COVID-19 Update
As things continue to change with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Market makes adjustments to how we are ensuring local food access for all. For at least the next four weeks, the Market has moved to entirely online pre-order/pre-pay and pick-up only. We have limited the number of customers for our Thursday and Saturday pick-ups, and currently both of those days are filled. However, we will likely open up more spots in the coming weeks. We currently have a waitlist and we recommend anyone who is interested in shopping to add their name to the waitlist at fcmarket.localfoodmarketplace.com. Follow us on social media for updates.
We want to give a special thank you to our wonderful vendors, who have adjusted so well during these trying times. They have adapted to our new system and are going above and beyond with offering alternative purchasing option (outside of the market). Make sure to thank your farmer for all of their work to ensure you have local and healthy food!
Welcome new vendors!
Please help us give a special welcome to our new vendors for 2020! Follow them on social media and look out for them at the market (many are participating in online ordering). Our new vendors include: Bourbon & Grace (food truck), Good Grub and Tweets, Essentially Hemp, Bluebird Hill Farm, Taproot Nursery, Two Mile Creek Wood Works, Hither Blooms, Mulberry Orchard, Bluegrass Beef, Bagdad Blooms, Grace Amanda Art, Devers Beef, and Frondosa Farms. Welcome vendors!
Online Ordering offers an abundance of items including plants
Our online ordering system offers a one-stop-shop for our customers to order from most of our Franklin County Farmers Market vendors. There are a variety of vegetables, especially greens right now, but other items too like asparagus and radishes. Meats include beef, pork, goat, and lamb, and vendors are also offering a variety of eggs. There are many baked good options like bagels, breads, and desserts. Our online store also offers spices and canned products as well as body care products.
Plants are another offering from our vendors. Now, in addition to being able to order your groceries online, you can also order flowers and/or vegetables for your garden! Stone Fence Farm and Salad Days Farm are offering many varieties of tomato plants, and Salad Days Farm has many pepper varieties. Brooks Hill Farm is offering a variety of plants from jade and aloe plants to fruit bushes (black raspberry and Alpine strawberry). Bluebird Hill Farm is offering a wide selection of bareroot daylilies to make your garden gorgeous (check out their many beautiful options when you are ordering). Potted flower offerings also include snowdrops and hanging baskets with pansies. Herb plants are being offered by Dandelion Ridge Farm, Brooks Hill Farm, and Salad Days Farm; offerings include yarrow, thyme, sage, parsley, rosemary, oregano, mint, comfrey, cilantro, chive, and basil. As you begin to work on your garden, keep in mind that many vendors have these offerings, making it so easy to have a beautiful flower garden and a bountiful veggie garden!
Facebook Fun
Maybe, like me, you’re a little bored while staying healthy at home. Well, we’ve got great news! We have been doing many new things on Facebook to keep you engaged and entertained. Follow us on Facebook @franklincountyfarmersmarketky to see cooking videos and gather your kids around to read a book in our storytime videos. We are also offering a special activity for youth (17 and younger). Thanks to a generous donation from Bluegrass Realty, we are doing Farmers Market Kids Challenges with a prize for participants. The challenges will go on for as long as we continue social distancing and staying healthy at home, but if you (your kids) participate in ½ of all the challenges we put out, you will receive $10/child to spend at the market (max $30/family). So far, the challenges we have done are to plant a seed (or show us something you have already planted), and to try a new recipe. To enter, send us a picture or video of your child(ren) completing the challenge to our Facebook page over Messenger. We can’t wait to see!
What We’re Eating Now
This week, we tried a new recipe with goat meat, which we had never tried. It was a spin on PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps, but we made it with local ground goat meat. I was actually missing a lot of ingredients, but we made some substitutions and it was so good! It is one of the better recipes I have tried recently. Later this week, I am planning to make gnocchi. I found a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi and I have some local sweet potatoes I still need to use. What are you cooking this week? Share with us on Facebook or Instagram!