Newsletter for Friday June 2, 2017

We are now in our Summer Market season with market being held every Friday indoors 3:30 - 6:30 at Cheviot School.  

Cheviot Elementary School, 4040 Harrison Ave. 45211: 
Parking is accessed behind the school.  Take Harrison Ave. to Carrie St. to McFarran St.  You will see the Lettuce Eat Well Farmers' Market sign by the main entrance door.  Once inside, enter through the double doors to your left and enter the gymnasium on your left.



THIS WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS
They're Back, Yippee!!
For all who fell in love with My Plum Crazy Farm when they were at our market last
summer, I have super great news for you; they're coming back, starting this Friday.  When they joined LEWFM mid-summer last year they, and their produce, were an instant hit.  We, of course, wanted them back this summer for a repeat performance.  Due to not enough people power to both produce and sell, they reluctantly declined our offer to return.  Last week I again contacted them to ask if they could come back, even if on a limited basis.  I'm very happy to report that they said they could return on a limited basis.  Look for them this Friday and every other Friday at this time.  They are hoping to recruit additional help on the farm and if that works out perhaps they will be able to come back on an every week basis. 




News From Abundant Green Pastures Ranch
Just in from Abundant Green Pastures Ranch is news you're going to love; they are having a sale on several items of pork.  Below is the scoop directly from the ranch.


Take note of our SALE ON PORK – just in time for the summer grilling season!  Let a couple thick chops sizzle on the grill, or wrap some spare ribs in foil and let them cook for a delicious meal (links for recipes below).  Perhaps you would like to pair them with some of the fresh produce and micro greens, pickles, fresh baked bread or fresh baked pie from one of our partner vendors!  Yummmmm!


REMEMBER – as you wander around LEWFM you can find everything you need to create healthy and delicious meals all in one place! 

ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS - - -
For meat priced per pound weight, choose from a weight range
EXAMPLE ORDER –
Arm roast – about 3 pounds
Tenderloin – about 2 pounds
We will then find packages of meat which will total as close to your order weight as we can.
For meat sold in 1# packages, simply indicate how many pounds you would like.
I will then send you a price total when I confirm your order.

Cut off time for orders is Wednesday, May 31 by 6:00 p.m. in order for us to have the necessary time to prepare the orders.  

ABUNDANT GREEN PASTURES BEEF

PRODUCT
PRICE/#
# RANGE
RIB ROAST
Only 1 available
$7.00
2.56#
TENDERLOIN
$24.00
.25 - .50
HEART
$6.00
1.25 – 1.75
LIVER (1# EA)
$6.00
25 AVAILABLE
BONES
$5.00 per bag
3 AVAILABLE
GROUND BEEF
$7.00
1# packages

PORK PRODUCTS
PRODUCT
PRICE/#
# RANGE
BONELESS LOIN CHOP
$8.50
.50 – 1.25
TENDERLOINS
$15.00
.40 – 1.90
SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE LINKS (1# EA)
$7.00
2 AVAILABLE
GROUND PORK (1# EA)
$6.00
17 AVAILABLE



SALE - - SALE - - SALE

WAS (per pound)
SALE PRICE
 (per pound)
# RANGE
BOSTON BUTTS
$6.00
$4.00
1.90 – 3.00
BONE IN 1” THICK CHOPS
$8.50
$6.00
1.25 – 2.35
SPARE RIBS
$6.50
$4.50
1.25 – 3.00
CHORIZO
(1# EA)
$6.00
$5.00
62 AVAILABLE
SAGE SAUSAGE (1# EA)
$6.00
$5.00
55 AVAILABLE


ORDERS FOR SIDES OF BEEF and WHOLE or HALF PIGS
The time is drawing near for our next animal harvest
Please contact Mike as soon as possible and he will explain the ordering process and time frame.


As always, if you have any questions, please contact us:
Home:   812-637-3090.

Mike cell:  513-646-8739




Honey Tree Acres Farm and Gardens
Plentiful Produce; Oodles of Eggs; Veggie and Herb Plants so you can grow some of your own food; organic staples, including black beans, oats, pop corn; and lots more from HTA.  



There's still time for you to grow some of your own food this summer.  Even if you don't have a garden plot, you can grow a tomato plant in a large pot and some herbs in a window box or similar planter.  Add a few flower plants and you have a wonderful addition to your yard, patio, or balcony.  Many more plant varieties are available from Honey Tree Acres.     


   

NOTICES
Kirana of Nija Foods will be away for an extended time.  She will return to our market on July 14.


With sadness we bid a fond farewell to Brian of Oakley Urban Farm.  Due to a too-busy summer schedule Brian has had to discontinue his participation in our market.  We wish Brian well in all his endeavors.



PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Some of you are long-time readers of the newsletter; others are new to the market and are reading the newsletter for the first time.  This section is included each week to bring your attention to important happenings around the market and around town.



FREE Cooking Classes Beginning May 12
I'm excited to announce that free cooking classes began at our market on May 12.  The eight-week series is held from 4:00 - 5:00 and is taught by Margarita
Margarita explaining cooking class series to customer
Photo courtesy of Kelby Bowers
Lewis, Ohio State University Extension Nutrition Specialist.  You can register for the series or get further information by contacting Margarita at (513) 946-8973  lewis.2349@osu.edu   


I'm so glad that Margarita is sharing her insights about food preparation with our customers.  Her cooking classes, which are free and open to the public, help take the mystery out of preparing the foods many of our customers want to try but are unsure about how to start.  Over the past two years I have been over the top pleased about the number of folks who email, call, and come to market saying that they found our market when they decided to focus on making better food choices as a way to better health.  

Often, though, when I hear people say they want to make better food choices, I also hear their plight about not knowing how to prepare numerous items they see at the farmers' market.  That's why I'm so pleased that we will now be able to take  much of the mystery out of Eating Well by eating locally produced food items.  By attending Margarita's cooking classes you can learn how to easily make a wide variety of dishes for your family, items they will likely ask for again and again.  There's no better place to learn to prepare "strange" items than at our farmers' market, where Margarita shows attendees the various unfamiliar produce items and then shows/explains how to prepare the items.        

If you would like to get a sneak preview of Margarita in action check out the link below.  Thanks to Sarah Prud'homme, Media Specialist, for arranging Margarita's recent appearance on Local 12 morning show.
http://local12.com/news/good-morning-cincinnati/lettuce-eat-well-farmers-market-recipes-and-cooking-classes 



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NOTICES
Karen Blocher, aka Green GRRRL Wisdom, will be at market on the following dates this summer:  May 5, 19, June 2, 16, 30,  July 14, 28, August 11, 25, September 8, 22, October 6, 20. 

Tiffany Wise of The Healing Kitchen will be at market the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month throughout the summer market season.

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BEEF AND PORK
The first Friday of each month, Mike & Deb of Abundant Green Pastures Ranch supplies us with their 100% grass fed beef from their Red Devon heritage breed cattle, and pastured pork from Mahlon Schlabach.  This collaborative arrangement between Mike and Mahlon is more efficient for Mahlon who, being Amish, necessitated hiring a driver to bring him to market.  This arrangement is a win-win for all.  If you are on the market's pre-order list you will receive further info from Abundant Green Pastures Ranch about the beef and pork.  If you are not on the pre-order list and would like to be, please see further details below.

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Pre-ordering Pays Off

Have you ever arrived at market to purchase your favorite item/s from your favorite vendor/s only to be disappointed because the vendor/s sold out of the item/s?  Did you know that no longer has to happen?  At LEWFM you can pre-order your items and pick them up any time during regular market hours.  Pre-ordering not only pays off for you, it also helps the vendors know how much to prepare/harvest, which greatly reduces waste.  Pre-ordering is a real win-win for all, and it only takes a few minutes of your time to plan ahead and place your order.  Given the importance of Eating Well, getting into the habit of placing your pre-orders each week will likely become a high priority on your weekly To Do List. 

There are two easy ways you can place your pre-orders: in person at market or via email.  Here's how the email ordering works:  Email me at LEWFMLOCAL@GMAIL.COM and ask to be added to the vendor email pre-order list.  Each market week you will receive emails from the vendors detailing the items they have available for you to order that week.  Reply to their email, letting them know the items you wish to order, then come to market on Friday to pick up your items. 

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  For a full listing of our vendors, their products, and services including:    
  • Kids & Krafts, where the kids can have loads of fun so you can leisurely shop the market
  • Many food and non-food items
  • and a list of vendors who accept credit cards
Check out our Vendors.


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BYOB: Bring Your Own Bags to Market
As a way to help reduce the use of plastic bags, we are asking customers to bring their own reusable bags to market.  I realize that many of you are already doing this and we very much appreciate you doing so.  For those who are not yet in the habit of grabbing a few reusable bags as you leave for market, it might take a bit of extra effort to develop this new habit.  Doing so will result in short and long term benefits.  To gain some insight into the importance of reducing the use of plastic bags, take a look at this brief video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhxX1g9A2OM


If you don't have any reusable market bags we've got you covered.  Beginning this week I will have free reusable bags courtesy of Green Umbrella 10% Local Food Shift.  To receive your free bag, check out this link for directions for signing up for the 10% Shift.  https://greenumbrella.org/10shift  Then, when you come to market just let me know that you've signed up for the 10% Shift campaign and I'll have a bag for you: one per customer, while supplies last.



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Produce Perks
For those who noticed the logo at the bottom of the newsletter recently and wondered what it means, here is the good news about a new program.  Produce Perks is an incentive program that is meant to encourage and help those who receive EBT (formerly known as food stamps) purchase more produce.  Produce Perks is a dollar for dollar match (up to $10), with the matching dollars used on produce.  The Produce Perks website offers the following additional information:
“Produce Perks” is an initiative modeled after a similar program in Cuyahoga County.  Focus is on access and affordability of healthy fruits and vegetables for under-served consumers. 
Produce Perks are incentive tokens given to customers at participating farmers’ markets who use an Ohio Direction Card (“electronic benefits transfer” or EBT card) to purchase food.  A customer wishing to use their food assistance benefits can swipe their card at one central terminal, located at participating market’s information booths, and ask to withdraw a desired amount. The market provides tokens for the transaction and additional Produce Perks that can be spent on fruits and vegetables.  As the name suggests, Produce Perks are only good for purchasing fruits and vegetables.  All other tokens purchased with the Ohio Direction Card are good to use on eligible items at the market.           
Please help us spread the word about this very worthwhile program.  One way to help get the word out is to stop by the market management booth to pick up brochures to share with those you know who receive EBT benefits.  You could also leave brochures at your church, doctor or dentist's office, or any locations that would permit you to do so. 


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Please share this newsletter with friends and family to help spread the word about LEWFM!

We hope to see you real soon at Lettuce Eat Well Farmers' Market!










Newsletter compiled by Mary A. Hutten, Market Manager

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