We're bringing pasture-raised beef and herbs to the farmers market

It is garlic scape season and we have an abundance to share with our customers at the Mills River Farmers Market tomorrow. We are selling them in bunches of about ten scapes each. Our daughter has been cooking with them all week and froze a bunch to enjoy later in the year. Buy these now because they will only be available for a week or two.

We will also have bunches of fresh herbs for sale. I cut lemon balm, rosemary, and oregano. Cooking with fresh herbs is fun and adds a bright taste to food.

The ground beef and liver sales have gone really well at the market, so this week we are expanding our selection of retail cuts of our pasture-raised Black Angus beef. We will have steaks, roasts, stew meat, liver, and ground beef for sale. Our prices are very competitive with others in our region. So bring a cooler so you can stock up.

We will also have some of my crocheted and knitted bags, hats, bowls, scarves, and booties for sale. And Shannon promised to provide some of her handmade pottery. There will be lots of other good things for sale at this week's market including baked goods, eggs, trout, lettuce, kale, crafts,and fresh roasted coffee beans. So start your holiday out right with a visit to our market. See you there!

Do I Ever Speak in the Piedmont of North Carolina?

Several people asked me this week if I ever come down out of the mountains and give presentations or workshops in the piedmont region of North Carolina. Well, of course I do! Actually, I will be in Winston-Salem next Thursday at the Piedmont Farm School Summit giving a hour and a half presentation in the morning on Hops, Herbs, and More. It is a fun presentation! To get more information and register for the Summit go to the EventBrite Registration Page. This event is put on by the Cooperative Extension Service.

In September I will be speaking at Duke Gardens in Durham; an evening lecture and a day long workshop. Details and registration information for those events can be found on my speaking engagements page (see tab at top of this page).

If you would like me to come speak in your area, just contact me and we will see what we can arrange. I speak on a wide range of topics and really enjoy offering hands-on workshops. Popular presentations right now are growing woodland medicinals, growing stevia-the natural sweetener, growing and using luffa sponge gourds, growing hops for fun or profit, growing heirloom tomatoes, and growing garlic. These presentations can be combined with hands-on workshops to propagate herbs, make dream pillows, make herbal tea packages, make luffa soap, or make stevia sweetened chocolate. Small-group discussion sessions are also of interest to some groups with the most popular topics being starting a small homestead and how did you get that job: doing something that is meaningful to you. Depending on the circumstances, I will be representing NC State University or Our Tiny Farm. It just depends.