Plants, plants everywhere! This Saturday is
our biggest day of the year for plant sales. It’s the Mother’s Day Market. You
will find stunning hanging baskets, bedding plants, both veggies and flowers, pots
of herb plants, and handcrafted planters overflowing with flowers. The Mother’s
Day Market is probably our most beautiful day.It also holds beautiful memories for me. At this market I especially think of my dear friend Cindy who not only had an amazing green thumb, but started out right with beautiful baskets of flowers from the market, gifted to her by her loving family. I expect her daughters, now exceptional mothers themselves, will be at the market Saturday buying their own baskets, following in her footsteps.
The market is celebrating Mother’s Day by
having a drawing on Saturday for a pretty spectacular basket. It not only will
have honey, soap, lotion, blueberry jam, apple butter, a handcrafted spoon
holder, and a pie, but will also include flowers from E & O
Produce AND from Braker Berry Farm. Here’s the catch. You don’t enter your name
in the drawing. Instead you enter your mother’s or that of another mother dear
to you. The winner will be drawn at 11:30 and the “basket” can be picked up at
the market before 2 pm. Some mother is going to get an extra special market
gift this year.
But if your mother does win don’t fret,
because you can pick up lots of lovely gifts for her (or yourself). Jane’s Art
Glass is back on Saturday with all kinds from pretty handcrafted art glass –
some practical like spoon holders, some for fun and beauty like ornaments to hang
in the window. Visit our soap crafters for delightful soaps, lotions, and bath
bombs.
My mother always expected something personal,
i.e. not something for the kitchen!. But if your mom feels differently, you
might consider sharpening her knives Saturday, or picking up some local raw
honey, or smoked salts or seasonings, or freshly roasted coffee beans. Or bring
dinner home in the form of an artisan pasta dish from MaMa JoJo’s or a fresh fruit
or green salad from FitFoods.
Better yet, bring her to the market for
breakfast and let her stroll through the market and pick out her own present(s).
Cooking for a Cause benefits the Ronald McDonald House. This special place
provides a home away from home for families with a seriously ill child or an
ill expectant mother being treated at Mercy Hospital or Freeman Hospital. It’s
a big day for us because we’re both celebrating 20 years!. There will be a custom-made
coloring page for kids celebrating our partnership for family health. Breakfast
will be scrambled eggs, sausages, biscuit and gravy, hash brown casserole, and
coffee or juice for $6.
Scott Eastman will be on the market stage
Saturday.
To back up a few days, tomorrow will be a
great day to pick up some of that produce that goes so fast on Saturdays. Brakers
and Harmony have the first of the tomatoes. Fue Yang has strawberries, they’ll
go really fast. And of course the tables are loaded with greens, sweet
potatoes, green garlic, asparagus, green onions, rhubarb, carrots, radishes,
and much more.
Just Jake and Corky play on Thursday. FitFoods will serve two choices for lunch,
both with lemonade included – Oven fried chicken and pasta salad for $7 and
chicken salad in a lettuce cup for $5.
The weekday markets are a great time to shop
the market. There’s a good selection of produce, meat, eggs, honey, baked goods
and more, but the parking is easy and the pavilion less crowded.
On Tuesday we expect freshly prepared Asian
and Mexican food for supper. Yoga at the Market starts at 5:45. Richard H.
Hughes performs. And, yes, we will probably have lots of plants.
The last average frost date is long past. Time
to get your plants!
