going to be a blast as we launch our Sprouts Program for kids, host Puppets on a String, eat dinner at our favourite food trucks, browse our artisans' wares, and load up on the best vegetables, meat, baking and ready-to-eat foods the city has to offer. 

Join us here on the "Market Fresh Sheet" every Tuesday to see what's fresh and happening at your favourite farmers' market! For market shopping tips, be sure to check out this page to ensure your market visit is everything it should be. And remember, please leave Fido at home- no dogs are allowed where food is being served! 

  

We are very excited to be launching our Sprouts Program for kids this season. Children between 4-12 will receive a $2 token every week to spend with our fruit and vegetable vendors, along with their own mini shopping bag and an entry into a draw to win a healthy prize pack from Choose Well! Come early to ensure your child has a spot in this fantastic new program. For more information on the Sprouts Program, click here.

Momstown is back this year! Bring your child to their tent for a fun craft throughout the summer. This week, crafty kids will be creating newspaper planters and planting vegetable seeds to grow for The Edmonton Food Bank's Plant a Row, Grow a Row program. Children can bring their full-sized veggie back at the end of the season to donate to the Food Bank!

We don't fail to entertain at the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market! Check out this week's entertainers and buskers below. 

Puppets on a String is back for opening day this season! This local group will be performing a puppet show for children by the info tent. Be sure to stop by and say hello to the puppeteers and their fuzzy pals!

Two balloon artists, Pretzel and Russ, and the face painter extraordinaire, Lady Dolphin, will be joining us this week. Their services are great for kids of all ages (even you, Dad)!

Austin the Busker is back with his guitar this week, and we all know he has the powers to make the ladies dance! If you think you have what it takes to play your instrument at SWEFM, be sure to check out our Become a Busker page. 

The Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market aims to enhance and support our vibrant community. Check out how to engage with your neighbours this week!

The Edmonton Food Bank will be in our community tent accepting donations and promoting their Plant a Row, Grow a Row program. Learn what you can plant in your garden this year to help those less fortunate come harvest time and be sure to bring a non-perishable food item to donate!

Servus Credit Union, a sponsor of the Southwest Edmonton Farmers’ Market, will be on site beside the community tent on opening day.  Come on by to the Servus tent and play their gumball game. If you get a green gumball, you will win an awesome pair of green color pop Servus ear buds!  They will even be giving away reusable totes to anyone who drops by the Servus tent (limited quantity).  On top of all the fun, there will be a contest to win a Servus gift package including 4 Telus World of Science tickets and more.  Come by the Servus tent to learn more!

The Terwilegar Riverbend Advisory Council will be promoting their 10K Rock N' Run coming on June 1st. Stop by and say hello! 

 

Veggies may not be coming from the fields yet, but we'll have piles of root crops, greenhouse favourites and bedding plants available this week:

Dargatz Family Farm will be bringing four culinary herb pots to market: "Country Kitchen" with basil, garlic chives, parsley, thyme, sweet marjoram and purple sage; "Italian Chef's Choice" with two kinds of basil (green and purple), lemon thyme, rosemary and two kinds of oregano (variegated and hot & spicy; "French Cuisine" with parsley, rosemary, purple sage, thyme and tarragon and "Tasty Tomato" with a large tomato in the centre of the pot surrounded by various herbs.

Holden Colony will be bringing a variety of vegetables and preserves.

Riverbend Gardens will have herbs, tomato plants (see the varieties available here), flowers, vegetable seedlings, hanging baskets, along with potatoes, carrots, onions and cabbage.

S4 Greenhouses will be bringing tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce and more!

Our meat line-up has some old favourites and some new vendors to try: 

Sunworks Farm brings a variety of grass-fed and organic meats to market.

Jerky Jerky is new to market and will be bringing a variety of dried jerky products. Yum!

This season we're proud to include baking vendors that cater not only to your sweet tooth, but to your dietary restrictions, too! From gluten-free to nut-free, everyone can treat themselves at SWEFM this season. 

Celebrate, Gluten Free is the perfect option for those with gluten sensitivities. They're bringing many items this week including multigrain buns and Celebration Cakes for pick-up or order.

Raspberry & Cocoa is back and will be bringing their delicious croissants and other baked treats to market.

Sweet Stuff is back this season with her delicious and adorable mini and full-sized cupcakes. They're perfect for a sweet little treat!

Confetti Sweets is our latest specialty cookie vendor at SWEFM. Try a coconut cookie this week; they're fabulous!

Cafe O' Play's Little Crumbs is our brand-new nut-free baker. They will be bringing Fruity Pebble squares, pumpkin seed macaroons, "Lemon Crumbs", "Little Crumbs", pizza buns, cinnamon buns, Oreo pops, cookies and locally-roasted coffee this week.

Prairie Mill Baking Co. is back this season with their locally-baked bread. They have something for everyone, so say hello this week!

 

Want a quick and delicious take-home food item? We've got you covered!

Birds and Bees Winery will be bringing their delicious honey wines and meads to market this week. Grab a bottle to enjoy on the deck after dinner!

Cravings Gelato will be bringing their fantastic gelato in a wide variety of flavours. Get more than one... we won't judge!

Fruits of Sherbrooke will be bringing their delicious preserves made from rescued fruit.

Melodi's Kitchen will be bringing baklava, beef and feta cheese sigara boregi, spinach boregi, apple cinnamon cookies, raspberry jam cookies, Easter bread with raisins, simit, lentil burgers, tahinli corek, eggplant dolma, and yaprak sarmasi.

Mini Kitchen specializes in delicious Indian and Thai food. Stop by and say hello!

The Mallow Fellow is back with new and old favourite flavours including cotton candy, licorice, bubble gum, espresso, grapefruit, toasted coconut, cinnamon roll,
and more!

Theo's Greek Kouzina bringing their well-loved greek dips and treats to market this week.

Honest Dumplings will be bringing four types of dumplings this week, all made with organic unbleached flour and fresh ingredients: Maple pork belly with quinoa and baby bok choy; pork with edamame beans and shrimp; spicy chicken with peanuts and flat beans and spicy tofu with peanuts.

The Violet Chocolate Company is back with their delicious specialty chocolate!

Simply Supper brings ready-to-eat meals to market to make your busy life easier.

Freaking Fantastic Flax will be bringing whole golden flax seed, ground flax, granola bars and trail mix to make snacking easier in the coming week!

 

No farmers' market visit is complete without dinner at one of our fantastic food trucks. Where will you eat this week?

Bully Food Truck makes drool-worthy comfort food using fresh and local ingredients.

Fat Franks is back and will be ready to serve you their delicious hot dogs and smokies with all the fixings!

The Pink Kernel will be at market for all of you who can't turn down childhood favourites like mini doughnuts, cotton candy and snow cones.

Original Canadian Kettle Corn, a farmers' market staple, will be here this week satisfying all of your cravings for this summer favourite!

Yellowbird Food Truck is back this season with their Japanese fusion cuisine.

Knosh Food Truck will be joining us on opening day with their UK comfort food. This week they'll have scones and clotted cream and their very own version of "Harry Potter Butterbeer". You'll have to stop by to see what they mean!

Ada's Soap Shop is joining us again this season, so be sure to stop by to try their wonderful handmade soap and bodycare products.

See you at market!

It Takes A Community to Make A Market Flourish

In ancient times, when man first gathered together and settled in the verdant valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (in present day Turkey and Iraq), civilizations developed around food. The only reason to settle and cease to be nomadic was to plant, raise and harvest food crops. Roots were put down, both literally and figuratively, and civilization as we know it today, was born.

Since ancient times, communities have gathered around food.

It nourishes us and it gives us reasons and opportunities to gather together, to connect, to unite and to socialize. Our lives are nourished by it and made richer for it in so many ways.

Crunchy, fresh cukes from Riverbend Gardens
& wonderfully fragrant dill ready to make pickles

When I first started going to farmers' markets, the idealist in me was simply there to get the best quality fruits and vegetables that I could find to feed my family very well, both from an aesthetic and a nutritional perspective. I zipped in and out with tremendous efficiency: it was, at that point in my life, simply a place of commerce. However, I now have a little more life experience behind me, and what I've come to realize both in my travels around the world and through my work behind the scenes with the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market board, is that farmers' markets can be so much more:

• A farmers' market can be a community gathering place. 
• It can be a place where people meet, enhance, enjoy and support each other, be they farmers, producers, artists, craftsmen, shoppers, volunteers, organizers, community league directors, market planners or generous market sponsors. 
• It can be a place for people to connect, not only with the people who run and support the market, but a place to connect with family, neighbours and friends. And strong connections are the foundation of a vibrant, healthy community.
• It can be a place to support the local economy. 
• It can be a place to enjoy a meal or a delicious snack with family and friends.
• It can be a place to meet new people and have fun.
• It can be a place to witness great beauty and inspiring artistry.
• It can be a place to experiment and try new things, such as a new type of food, an unusual vegetable, an intriguing spice mix, a neat combination of foods from a food truck.
• It can be a place to learn something new... whether it be an artist's perspective or perception of beauty, a new recipe, something that is offered in your community such as an event or a service that you didn't know existed, or a new way to combine and prepare foods.
• And it can be a place to form strong connections with friends and neighbours, vendors and family, old and new.

They say, "It takes a community to raise a child." And while I have most definitely witnessed and participated in that wise, old saying, I also know that it takes a community to do a lot of truly amazing things.

There's no doubt about it: it takes a community to make a market flourish and for it to be successful. 

And our market is no exception. I have been humbled and amazed by the people who work behind the scenes well before market day or even market season, in order to bring you our wonderful local, community market. There are so many people, from the organizers, community league representatives and volunteers through to the individual vendors... the artists, crafstmen, food producers, chefs, farmers and growers... all working very hard and very creatively to make our third market season a rip roaring success.

Make coming to your community market a habit this year. Your life, and the lives of the people you care about, will be richer for the experience.

Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market runs every Wednesday from May 15th to October 2nd, 4:30-7:30pm. I really hope to meet you there!


Visit our website at http://www.swefm.ca
Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/swefm.ca
Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee