On the Town Common, Saturdays, 9:30 - 1:30
June 26, 2010
Dear :
 
What better way to cap off the the first week of summer than with a visit to the farmers market on Saturday! Lawton's Family Farm will be back at the market this week selling their cheese, grass-fed beef, and veal, and Soluna Garden Farm will have strawberry-basil popsicles made from Warner Farm's organic strawberries.

Watch your e-mail next week for the first opportunity to place advance orders. Customers will be able to order in advance from participating farmers and other vendors and make only one payment online, then just stop at the market and pick everything up all at once. We hope this system will make shopping at the market easier for people who have busy schedules on Saturday or on days when rain is predicted.
Check the farmers market website for additional information about the market, including vendor profiles, frequently asked questions, and the schedule for artists, entertainers, and the rotating business, food, and community group tents. Visit the website for Sustainable Winchester, the sponsor of the farmers market, to get information about current projects, monthly meetings, and volunteer opportunities.
 
Remember that the market will take place rain or shine throughout the season. Try to bring your own shopping bags to the market, and please ride your bike or walk to the market if you can. If you drive, park your car in the Aberjona or Shore Road lot to leave parking spaces surrounding the common open for short-term parking near downtown businesses. The Aberjona lot, which runs along the commuter rail track across from the post office, is free on weekends, including the permit spaces in the end of the lot.
 
We look forward to seeing you on the common on Saturday.

Sincerely,
Winchester Farmers Market Organizing Committee
 
This Week at the Market

       

Vegetables: asparagus, beets (golden, red), bok choi, broccoli, chard (green, red), collard greens, greenhouse cucumbers, escarole, garlic scapes, kale (green, red), kholrabi, lettuce (Boston, green leaf, mesclun mix, red Boston, red leaf, romaine), peas (english, sugar snap), radishes, spinach, squash (summer, zucchini), greenhouse tomatoes (cherry, grape, yellow, red), vegetable plants
 
Fruit: apples (Mcintosh), apple cider, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries

Herbs: basil (green, purple, Thai), chives, cilantro, dill, mint, sage, stevia, thyme, dry herb and spice blends, herbal tea, herb plants
 
Other products: grass-fed beef, bread, chocolate, cheese, eggs, fish, flower plants, herb plants, honey, lobster, maple syrup, popsicles, vegetable plants
 
Entertainment: 10:00-12:00 Winchester Community Music School faculty and students, 12:30 Julia Cirignano

Artist: Susan Vrotsos, paintings and prints
 
Business Tent: Shayna Loeffler, handbags 

Food Tent: Tracy Kinsey, Vermont maple syrup

Susan Cabana will do a juicing demonstration at 11:00 in front of the entertainment tent.

Featured Vendor: Lawton's Family Farm

We are excited to have Lawton's Family Farm as a new vendor at the market this year. Ed and Nancy Lawton, along with daughter Terri, operate this last dairy farm in Norfolk County. Lawton's is a small family farm that has passed through the generations since before 1730. The farm is a Massachusetts Century Farm and also a Massachusetts Dairy Farm of Distinction.

Lawton's Family Farm takes pride in their committment to the health and welfare of their cows. Lawton's sells raw milk from their farm in Foxboro, and they make their own fresh cheese. Their cheeses are made in small batches of 95-120 gallons at a time. They make a Fromage Blanc, which is a soft creamy cheese that is spreadable, as well as good for cooking. Lawton's Fromage Blanc is available plain or flavored with chives, lemon honey, or tomato basil. They also make an Asiago raw milk cheese. In addition to their own cheese, Lawton's will also bring to the market locally produced Smith's cheeses. Stop by Lawton's tent at the market this week for a sample of their delicious cheese!

Lawton's will also bring to the market their own grass-fed beef and veal. They raise their cows without any use of antibiotics or hormones. Because the cows eat grass and get no corn or soy grain, they produce a very lean meat. The beef is available as stew meat, patties, ground, and all natural hot dogs. The humanely raised veal has been compared to the kind of veal from "back Home in Italy." The calves go outside every day, and they are not confined in small crates. Veal is available in many styles: stew, ground, loin chops, shoulder chops, racks, osso bucco, and cutlets.

Featured Artist: Susan Vrotsos

Susan P. Vrotsos will be in the Winchester Artists Network tent this week. Susan paints from her travels and imagination. From sketches in books she creates paintings in watercolor, oil, encaustic and mixed media. At the market, she will demonstrate techniques for sketching and watercolor.

For more information, visit her website at www.susanvrotsos-artist.com.
 
Mass Farmers Markets Strawberry Dessert Festival

The Mass Farmers Markets STRAWBERRY DESSERT FESTIVAL is going on now! Friday, June 11 through Sunday, July 4, 2010.

It's strawberry season! The 3rd annual Mass Farmers Markets Strawberry Dessert Festival, a fun and tasty fundraiser for the over 200 farmers markets state-wide, is back! When you order a dessert featuring the sweet tastes of local berries from one of our participating restaurants or bakeries, you'll be doing good for local farmers--berry good!-- and treating your taste buds at the same time.

From June 11 to July 4, the following eateries will be donating a percentage of sales from specially prepared strawberry desserts to the Federation of Mass Farmers Markets, the only non-profit tasked with supporting and promoting the over 200 markets in our state: 51 Lincoln(Newton), Beacon Hill Bistro(Boston), The Beehive (Boston), Bistro 5 (Medford), Bistro Les Gras (Northampton), Burton's Grill (Boston), Evoo (Cambridge), The Fireplace (Brookline), Cuisine en Locale's ONCE Cheese event, June 19 (Cambridge), Flora (Arlington), Garden at the Cellar(Cambridge), Grill 23 (Boston), Haley House Café(Roxbury), Harvest (Cambridge), Henrietta's Table (Cambridge), Highland Kitchen (Somerville), KO Prime (Boston), Lineage (Brookline), North 26 (Boston), Oleana(Cambridge), Orzo (North Andover), Pejamajo Café (Holliston), Pizzeria Posto (Somerville), Post 390 (Boston), Prose (Arlington), The Bakery at Smolak Farms (N. Andover), Sofra Bakery & Café (Cambridge), The Summer Shack (Boston + Cambridge locations), Sweet (Worcester), Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro (Foxboro), Tatte Fine Cookies & Cakes(Brookline), Tomasso Trattoria(Southborough), Watch City Brewing Company (Waltham), Woodstar Café (Northampton), and 14 Whole Foods Market locations state-wide: Andover, Bedford, Bellingham, Brighton, Dedham, Framingham, Fresh Pond (Cambridge), Hadley, Medford, Newtonville, Prospect Street (Cambridge), River Street (Cambridge), Swampscott, and Symphony (Boston).

Farmers Market Lawn Signs
       
  
A special opportunity is available to support the farmers market during the 2010 season by displaying a lawn sign in your yard to help promote the market. We are looking for several people who live in Winchester or surrounding towns who would be willing to display a lawn sign on their property from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon each week during the market season. If you would be willing to have a sign in your yard but do not want to have to remember to put it out every week, we will arrange to have a volunteer put out the sign on Friday afternoon and remove it on Saturday afternoon. All you have to do is make a few inches of lawn space available!
 
If you are interested in supporting the market by displaying a lawn sign, stop by the market manager's tent at the market to pick up a sign. 
 
Thank you to everyone who has already agreed to display a lawn sign!

Follow the Farmers Market on Facebook and Twitter
 
Visit the farmers market Facebook page to share your photos of the market, post comments, and get updates about the market.

Find us on Facebook

Follow the market on Twitter to get the latest updates from the market on Saturday mornings.

Follow us on Twitter

 Volunteer at the Market

We need volunteers this week (and every week) to help with the farmers market, especially for setup before the market between 8:30 and 9:30 and takedown after the market between 1:30 and 2:30. If you are able to help, please sign up at our online signup sheet to let us know when you are coming.
 
Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to help. Your assistance is especially important in keeping the market running smoothly, and we appreciate everything you do!

We also have some short-term volunteer positions to fill for the next Environmental Fair in October. The next organizational meeting for the environmental fair will be held on June 29 in the evening at the Winchester Public Library. Be a part of this fun, informative, and community-building event! The Environmental Fair will be held on a Saturday in October at the town common (date is being determined). Planning starts in July, with some of the legwork already underway. 

We need Publicist/Marketing, Fundraiser Liaison, Volunteer Coordinator, IT/Website Specialist, and a Recycling Coordinator. Please email Fred Yen at fredyen@winchesterfarmersmarket.org for more information.