By Katherine Jones
For The Salisbury Post
Do you like home grown fruits and vegetables? Do you like homemade breads, pies, cakes, pasta, cookies and pastries? Do you like pasture- raised beef, pork and chicken? Do you like lovely flowers and plants? If any of these things appeal to you, then I would like to invite you to visit the Salisbury Farmers Market every Wednesday and Saturday morning and see all the items that are available for your selection. Here’s what to expect this week:
Fruits and Vegetables
Correll Farm, Country Garden, Cress Farm, Eagle Farm and Miller Farm will have plenty of tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and okra. In addition, there will still be watermelons, cantaloupes and peaches. Also, there is still a lot of squash, peppers, potatoes, onions and green beans. Purple hull peas are coming on strong, and there were some lima beans appearing this past week. Expect to find cabbage and October beans. Scuppernong grapes made an appearance this past Saturday and will be very plentiful in the weeks ahead.
Baked Goods
It is nothing short of amazing to see what a large variety of baked goods are available and displayed each week by How Sweet it Is!, The Bread Basket and Posh Pasta and Cakes. I have purchased various items from each of these vendors and can attest to the freshness of their products as well as their deliciousness. There are many choices of breads, cakes, pies, cookies, muffins and pastries.
Flowers and Plants
Dawn’s Greenhouse will have a few organic figs available for about two more weeks. She also will have some cabbage plants for transplanting. Look for some of her fragrant herbal crafts. Joyce’s Flowers will have some potted mums this week as well as some perennials and annuals for transplanting. Joyce also offers canned jellies and preserves and will have a new crop of honey as well. Seng Yeng has beautiful cut flowers and will assemble an arrangement for you using your choice of colors.
Meat Products
T & D Charolais will be present at the market and will have many selections from locally raised and all natural, grass-fed beef. Wild Turkey Farms offers pasture-raised beef, pork, eggs and local honey.
Cooking Tip
Pepper relish is one of my favorite side dishes. I like it best served with any kind of peas or beans, fresh or dried. It is also delicious with pork roast. There is a large selection of peppers and onions at the market, so why not whip up a batch of pepper relish to use throughout the year?
Pepper Relish
12 sweet green peppers
12 sweet red peppers
3 large white onions
2 pods hot pepper (optional)
2 tablespoons salt
2 pints vinegar
2 cups vinegar
Chop peppers and onions. Cover with boiling water and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain. Cover again with water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Drain dry and add salt, vinegar and sugar. Cook 15 minutes. Pour hot mixture into sterilized jars and seal.
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Katherine Jones is a Master Gardener Volunteer for the Cooperative Extension Service in Rowan County. She and Sue Davis provide a Farmers Market update each week.
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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 from 7 a.m. to noon each week on Wednesday and Saturday.