This weekend we're expanding beyond our market boundaries to bring you the freshest produce and locally made products in Lexington.

Begin your weekend with the Follow the Food Farm Tour on Saturday. The kick-off breakfast will start at 9:00am at Food Chain and will feature products from Lexington Farmers' Market members. Our market itself is Tour Stop #4. There, we'll share some interesting market facts before setting you free to mingle with your wonderful farmers and producers. For more information about the tour, parking, and trolley options, please visit fayettecountyfarmtour.com.

Starting at 11am on Saturday, we'll have a mini-mart set up at Crave Lexington featuring some our members' value-added and non-perishable products. Come visit us at the MoodDance Pavilion in Beaumont Circle all day Saturday and Sunday to partake in this unique offering. For more information about Crave Lexington, please visit cravelexington.com

As always, our Saturday and Sunday markets are open and packed with the last tastes of summer and the first tastes of fall. What a wonderful time of year!

See You At Market, 

Josh England & Stephanie Hopkins

Lexington Farmers' Market Assistant Managers

josh@lexingtonfarmersmarket.com

stephanie@lexingtonfarmersmarket.com

In Your Community

Look for the LFM around town. You might be surprised where you find us.

AT YOUR COMMUNITY CENTER! Starting this fall, we will be offering two monthly classes at the William Wells Brown Community Center and two monthly classes at the Winburn Community Learning Center. Visit our Event Calendar for class descriptions and details.

ON THE BUS! Hop On & Look For Us! The next time you ride a Lextran bus to work, school, or around town, you very well may see our logo inside the bus. Snap a photo and send it to the email address below - you could be featured on our Facebook page!

IN YOUR MAILBOX! Don't forget to turn in the postcard you received at any LFM Information Booth to receive a seasonal calendar, magnet, and coupons! 

Stephanie Hopkins

Food Desert Initiative Coordinator

Stephanie@lexingtonfarmersmarket.com

The 2013 show will include two cooking presentations by celebrity chefs The Deen Brothers in Rupp Arena and cooking demos by award-winning local and regional chefs. The show will also include:

• National & Regional Cookbook Authors
• Culinary Seminars
• Quick Tips booth
• Local Wineries
• Restaurant Row
• Traditional Foodcraft

Now in its 5th year, the Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show is the event of the year for everyone who loves food, cooking and entertaining. Featuring more than 100 exhibitors including specialty food companies, caterers, restaurants, kitchen accessories and appliance distributers.

Everyone's favorite The Marketplace will showcase products to sample and purchase. Kentucky Agricultural Commissioner Comer sums it nicely by saying "The Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show is the biggest event of the year for Kentucky food lovers. To have one of the world's most famous chefs and fresh, healthy, delicious Kentucky Proud products all under one roof is something well worth experiencing!"

The Kentucky Proud Incredible Food Show is held at Lexington Center in Lexington, KY. It is easily accessible from I-75 and I-64.   

For more information, call (859) 233-4567.

• Green & Red Apples
• Celery
• Grapes
• Honey

Fayette/Clark County

 

We won't be at the Saturday market this week, but our cheese is going to be all over town.

 

Early Saturday morning our cinnamon chèvre will be part of the complimentary breakfast sponsored by our very own market at FoodChain which kicks off Follow the Farm Tour.  The tour includes downtown and U.K. gardens and highlights that you might never get to see on your own, then moves out Richmond Road and Athens-Boonesboro Road to agricultural activities.  It's all sponsored by  Fayette County Extension in conjunction with the Crave Lexington Festival.  (I know, there is so much going it, it gets confusing!)  Go to followthefarm.com for more information.

 

Then ... come and join us on the farm from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and meet our caprine divas (aka charming goats!) up close and personal - and tour our cheese plant.  Bring a picnic if you would like, and if you have a hankering for goat cheese, we will have plenty on hand, along with other treats as yet to be determined.  Hint: Pawpaws.

 

If you have signed up for the fabulous Hi-Lo-Slow dinner sponsored by Crave on Saturday night, our cheese will be included on Chef John Foster's menu.  And if you are worn out just reading about all the festivities, just cruise by Good Foods and pick up some of our feta or fresh chevre from the cheese counter.

 

We will be back at the market on Sunday - if we are still standing!

 

Email us at gourmetgoats@msn.com if you have any questions and do check out our new website at bleugrasschevre.com for a brief visit with our goats.

 

This week's photo is of our beautiful BABY SQUASH.  We are so pleased to finally have it available for you again!  Last year we ended up not even planting squash because of the terribly hot and dry weather, and the year before that our harvest was not good.  So, they're BACK!!  Picked with blooms wherever possible.....weather permitting.  Sweet and tender and beautiful on your plate!  We'll also have some a little bit larger....good for grilling, sauté, or just pop them in your spaghetti sauce to cook!

Blue Moon Farm has 6 weeks left at market for this year, and many of you are starting to stock your freezers with our local meat offerings for the winter.  If you need more than a couple of something, we would appreciate your giving us a heads up so we have enough on hand to fill your needs and still have some for others.  Please email us at garlic@bluemoongarlic.com  

We have Stone Cross Farm's wonderful PASTURED PORK products- Bacon; Breakfast sausage- now in Medium, Mild with Extra Sage, or Hot; Piggy Links;  Ground Pork; Chops- bone-in or boneless; Loin Roasts; Shoulder/Boston Butt; Tenderloins; Jowl Bacon to cook with your beans.  European Sausages- Italian- Hot or Sweet; Chorizo- links or bulk; English Bangers;  Knockwurst/Hot Dogs; Bratwurst.

From Colcord Farm we carry GRASS FINISHED BEEF products-  Steaks- Ribeye, NY Strip, Sirloin, Filets, Flat Iron; Whole Beef Tenderloin; Chuck Roasts; Rump Roasts; Short Ribs; Ground Beef; Burger Patties; and Ground Round.  A new product is BEEF BRATWURST!  All STEAKS and the whole tenderloin are 30% off!

Bourbon County LAMB- Ground; Stew Meat; Racks; Chops; Spare Ribs; Shanks, Roasts.  

GARLIC BRAIDS are traditionally the best way of storing garlic for the winter.  The plant is left intact, which helps to slow the dehydration process, and it looks great hanging in your kitchen to boot!  Handmade by Jean and Leo, we'll have at least 3 varieties from which to choose.  Lots of BAGGED GARLIC, and single BULBS, and our own GARLIC POWDER, smoked or not.  PEPPER POWDERS also!  GARLIC SCAPE PESTO will keep in your freezer all winter too!

Stone Cross Farm's handmade SOAPS make a perfect birthday or holiday gift....a great stocking stuffer!  9 different kinds in wonderful scents!

Sunrise Bakery's ARTISAN BREADS and PASTRIES have become a weekend habit for many of our customers.  Start your day with a sticky CINNAMON BUN or BLACKBERRY MUFFIN, or try a GARLIC BAGEL!  We now have Bleugrass Chevre's soft GOAT CHEESE to top them!  Lots of different BREADS for school lunch sandwiches, to accompany your family dinner, or for breakfast toast!

FRESH CUT BASIL and CILANTRO, hydroponically grown BUTTERHEAD (Bibb) and ROMAINE LETTUCE, and ARUGULA from Vibrant Greens in Madison County.

See you this weekend........rain or shine!

Special orders? garlic@bluemoongarlic.com

We were featured on Food News and Chews on Fox TV Sunday night. Here's a link.  

Our cheese is made from all natural JD Country Milk, a family owned Mennonite dairy farm in Logan County. The cows are pasture grazed and never given any antibiotics or hormones. Instead they are fed a vitamin enriched diet and all the grass they can eat. The milk is not homogenized and is pasteurized at just 145 degrees, then quickly cooled to preserve the natural flavor and enzymes that Mother Nature intended. We think the milk tastes better because the cows are happy.

You won't see hydraulic presses and fancy modern equipment around here. Instead, we make our cheeses by hand using traditional European techniques to protect the delicate curds. This is a lot more work and very time consuming, but we believe it creates better cheeses with rich complex flavors. We hope you agree.

Thanks for your support. See you at the market.

Boone Creek Creamery

859-402-2364
www.boonecreekcreamery.comed2@kycheese.com

We appreciate seeing so many familiar faces returning to the markets on Saturday and Sunday outdoors, as well as lots of new people just moving to the area.  We will continue to attend each market each week including Tues, Wed, Thurs, rain or sun or something in between - hope to see you as well!

PRODUCE we are harvesting now includes Broccoli, Green Beans, Beets (Red, Gold, Candy Stripe), Carrots (Orange and Yellow), Cabbages (Savoy, Green, Red, Napa), Greens (Kale, Lacinato, Red Russian, Collard), Summer Squash (Yellow Squash, Green Zucchini, Patty Pan, Baby Squash Mix), Swiss Chard, Cucumbers (Slicing, English, Salad), Kohlrabi, Garlic, Green Bell Peppers, Turnips, and more coming on each day.

NEW  We have found a professional charcutier to make delicious sausages, bratwursts, and franks for us from Elmwood organic beef.  It has been several years since we had our all-beef sausages to offer,

 and we are really excited about these tasty and high quality offerings.

EGGS We offer each market our certified organic eggs from free-ranging hens who live outdoors on grass pasture.  Both whole dozen and half-dozens available. Our hens are always outside, enjoying the green growing grass & clover and rewarding us with beautiful big brown eggs packed full of flavor, orangey color, and healthful omega-3-fatty acids.

MEAT and POULTRY  We have restocked our inventory of grass-fed Angus organic beef, along with our certified organic whole chickens, cut-up chicken pieces, and flavorful hearty stewing hens.  In addition, we have chicken liver and ground turkey.  Feel free to order ahead for quantity amounts or a particular cut for that special meal, and we'll have it ready for pickup at any of the farmers markets.  View our website for special Beef & Chicken Bundles, and other quantities packages.

These days, more than ever, it's important to know the source of your family's food and you can look to our local organic farm to meet your body's nutritional needs resulting in good health.  Visit our website to learn more, review our price lists, pre-order your special items, or contact Elmwood for more information(scroll up a little for a quick link!)

Elmwood Stock Farm

859-621-0755

There may be a chill in the air but our homegrown produce is far from being over.  There are still 6 more weeks of Sunday market and we will always have the Saturday market after that.  So, just because school has started and retail stores are already gearing up for the holidays don't let the flavors of summer fade away before their time.  Our late tomato planting is just starting to produce as well as a pepper and eggplant planting that was just picked for the first time on Friday.  The late basil and cilantro planting were also harvested for the first time on Friday as well so don't hesitate to come see us at the market, we are still going strong!

 Also, come out this weekend to the Crave Lexington Food Festival.  Velvet will be appearing at the Science of the Kitchen stage at 5 pm on Saturday and will give a hands on demonstration of how to make her awesome tomato pie.  It should be great fun!

Look for us and our big box truck at the corner of Short and Upper on Saturday and at Southland Drive on Sunday.   All of our offerings are sustainably grown, Kentucky Proud, 100% homegrown, and pesticide free.  We are delighted to inform you that we do not sell anything that we do not grow.  We will have the following:

-Heirloom and hybrid tomatoes, multiple colors

-Multi colored cherry tomato pints

-Heirloom Roma tomatoes, great for sauces and salsa

-Fresh cut basil

-Fresh cut cilantro

-Tomatillos

-Assorted hot and sweet peppers

-Eggplant, multiple varieties

-Fresh purslane

-Our popular Uglies But Goodies

Check out all of the exciting things going on at the farm as well as lots of market pictures on our Facebook page.  We look forward to seeing you at the market!

Local Raw Honey by Nick and Bev Nickels {Website}

The outdoor Lexington Farmers Markets for 2013 are now open. We will be at the following markets this week:    

Southland Drive, Sunday, September 22nd (10am-2pm)

Magic Beans Coffee Roasters {Website}{Facebook}

 This week, we will be roasting our last batch of that exquisite Pacamara varietal coffee from Finca Los Congos in Nicaragua (photo:Jose Rene, Owner, Finas Los Congos) . When we first got this coffee back in March, we were actually a bit put off by its most prized characteristic: its audacious citrus-lime acidity. It seemed to be irrepressible, even at darker roasts. 

So we pushed it to its limits, and our roast revealed a cup with layers of acidity - not just lime, but cherry, too - and a deep, bittersweet chocolate flavor and body. One tough critic deemed it "the single most drinkable coffee" he had ever had. Dang, that stuff was good.

Months later, tasting the coffee again after a respectful interlude, we wondered: Did we really taste all of those things in one cup? Or were we maybe just getting high on our own vapors? (There's always a danger when you get creative with adjectives that you'll start to believe your own hyperbole.) Nope. They were all there: Cherry, lime, chocolate bomb. 

We look forward to offering another fine coffee from Los Congos next Spring after the current crop is harvested. In the meantime, this is your chance to stock up on one of the finest Nicaraguan coffees available anywhere. 

We'll also have a fresh batch of our Sumatra Mandheling Fair Trade Organic as well as an assortment of other coffees from recent roasting sessions. 

September is the PERFECT time to plant gorgeous Oriental lilies in your garden! They are sensational garden performers here in the Bluegrass and it's easy to squeeze in a few, even in the most tightly-packed gardens. We'll have our own bulbs at the Market on Saturday, from the super frilly double 'Rose Lily' to the spectacular pure white giant 'Rialto' and several more varieties. We have photos and complete growing instructions (which are exceedingly simple) and with the showers forecast this weekend, it will be the absolute best time to plant these beauties!

Even though Fall is definitely in the air, we still have lots of marvelous late summer flowers, including fragrant Lemon Basil Zinnia bouquets and gorgeous Dahlias. We will also have a very limited amount of cut Lilies and Lisianthus - if you've got a hankering for them, please come early so you won't be disappointed.

Please don't hesitate to contact us on Facebook if you'd like to order flowers or have any questions. Hope to see you Saturday!

- Charlie Hendricks, Elizabeth Hendricks Montgomery and Val Schirmer 

Wildflour Scones & Tea {Facebook}