Are you a Growing Kid?

If you are a kid and like to plant and grow things...you could be a "Growing Kid" at the DFM.  Come sell your home grown fruits and veggies two times during the Market season.

Stop by the DFM booth for more information or Email info@davidsonfarmersmarket.org 

Before, during or after your Market shopping tomorrow, stop by Town Hall between 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.to have your posture evaluated, blood pressure or PH checked, a muscle balance analysis or a chair massage.

Special demonstrations and workshops will be held throughout the morning.  Red Mango smoothies too!

Follow here for event details.

Mark you calendars for Friday, Nov. 11 -Summit Coffee's Movember evening 5k!

Experience a night run in downtown Davidson, followed by good times at Summit Coffee with your friends, family and neighbors. 

Visit Summit Coffee to pick-up a registration form and have a cup of Java.

Don't forget to ask the male Baristas the significance of their Movember mustaches?

Chef Joe's demo last Sat. was fun!  He was very interactive with the crowd and the gnocchi was awesome. Chef invited the crowd to help form the gnocchi too.

He did not provide a recipe but told the
crowd they could e-mail him to get it.

Here is an overview:

Gnocchi-roast sweet potatoes, rice or mash.  Combine with egg yolk and flour by cutting in with pastry cutter.  Shape into gnocchi, cook in boiling water for about five minutes until they float.  Remove from boiling water and plunge
into an ice bath to stop the cooking. Toss with a little olive oil to prevent sticking.

Chef Joe sautéed the cooked gnocchi in olive oil, butter and torn sage until slightly browned and fragrant.  He then added the corn and
turnip greens OR arugula, parmesan cheese and a bit of pasta water to thicken the sauce.  He seasoned with salt and pepper.  So yummy!  The sweet potato gnocchi is offered on Rooster's menu.

Thanks to these DFM Vendors for donating to the demo: Wild Turkey for the eggs, Landis Gourmet Mushrooms for the sage, Lomax Incubator Farm for the turnip greens, KC Farms for the arugula and Twin Oak for the corn.

The Demo Team

Be sure to check out Chef Vera at 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.  She's preparing a Pasta Wench's Four Cheese Ravioli's along with a roasted pumpkin, hog jowl and sage sauce. 

If you haven't experienced the Pasta Wench's succulent pastas or Chef Vera's seasonal secrets, come by and taste.

You may find Personal Chef, Vera Samuels, right here.

Market Events this Week

*Music: Student Group & Ruth Swallow

*Chef Demo: Chef Vera Samuels, 9:30 & 10:30 a.m.

Our word "Paradise" comes from the term "Pairidaeza" the Persian name given for an enclosed scented garden. Since some varieties of Lavender are native to Persia, this delightful herb could very well have graced these ancient gardens.

My own more recent love affair with Lavender began in 2004. After seeing the most beautiful and intriguing of gardens - Jardin du Soleil - pictured from California, I thought, "If they can grow Lavender in California, I can grow it in North Carolina."

This began my research, study and reading of Lavender - its history, botany, cultivation and harvesting. Becoming eventually, of course, stymied in information to the point of inertia, my farmer Dad rescued me in a day!

Hearing my confused discussion of the needs and demands of growing lavender, he simply took matters into his own capable farm-skilled hands - ordered and had delivered to the field all the proper nutrients and announced to me, "Rita, your field is ready - go plant your Lavender. I am not totally convinced that I would not still be "in the books" reading/studying/researching.

Even though I have found that Lavender cannot be so easily grown in NC as in CA, I now have a couple of acres with approximately 600 Lavender plants including the cultivars Grappenhall, Grosso, Abrialli, Provence and Hidcote Giant as well as the English species Munstead.

A RAFI (Rural Advancement Fund International) grant in 2011 has been a great assistance to me. The Imhoff family who sell baked goods and produce at DFM help me with planting, harvesting and the crafting of that most Victorian item - the Lavender Wand. Visit The Lavender Garden's new website at www.thelavendergarden.net to view our most delightful photo gallery and shop our store.

Few people could not be seduced by the sight and scent of a Lavender field in full bloom with its fragrance and color. You, too, might surely be enchanted by Lavender's beauty and many healthful and versatile uses.

Rita, The Lavender Garden

Dan, Dan the Pigman