Enter our Mother's Day Giveaway!!

This week only!!

Enter one (or all!) of our FIVE Giveaways, in honor of Mother’s Day!!

Any of our wonderful Market mothers are eligible to enter – simply visit the MCLG category and add any of the Giveaways to your shopping cart!

Up for grabs are the following…

Two different Fresh Flower Bouquets from Morningside Meadows Flower Farm, full of all kinds of colorful spring blooms!

And Three different Wooden Flower Arrangements in 8oz mugs – full of beautiful roses, hand-painted pansies, daisies, and more!

Check out our Facebook page or visit the MCLG category on our website for pictures of these beauties, and to sign up!!

Winners will be drawn this Saturday after Market closes at 9pm, announced on the Weblog email Sunday April 25th, and may pick up their beautiful flowers during Market pickup 4-6pm next Tuesday, April 27th!

If anyone of our male customers would like to enter their wives or mothers, just let me know the name of the mother you’re entering in the giveaway, so the winners can be announced by name!

Say Hello to our Featured Vendor...

Our latest Featured Vendor is…

Debbie Walker, of Walker Cabin Farm!

This is a woman of limitless talent who I tried unsuccessfully to coerce into joining the Market when we began back in 2016! But she was happily selling at the St. Paris Market, and unsure her schedule would allow her to take on an additional outlet – I couldn’t have been happier when the timing was right for Debbie to finally join us last year!

If you’ve seen the rustic-looking cabin on her product labels, you’ll understand where her business got it’s name – The first time we went up the half-mile driveway through the Walkers’ serene 60 acres near Kiser Lake, it felt as if we’d been transported back to a slower, simpler, more picturesque time – coming around the corner for an initial glimpse of the cabin, recreated to resemble one typical of our area about 1815, I was in awe.

Same as when I entered the charming home, where everything modern is skillfully hidden yet right at your fingertips, a unique blend of picture-perfect old-fashioned beauty and the most necessary conveniences for a comfortable modern life. I can’t do justice to the expertly, beautifully melded results, but Debbie Walker’s baked goods are the only testament necessary.

Indirectly, she has her former boss in Columbus to thank for getting her into the baking business. As with many workplaces, there were often carry-ins for birthdays and anniversaries to celebrate, and after regularly getting raves for the baked goods she brought in, Debbie’s boss encouraged her, adamant that someone would willingly pay Debbie for such delectable delights, starting with her boss!

Then, new to the area and looking to make friends, she stumbled across an ad for the Saint Paris Farmer’s Market in 2013. Calling to ask if they were interested in baked goods, it was to her and their good fortune that at that time no one specialized on bakery at the market! From there over the past 8 seasons she’s developed a very loyal customer base who weekly attend the market in Saint Paris, and that’s one of the things she misses when the traditional market season ends – the interaction with her regular customers. That’s also something all our Virtual Market vendors look forward to – the opportunity to put names with faces when meeting customers at either our seasonal Night Markets at First Place or at Virtual Market pick-up when they take their twice annual turn of being my Market volunteer.

The market in Saint Paris happens to be one of the longest running summer farmer’s markets in the area, going May to mid-October from 3-6pm on Friday afternoons. Conveniently right on State Route 36, you can’t miss the little market set up in front of the former fire station. And although Debbie’s best sellers fluctuate to a point, her cinnamon rolls and pretzel bites are steady summertime favorites.

It’s no wonder Debbie’s baked goods are incredibly, consistently perfect – the precise, organized workspace in her kitchen is the same – in a word, perfect, for both her comfort and her needs. The custom-built bread table is her favorite part, designed specifically for her, a woman who takes her baking seriously. Half of the butcher block top is literally for only kneading dough. Debbie emphatically explained, “Nothing else is ever set on it!”

Her favorite to bake? English muffins, which happens to be a customer favorite on the Market. She was enthusiastic in telling how she’d totally reworked the way she shapes and finishes them for more consistent results, and is now thrilled she can be confident they’ll always turn out. Anytime she drops off a package, while they’re waiting on our front tables to be organized into customer baskets, someone always notices them and comments about how perfect they look! And how good for us they’re as delicious as they are pretty!

With the cozy, peaceful atmosphere of her home in which to work and surrounded by gorgeous yet purposeful antiques, I laughingly imagined even myself being able to dependably turn out more reliable results from the oven, so my husband wouldn’t have to say, with a teasing smile, “Do you think you could make it like this again?” After 11 years of marriage, it’s no wonder convincing him to give me a request for dinner or dessert is like pulling teeth – he could request the same bread every day for a week, and each would be as unique as the day it was made :-)

Not so with Debbie – I can picture her going about the day’s baking with her quiet, tranquil efficiency, enjoying what she does in a setting that suits her. From the old-style cabinetry to the peaceful woods, when she told me she just likes the feel of it all, I commented, “It must be such a fun space to bake in.” Her reply reflects her baked goods, simply perfect – “And it is.”

New this week!

Several brand new items and the return of favorites!!

Hidden Springs Farm has Sirloin Tip and Rolled Rump Roasts from their Non-GMO, Pasture Raised beef on the Market!

The Buehler family just added Jowl Bacon, Hamburger Patties, Beef Tongue, and More!

Simple Living now has both turnips and radishes available!

And the Grumpy Goat Experiment has Rainbow Swiss Chard to offer as well!

Gotta love Spring :-)

Broilers 20% off! Flowers and Farmhouse to Return!

The Farmhouse Bakery will be back the first week of May, unveiling new delectable desserts when they return! Yay and yum!

Whole Broiler Chickens from King’s Poultry Farm – 20% off this week, and always Non-GMO! Buying the whole bird to have ALL the different cuts, plus the bones to make stock – best bang for your buck!

Plenty of greens and fresh herbs on the Market as we gear up for spring favorites – watch for asparagus, turnips, radishes, peas, seedlings and transplants – such an exciting time of year!

Watch later this week as we welcome back Morningside Meadows Flower Farm! :-)

And thanks to Mucci’s Sweet Treats for the incredible Dark Chocolate Raspberry Brownies at Pickup tonight, wow!

We're Back with New Products, New Specials, and a New Vendor!

Welcome to the Market in April!

First we Welcome our newest young entrepreneur and grower, Rosemary’s Garden from Laura! She’ll be offering herbal jellies and goodies seasonally as her flowers and gardens bloom – first up… Forsythia Jelly!!

New from Hidden Springs Farm in Troy – Rolled Rump Beef Roasts, Fresh Ham Steaks and Pork Shoulder Steaks! From their Pasture Raised, Non-GMO cattle and hogs – and they don’t use any chemicals or antibiotics!

Plus a New Special this week from King’s Poultry Farm – 20% off their Cheddar Jalapeno Chicken Brats!! Just the perfect touch of Jalapeno in their tasty Cheddar Brat!

So whether you’re looking for sweet, savory or spicy, there’s plenty of excitement on the Market as we roll full steam ahead into Spring!!

Congratulations to our Winners!

Welcome Spring Flower Arrangement – Heather Rocco

Chicken Noodle Dinner – Cheryl Rider

Easter Bonnet Flower Arrangement – Judy Nickras

Sausage Breakfast – Ellie Nidzgorski

Springtime Flower Arrangement – Maria Crist

Brats and Buns – Cindy Andrews

CONGRATULATIONS to our Winners, and thanks to everyone who entered!!

Watch for our upcoming Giveaways for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day!!

We’ll reopen for orders Tuesday April 6th – Everyone have a Blessed Easter!

20% off Chicken Breast, Non-GMO Beef, and Bair Eggs!

This week only! 20% off Non-GMO Chicken Breasts from King’s Poultry Farm!

Brand new on the Market – pasture raised, Non-GMO Ground Beef from Hidden Springs Farm in Troy!

And Bair Tax Dairy now has Organically fed Eggs again – must be Spring!

Last chance to order before Easter!

This is our final March Market of the year!

Be sure to sign up for our Spring Giveaways! Look for the MCLG category under The Market tab on our website!

We’ll draw the 6 lucky winners after Market closes this Saturday evening, and prizes will be picked up next Tuesday March 30th!

Anyone who has placed a March Market order is eligible to win :-)

Good luck, happy shopping, and enjoy Spring!

Are you surviving Monsoon Season?

Ah, Spring – the glorious time of year that makes Mud the name of the game on the farm…

When you wonder where your preschooler ventured off to, only to find her boots stuck fast in the Mud up to her knees, singing to herself and waiting for someone to hear her (thank Heaven it wasn’t my nervous one who would have been a wreck!)…

When your husband calls and tells you not to come home because you’d need a canoe to get up the driveway…

When you look at the spaces where your garden should be and find it inconceivable anything could possibly grow there in the near future…

When your second grader says, “I’m heading out to make sure the sheep haven’t floated away” and he comes back in to show you his arms grew 6 inches (since yesterday, seemingly) and do I care if he comes in wet because his raincoat doesn’t fit?…

When your two year old stands forlornly staring at the rain beating the window, repeating, “Water. Eewwwwyy” ad nauseum.

I’m fresh out of words and positivity, folks. It’s all floated away ;-)

But wait! Could that be the sun?? It’s the makings of a beautiful day!

Greens Fins Returns to the Market!

How appropriate that our Aquaponic vendor, Green Fins, returns to the Market as I look out over our new lake with the creek breaking its banks!

You’ll find her chard, romaine, kale, and pak choi again available, chemical free and fertilized only from her hard-working little fish!

Stay safe and warm with all the rain and the wind – how wonderful Ohio keeps us on our toes!

And makes me even more glad for both new calves and piglets being born to keep us happily busy and distracted, and especially for our most recent discovery of new bunches of early spring flowers growing in unexpected spots – that’s I think one of my favorite charms of living on an old farmstead – annually discovering blooming beauties in the most random places!

Hope your rainy day is full of a bit of surprising beauty as well!