Changing Pricing Strategies at the Farmers Market

It’s hard not to notice the rising cost of produce and everything else on the grocery store shelves.  While farmers market vendors could, at one time, rely on grocery store pricing to help gauge fair values for their own produce, in many places this is no longer the case.
Farmers Market produce vendors in particular run [...]

Today at the Farmers Market

I am going to have quite a mixed bag.  Sugar snap peas (last week!  I’m cutting down the vines!), a little baggie of broccoli side-shoots, a bag of Marvel of Venice pole beans, cucumbers of a couple types, some nice bunches of Italian flatleaf parsley, a couple small summer squashes.  Oh, and lots of sweet [...]

South Carolina is apparently not “so gay”

All over the blogosphere and interweb are reports that South Carolina has disavowed the tourism ad campaign (and refused to pay for it) posted in subways during London’s Gay Pride Week, touting “South Carolina is So Gay” and a great travel destination for gay European tourists.
From the MSNBC article by Alex Johnson:
A state employee has [...]

CNN Clip on Hyperion–Must View!

Doing a little back-reading this morning on the Madville Times, I came across this good story and link to a CNN short report on Hyperion’s plans for a refinery near Elk Point, SD (and their shady financing strategy, or should I say lack of strategy).
You can link to Cory’s article first above (I [...]

Community Supported Agriculture and the New Federalism

Every once in awhile I have to get a little political fix. It’s not that I’m a political junkie–it’s more that I’ve been waiting to see when more people would finally start to “get it”–that the old hierarchical systems don’t work anymore and haven’t been working for quite some time now.
I have read a [...]

Today at the Farmers Market,

the question on everyone’s lips will be, “how soon ’til tomatoes?”
Soon–soon.  A week?  Two?  Gulp–three?  It can’t be that long can it?  Well, we’re all just as excited for them as you are.
I am going to have the last of the romaine lettuce from my garden for awhile (all three varieties), sugar snap peas (going, [...]

Today at the Farmers Market

I’ll have broccoli, sugar snap peas, baby carrots, romaine lettuce, and a few bunches of Italian parsley, as well as a couple bags of other herbs–a couple spearmint and one of tarragon.
I’ll also have some licorice mint plants for sale–lovely for making tea, especially mixed with other mints and a bit of lemon balm, basil, [...]

The Short, Sweet Season of the Sugar Snap Pea

Sometimes it seems easier to gauge the velocity of a thing when it is going rather than when it is coming.
A few weeks ago I had told my members that the snap peas were blossoming and a few pods were forming, and it would likely be two weeks before they appeared in deliveries. The [...]

Farmers Market Today!

I don’t have a lot of stuff, but what I have is good and fresh–harvested this morning.

I’ll have a few heads of speckled and red romaine lettuce, a ton of bunches of dillweed, some carrots, baby beets with greens, sugar snap peas, and white turnips.

If you are wondering why I didn’t mention the asparagus that [...]

Salmonella Scare with Fresh Tomatoes

The salmonella-tainted tomatoes are not coming from homegrown tomatoes or tomatoes you would buy in any producer-only farmers market.
The wide distribution of the tainted fruits gives you the immediate cue that these tomatoes are coming from a big industrial ag farm/complex in one place (where they could be tainted in the field, or from handling/processing), [...]