Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Flat Rock Tailgate Market News - Aug. 26, 2009

Eat Fresh Produce from Our Local Farmers!

From Paul Shoemaker:

The recent weather is fabulous for ripening tomatoes! This week Paul will have lima beans (butter beans), Asian beans, green beans, yellow wax beans, and a real treat of late summer asparagus! Fruits will include blueberries, sugar nut melons and red and yellow watermelons.


From Norman Nichols:
Japanese maples, Astile Diamant, Elodie Lilium, butterfly bushes and horse tails for your pond.

From Greg Carter (The Fungi!):
Mushrooms will include shiitake, lobster, chanterells, oysters and more.

From Richard of Chanteloupe Farm:

Green bell peppers, burgundy and green okra, colorful zucchini, varieties of acorn squash, French fillet yellow beans, yellow wax and Italian pole beans, blue and Swedish peanut fingerling potatoes, onion variety, garlic and eggs.


If you're looking for a prepared meal, Gayann will have: Corn cheddar chowder topped with chives and hickory smoked bacon, tomato basil bisque, gazpacho, meatloaf with tomato relish served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, a baked chicken and white wine dish served with jasmine rice, bread & butter pickles and basil green goddess dressing.


And Last But Not Least:
Peaches galore, fresh cut flowers, herb plants, hanging baskets, chicken, lamb, seafood, desserts, cookies and other baked goods, honey, goat cheese, natural peppermint, lavender soap made with a goat milk base and always more, more, more!


Eat Fresh - Eat Local

Sorry, no sales before 3:00 p.m.

Parking Note: We now have parking attendants to help you find parking & keep the traffic flowing (sorry no valet parking!). If you are picking up your CSA basket please do not park in front of the vendor's booth it really backs the traffic up. Just a hint: After 4 p.m. there's still an abundance of 1st grade products to choose from and a lot more parking spaces!! See you there.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Summer Music in Flat Rock News - Angela Easterling Performs Sept. 5th

Angela Easterling was raised in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Much of her childhood was spent on the farm that has been in her family since 1791, seven generations. A performer all her life, Angela began playing guitar and writing songs while studying at Emerson College in Boston. More and more her music returned to the place her heart called home.

Easterling’s songs run the range of emotions of a woman fully assessing her family’s past and present with a new life perspective, juxtaposing the personal with outside forces. “As much as I love writing, a song doesn’t seem real until you have shared it with others. Then it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t belong to me anymore, it belongs to everyone. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to make my way through the world by sharing my music and my stories.” Angela embraced her heritage in a big way as a writer and an artist on her debut album, "Earning Her Wings", chosen as "Americana Pick of the Year" by Smart Choice Music. Her newly released CD "Black Top Road" produced by Will Kimbrough is receiving wide recognition on the country/folk/alternative music horizon. Her CDs will be available at the concert. For more info on Angela see:  www.myspace.com/easterling

Friday, August 21, 2009

Flat Rock Tailgate Market News - August 20, 2009

This week at the market:

Market Favorites:
Lamb, chicken, eggs. Fresh fish & seafood. Free range eggs. Goat cheeses. Local honey. Jams, jellies, relishes, gourmet mustards, BBQ Sauce, salad dressings, hummous & babaganous.

This Weeks Vegetables:
We continue to have a plethera of wonderful vine ripened tomatoes, summer squash, acorn and butternut squash, russet potatoes, white eggplant, giant purple eggplant, burgundy & green okra, red & green peppers, shiitake & wild mushrooms, sweet corn, cucumbers, carrots, onions, garlic, leeks and more.

Fresh Fruits:
We have delectable melons, blueberries, cherries, peaches & strawberries. Apples are comming soon.

Fresh Baked Goods:

Hearth baked breads, cookies, fig & raspberry frangipane tarts, awsome pecan bars, orange chocolate cheese cake bites, lemon tartlets, herbed pita bread, baklawa and even dog cookies for your best friend.

More Market Favorites:
Fresh cut flowers, herb plants, hanging baskets, eucoliptis trees, Japanese Maples & Amarillis plants.

Vendor of the Month, Paul Shoemaker of Holly Spring Farm and Nursery in Mills River says, "With the recent sunshine, lots of tomatoes are reaching their full rich tomato flavor, from the mini-salad to extra large slicers and jumbo Heirlooms. We'll also have Asian beans, eggplants, peppers and sweetcorn. Our Canary Island melons, 'Sugar Nut', have finally ripened, as well as the red watermelons, 'Starlight'. We'll also have "just picked" blueberries.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Flat Rock Tailgate Market News - August 13, 2009

Come Out This Week to Enjoy the Bounty of Summer

Our "Vendor of the Month", Paul Shoemaker of Holly Spring Farm and Nursery in Mills River, will be offering free samples of his amazing heirloom tomatoes and homemade bruschetta. Along with his tomatoes, Paul will have luscious melons, blueberries, eggplant, Asian beans and Swiss chard. Come say "hi" to Paul and his wife, Simone, and enjoy a free sample or two!

And More Vegetables

Summer squash, acorn and butternut squash, russet potatoes, Swedish peanut potatoes, blue potatoes, burgundy/green okra, red & green peppers, garlic, beets, shiitake and wild mushrooms, sweet corn, cucumbers, carrots, onions and more.

And What Else?

Blueberries, cherries, peaches and apples. Rose water, lavender bath salts, eggs, maple trees, fresh flowers, jams, jellies, rose bushes, goat cheese, fresh shrimp, fish, chicken, Dessert First, Lebanese baked good including herbed flat bread (which is wonderful stuffed with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, basil and feta), bread and cookies, honey, herb plants and lemonade.

Parking Note:
We now have parking attendants to help you find parking & keep the traffic flowing (sorry no valet parking!). If you are picking up your CSA basket please do not park in front of the vendor's booth it really backs the traffic up. Just a hint: After 4p.m. there's still an abundance of products to choose from and a lot more parking spaces!! See you there.

Eat Fresh - Eat Local

Remember, no sales before 3:00 p.m!

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Flat Rock Tailgate Market News - August 6, 2009

Fresh Veggies This Week:
Tomatoes, heirloom & hybrid types, okra, eggplant, green peppers, cucumbers, Swiss chard, sweet corn, russet baking potatoes, onions, leeks, garlic, several types of beans, cabbage, summer squashes, acorn & butternut squashes, shitaki & wild mushrooms.

Fresh Fruit:
Melons, blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb & blackberries. Sorry no peaches this week.

Baked Goods:
Chocolate dipped pretzels, spiced pineapple, hearth baked breads, cookies, cupcakes, fresh fruit pastries, pecan bars, peanut butter cheesecake bites & homemade dog biscuits.

Other Goodies:
Fresh Fish & Seafood, Chicken, Goat Cheese & Eggs
Gourmet Mustard, BBQ Sauce, Jams, Jellies & Relishes
Fresh Cut Flowers, Herb & Perennial Plants

Parking Note:
We now have parking attendants to help you find parking & keep the traffic flowing (sorry no valet parking!). If you are picking up your CSA basket please do not park in front of the vendor's booth it really backs the traffic up. Just a hint: after 4 p.m. there's still an abundance of products to choose from a lot more parking spaces!! See you there.

Eat Fresh - Eat Local

Sorry, no sales before 3:00 p.m.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Flat Rock Tailgate Market News - Vendor of the Month - August

The Flat Rock Tailgate Market will feature Paul and Simone Shoemaker of Holly Spring Farm & Nursery in Mills River as “Vendor of the Month” for August. The Shoemakers specialize in heirloom tomatoes and a variety of farm fresh vegetables, melons, and blueberries which they sell at the Flat Rock Tailgate Market held every Thursday afternoon from 3-6 in the parking area behind the Cherry Cottage and next to Hubba Hubba Smokehouse along Little Rainbow Row in Flat Rock. The market will continue through November 5 and is free and open to the public.

Paul comes from a family of tomato farmers, raised on a truck farm in New Jersey. He holds a B.S. in Agricultural Research and an M.S. in Plant Pathology from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology from Cornell University. He and his wife came to WNC as a professor with NC State University doing research and extension work on tomato and other crop diseases to benefit NC mountain farmers. He also worked at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center in Mills River.