Annual Gift Basket Giveaway is BACK

Exciting news! It’s again time for our annual Gift Basket Giveaway, held each fall in honor of the opening anniversary of our little local Market!

Virtual Market vendors have put together an unprecedented collection of THIRTEEN Gift Baskets we’ll
GIVE AWAY, as a THANK YOU
to our wonderful customers!

Any customer who places an order during the next THREE MARKET WEEKS (from this past Tuesday September 7th to Saturday September 25th) is eligible to enter the drawing for the Gift Basket of your choice… or enter the drawing for each to increase your chances of winning!

Look for the category, MCLG, on The Market webpage :-)

When you “order” a Gift Basket, your name will be entered in the drawing for that Basket – we will draw the WINNERS after Market closes Saturday September 25th (there will be Thirteen different winners – once your name is drawn, you’re out of contention for the other baskets)!

Winners will be announced Sunday September 26th on the weblog, and contacted by email, with instructions to pick up their Gift Basket the following Tuesday, September 28th, during regular pick-up hours, 4-6pm!

ANY CUSTOMER WHO HAS PLACED AT LEAST ONE MARKET ORDER IN SEPTEMBER IS ELIGIBLE TO ENTER… so be sure to place your market order this week to ensure your eligibility, and go to the MCLG category to select your favorite Basket… or each one! – But you’ll only be entered once per basket :-)

Up for grabs are the following:

HOMEMAKER GIFT BASKET #1 – $29 value
1 Laundry Butter – Becky’s Buckeye Naturals ($14)
Set of Dryer Balls – Innisfree on the Stillwater Farm ($15)

HOMEMAKER GIFT BASKET #2 – $24 value
Set of Dryer Balls – Rosy Toes Designs ($17)
Ice Cream Pint – The Farmhouse Bakery ($7)

BREAKFAST GIFT BASKET #1 – $26 value
1 lb Bacon – Phil Buehler and Matt Buehler Farms ($7)
1 lb Sausage – Hidden Springs Farm ($7)
English Muffins – Walker Cabin Farm ($5)
8oz Maple Syrup – Sugar Grove Maple Products

BREAKFAST GIFT BASKET #2 – $23.50 value
1 lb Bacon – Phil and Matt Buehler Farms ($7)
1lb Beef Sausage – J & S Buehler Family Farm ($7)
1 Dozen Eggs – Hidden Springs Farm ($4.00)
Cinnamon Rolls – Walker Cabin Farm ($7.00)

BREAKFAST GIFT BASKET #3 – $26 value
8oz Maple Syrup – Sugar Grove Maple Products ($7)
2lb Ham Steak – Hidden Springs Farm ($14)
Coffee Cake (request Gluten-Free if you need) – The Farmhouse Bakery ($5)

TEA GIFT BASKET – $27 value
Jam – Honey Creek Farm ($4)
Rose Hips and Hibiscus Tea – McGuffey Herb and Spice Co. ($7)
Sourdough Crackers – Grumpy Goat Experiment ($5.50)
Coffe Cake (request Gluten-Free if you need!) – The Farmhouse Bakery ($5)
Raspberries – Chez Nous Farm ($5.50)

GREAT GRILLIN’ GIFT BASKET #1 – $26.95 value
1 lb Ground Beef – Bair Trax Dairy ($5.95)
1lb Chicken Chorizo Sausage – Michael’s Pastured Poultry ($8.25)
1lb Chicken Brats – Michael’s Pastured Poultry ($7.25)
Hot Dog Buns – Grumpy Goat Experiment ($5.50)

GREAT GRILLIN’ GIFT BASKET #2 – $27.44 value
1lb Beef Patties – Bair Trax Dairy ($5.95)
1lb Ground Chicken Patties – King’s Poultry Farm ($5.99)
Hamburger Buns – 6635 StudeBaker ($8.00)
Spaghetti Squash – Marrs Produce ($4)

CHICKEN DINNER GIFT BASKET – $30 value
1 Whole Broiler Chicken – King’s Poultry Farm ($10.99)
Focaccia with Asiago Cheese and Herbs – Grumpy Goat Experiment ($5.50)
Fresh Greens Mix – Decker Indoor Farms ($6)
1lb Sweet Onions – Simple Living Farm ($2.50)

SCRUMPTIOUS SALAD GIFT BASKET – $26.00
Bistro Lettuce Mix – Davidson Family Growers ($7)
Chard, Kale Mix – Decker Indoor Farms ($5)
Tomatoes – JM Gardens ($3)
Garlic – Simple Living Farm ($3)
Sweet Onions – Simple Living Farm ($2.50)
Raspberries – Chez Nous Farm ($5.50)

BURGER NIGHT GIFT BASKET – $24.55 value
1lb Ground Beef – J & S Buehler Family Farm ($6.55)
Hamburger Buns – 6635 StudeBaker ($8.00)
Bistro Lettuce Mix – Davidson Family Growers ($7)
Tomatoes – JM Gardens ($3)
Sweet Onions – Simple Living Farm ($2.50)

SPECIAL LITTLE EXTRAS GIFT BASKET #1 – $25 value
Pint of Raw Honey – Pumpkin Patch ($9)
Pint of Ice Cream or Sorbet – The Farmhouse Bakery ($7)
Herb Dressing Mix – McGuffey Herb and Spric Co. ($7)
Jam – Honey Creek Farm ($4)

SPECIAL LITTLE EXTRAS GIFT BASKET #2 – $30.50 value
9" Potted Herb Planter – Green Fins ($16)
Gourmet Brownies – Mucci’s Sweet Treats ($12.50)

Good Luck, and Thank You for your continued support
of our local families, farms, and businesses! :-)

http://miamicounty.locallygrown.net

www.facebook.com/miamicountylocallygrown

20% off King's Whole Broiler Chicken!!

Just in time for the cooler weather of Fall… 20% off Whole Broiler Chickens from King’s Poultry Farm!

Non-GMO, locally raised and processed, and only $8.80 for a whole bird! Time to stock up the freezer!

Farmhouse, Buehler family on Vacation!

The Farmhouse Bakery is off to Florida for a wedding, and Phil and Joan Buehler head to Arizona for some quality time with the grandchildren, so they’re all on Vacation until next week!

But New THIS week –
Thick cut, Non-GMO Bacon and three breakfast Sausage flavors from Hidden Springs Farm

Spaghetti squash from Simple Living and Marrs Produce

Purple Basil and Sage from Grumpy Goat Experiment

And favorite End-of-Summer flavors… Key Lime Fudge from Mucci’s Sweet Treats, and Mom’s Favorite Zucchini Bread from Walker Cabin Farm!

Welcome Back to another delicious local shopping week on the Market!

What are our favorite crops?

Matt Bayman asked me to write an article about which crops grow best in our area, to compliment his story, “Nature’s Grocery Store”, concerning what can be foraged in our area. He had posed the question, “What would happen if you only had nature to rely on for food and you lived in western Ohio?”

So my husband Lee and I discussed all the 70+ fruit and vegetable varieties we’ve grown the past twelve years, for our family, our CSA and herdshare programs, and farmers markets. Our conclusion? Focus on dual-purpose and storage crops!

Backyard gardeners, including the “container-pots-on-the-patio” variety, know the fun freshness of summer favorites such as tomatoes, peppers, cut-and-come-again greens, perhaps even sweet corn. But while we as a family may enjoy those every season, our focus is on what will last long into winter, until our finnicky Ohio spring lets us again grow most of our diet.

Our family goal? Raise 100% of the food we consume. Right now we’re over 90% (we still enjoy bananas and oranges, or have to purchase favorites when our growing year wasn’t perfect for every crop – although we know if we were back in a position to have to do without, we certainly could) – unconventional and unusual, perhaps, but we love the lifestyle and the benefits of eating what we raise, knowing exactly what our children are putting in their mouth (usually! Ah, gotta love toddlers).

What crops are essential for anyone wanting or needing to raise a portion of their diet? Our key criteria for ease and longevity –

1. Low-hassle (even for beginners)
2. Hardy (during a poor season… drought, excessive rains, inexperience, pests)
3. Shelf-life (Assuming most folks don’t can/preserve to our extent, long-term storage was important)
4. Seed-saving (can you save enough seed to plant again, simply?)

Just like everything else, any crop will produce best under ideal conditions, with regular fertilizing, mulching, watering… but with five young children and living off the land, believe me, there’s no such thing as “ideal conditions” for anything around here! Yet we still raise almost all the food we consume and enjoy! Also, I’m nothing resembling a medical professional, and am not suggesting you try or eat anything. I’m simply sharing what has worked for the health and nutrition of our growing family and livestock!

GARLIC – #1 hands down. Simple to grow, a major player in our home medicine cabinet, and best of all, delicious! Its health benefits have been touted for thousands of years, whether you or your livestock are eating it regularly, or using it during a specific illness.

Ideally, plant both a hard and soft neck variety – hards are easier to peel, stronger in flavor, and have larger cloves, yet soft necks store longer when cured well. For ten years we’ve had soft necks to use until the next year’s garlic crop was ready to harvest!

Garlic is also a huge helper in surprising ways – we nurture our seedlings with garlic-soaked water to prevent damping off among our new seeds! The benefits are almost endless for this Garden Glory.

And it’s the perfect time to save back the best looking/largest cloves of your favorite variety (from several bulbs, maintaining genetic diversity!) to plant late this October! I love garlic’s hardiness – no matter if we’ve planted either late or early, thru a cold winter, nasty wet spring, and drought-like summer, it always produces for us.

ONIONS – Up there with garlic due to its versatility in your cooking and home remedies. Bulb onions, whether raised from seed or sets, are like garlic – even if the end result is small, they always produce!

Our green onions overwintered uncovered in a sheltered location (yes, here in Miami County!), producing seed we planted the following year – they simply continued to expand in place, growing more onions to use as we needed them! They’re my husband’s favorite enjoyable crop to grow.

And when we experienced major problems with both the carrot rust fly and onion maggots, we started growing carrots and onions in the same bed to repel each other’s pests! No more problems!

POTATOES – I can fix them daily for a week, different every time, they completely fill us up, yet we never tire of potatoes! Many varieties store well. If you dig a few at a time, it’s not overwhelming! We went 8 years before the potato bugs found us – but if you have several short helpers who catch/squish potato bugs while dreaming of Yukon Golds sliced thin, fried in bacon grease, even better!

Determinant potatoes don’t need hilled – they grow as big as they’ll get, all the plants die at once, yet we simply dig what we need to eat as we go, and dig a few extra plants at a time to set aside in a cool, ventilated, dark area to dry for winter use.

WINTER SQUASH – Best suggestion? Grow a solid stem variety (c. moschata) such as Tahitian Melon. No vineborers (the bane of squash growers!), no fuss, and in taste they replace pumpkin for pies, jam, puddings, soup! Hearty, versatile, healthful, and stores into spring+!

PEAS – This garden candy can’t be beat for fresh eating, in spring and fall! Try a shell pea… easy to let plants dry in place, harvest the pods, and keep those dried peas for winter soups/porridge and next planting!
Planted on St. Patrick’s Day (with potatoes on a good year) then again mid-summer for fall crops, your tall varieties can grow up a trellis, fence (even yard sign frames), or bend cattle panels over to make a walk-thru tunnel! Such easy picking (for our beans, peas, and cucumbers)!

POLE BEANS – Same versatility as peas – good eaten as fresh green beans, yet they dry down on the vine easily to be harvested for seed. All winter, use the dried beans in soups/chili/chowder/you name it!

These are our personal go-to crops. Area libraries have wonderful gardening collections to expand your growing horizons (some of our favorite we’ve borrowed are The Market Gardener by Jean Martin Fortier, Carrots Love Tomatoes by Louise Riotte, anything by John Jeaves, Gene Logsdon or Eliot Coleman, and any Small Farmer’s Journal).

Our favorite seed source? Sand Hill Preservation Center in Calamus IA

A favorite local and social media source? Grower extraordinaire Jenna Monnin on Youtube – Growfully with Jenna!

Our favorite gardening resources? Other growers and gardeners!

miamicounty.locallygrown.net

www.facebook.com/miamicountylocallygrown

Closed next week!

Just a reminder we’re Closed over Labor Day next week!

So get your order in by 9pm tonight, and we’ll be back Sept 7 for orders!

Happy shopping, and thank you for supporting our local Market and producers!

Jandy's Garlic Festival SUNDAY

Join ecological growers Jan and Andy of Jandy’s Garden in Bellefontaine this Sunday for their annual Garlic Harvest Celebration!

12 varieties of their famous soft and hard neck Garlic for sale, as well as music, food, and farmers market vendors – a fun, tasty event!

Starts at 1pm – whether you enjoy touring a beautiful farm and expansive gardens, love cooking with Garlic, or need to stock up on new seed varieties to plant this fall, this is always a great little festival, hosted by two of the most dedicated organic farmers and nicest people you’re ever going to meet!

1pm Sunday August 29th
937-468-2853
janandy1988@yahoo.com
3624 Township Road 136, Bellefontaine OH
Facebook@Jandy’s Farm
Cash or check only

Bair Trax Dairy, Walker Cabin Farm returns!

Welcome Back to the Market three Vendors… First, Walker Cabin Farm, with her Pretzel Bites, English Muffins, Cinnamon Rolls, Garlic Pretzels, and More! Mmmm!

Also, both Bair Trax and Michael’s Pastured Poultry are Back from the Miami County Fair this week!!

And King’s is now offering Cases of both Chicken Pot Pie sizes for sale – 15% off the regular pot pie price when you purchase a case! Those 5" individual sizes are perfect for no-hassle lunches or quick suppers!

Happy Market week! Be safe in the heat!

miamicounty.locallygrown.net

www.facebook.com/miamicountylocallygrown

We're OPEN for Orders!

Welcome Back to another Market week! Hoping everyone is doing well and enjoying the last of their summer before school starts – fall will be here before we know it!

King’s now is offering Cases of both their Chicken Thighs and Wings for sale – 15% off the regular thigh and wing price when you purchase a 15-pkg case! 15 one pound packages, Non-GMO, locally raised and processed!

New Dessert Breads from The Farmhouse Bakery – Chocolate Zucchini Cheesecake, and Blueberry Zucchini! Very summery!

And NEW farm fresh Tomatoes, Peppers, Okra, and Tomatillos from JM Gardens, Grumpy Goat Experiment, and Simple Living Farm! So many colors and sizes… meaty or juicy, hot or sweet… So many to try!!

miamicounty.locallygrown.net

www.facebook.com/miamicountylocallygrown

Unexpected Closure

Unfortunately our family is dealing with some ongoing health problems -

I do apologize, but I need to keep the Market closed this week – I’m sure you all have had a time where something needed to give, and for my husband, children and I, this week it must be the Market.

I very much enjoyed seeing you all today, as usual – what a wonderfully pleasant, eclectic group of folks we have! Thank you for being a joy to work for.

Here’s hoping you all have a good week, stay safe with the heat, and if all works out we’ll open back up next Tuesday August 17th.

Take care, and we’ll simply continue to do what we can.

miamicounty.locallygrown.net

www.facebook.com/miamicountylocallygrown

BOGO Ice Cream deal from Farmhouse!!

This week Only!! The first 10 customers who purchase a pint of Strawberry Ice Cream from the Farmhouse Bakery and Creamery may choose one of the following Pints to try… FREE!!

BUT! You MUST mention in the “comments to the grower” when you order your Strawberry pint, which of the following Free pints you choose :-)

Here are your six choices!

Almond Joy Ice Cream
Blueberry Ice Cream
Chocolate Ice Cream
Cookies ’n Cream Ice Cream
Coffee Lavender Ice Cream
Cookie Dough Caramel Ice Cream

What an awesome Welcome to August cool treat!!

And since they’ll be on vacation next week, this is the perfect time to satisfy your cool sweet treat cravings before they take a Market break!