'Ask a Master Gardener' booth at Farmers Market

The Salisbury Farmers Market will feature plenty of flowers this week. Photo by Darrell Blackwelder.

By Katherine Jones

For The Salisbury Post

This week at the Salisbury Farmers Market will somewhat mirror the last couple of weeks. An abundance of plants including vegetables, flowers, herbs and perennials are available for the home gardeners. There were 25 vendors at the market last Saturday and at least 10 of them had a good selection of plants.

New to the market this year is an "Ask a Master Gardener" booth. Debbie Walker, a master gardener volunteer, who has written many articles for the Salisbury Post, will be at the booth for the month of May. The purpose is to provide information about Rowan County horticulture and to help identify pests, diseases or other problems.

You are encouraged to bring a sample of the affected plant in a sealed plastic bag to protect other plants at the market. Some of your questions may need to be researched. If so, you will get a response by phone or e-mail later in the week. Soil sample kits will be available as well as garden calendars. You can also contact Rowan County Extension Agent Darrell Blackwelder at 704-216-8970. To locate the booth look for the beautiful yellow stained glass pansy on display.

To make your shopping more convenient, the Salisbury Farmers Market is now accepting debit and credit cards. Just locate the booth that processes the cards and purchase the special farmers market tokens in five dollar denominations. You can spend these tokens with any vendor. If the amount of your purchase is less than the token value the vendor will give you change in cash. Unused tokens can be used at a later date.

There was one new vendor at the market last week. Cindy Sipp of Quilts and More had a large selection of quilts, wall hangings, table runners and many other interesting handmade items.

You can expect strawberries for a couple more weeks as well as many varieties of lettuce and Cole crops. Local squash and cucumbers are expected in about two or three weeks. I tried the hot house tomatoes and they were great. Join me this week for a wonderful shopping experience.

For more information about the Farmers Market visit www.salisburyfarmersmarket.com.

The Farmers Market is located in downtown Salisbury at the corner of South Main and Bank streets. It is open Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon.

Katherine Jones is a master gardener Volunteer for the Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. She and Sue Davis will be providing a Farmers Market update each week.