Tonight's featured vendor? Mosquito Creek Farm!!

Five years ago, we were hosting a small sorghum-making demonstration on our farm when a strange vehicle came up the drive… enter the delightful Chipps family – modern homesteaders with 6 kids and a passion for natural, healthful living.

Mom Jessica has loved baking since she was a kid, and became THE bread baker of the family because her mom hated it. She’d been on a quest for artisan sourdough breads, and with the economy down a few years ago, they decided to take their perfected breads and abundant garden harvests to the Downtown Troy Farmer’s Market.

It’s definitely a family affair with each member helping at the summer market, where they’re beloved, familiar faces on Cherry Street with their extensive display. They simply do a bit of everything, and do it all so well… the artisan baked goods and pizza crusts, the fresh produce from their bountiful garden… and don’t forget those yummy cookies, like the gingersnaps you sampled tonight at pick-up… as well as Aunt Sarah’s cookies, blending peanut butter, chocolate chips and oatmeal – genius!

I felt I’d been transported to The Little House in the Big Woods when I visited their home, and was thrilled to see Jessica in action, whipping up a mountain of those famous pizza crusts. To watch her make something so delicious look entirely effortless was quite a treat. And to think she’d make 100 crusts at time, when they became her most popular item at the farmer’s market! Incredible!