Spent some time today thinking about what to eat in the week ahead while trying to be true Locavores. This is not a difficult task for a North Forker - not at all. We truly do have so much at our fingertips. We should all be so very proud of where we live and be very appreciative of our local sustainability, and of course make a conscientious effort to keep it that way!
 
We should also remember to embrace what is in season, here, where we live.  We will continue to consider ways to support what may be missing to satisfy our foodie stomachs and find ways to encourage new enterprise LOCALLY. So, this is our shopping list.... subject to change :) Stay Tuned.

We just signed up for the NOFA-NY Locavore Challenge, have you done this yet? It's not too late, it runs for the month of September. We will be eating locally for a week starting Saturday and sharing our experience!

We are starting with a shopping day at the Farmers Market, of course ;)

Want to sign-up too? Go to http://www.nofany.org/events/ny-locavore-challenge

We had a wonderful time this weekend making grilled pizzas with the kids! It was great to see them choose colorful local veggies as toppings for their pizzas. Getting kids involved in the cooking process, including allowing them to make choices about the ingredients, is a positive way to encourage healthier eating. The recipe for individual grilled pizzas can be found on our Info, Ideas, and Recipes Page.

We had another lovely day at the market yesterday. We are truly enjoying watching the smiles of the shoppers, especially the kids. The diversity of our shoppers is truly a reflection of our unique community.

Our EBT program started this week, and we had some slight participation. We understand this takes a while for the awareness of these programs to take effect and will continue to reach out and spread the word. We are available to assist food stamp recipients in learning how to use their tokens in the market and are grateful to provide this opportunity.

We have begun to schedule some of the activities that we will be having in the market this season. Be sure to check our pages for "Shop-Cook-Eat" with Families and "Local Roots" Senior Days for more information. This is just the beginning of what we have planned and we are excited to begin the next phase of the Greenport Farmers’ Market mission.

It was a balloon kinda day at the Greenport Farmers’ Market today. During the setup this morning we were a little worried about the light winds..... but all was well and we had
beautiful sunny sky. We did expect a quieter weekend then last week, but once the 1st quiet hour passed we were thrilled with the turnout. It was very nice for us to have a bit of quiet time to connect with the vendors and talk about the coming weeks, but we were all glad business escalated later. We had a slight problem with the helium tank last week, but we were up and running this week thanks to the Ye Olde Party Shoppe in Southold. The kids LOVED the balloons and they certainly helped the parents harmoniously shop for our fresh local veggies and products today. We did get the request for blue balloons, so we will have to work on it for you boys, it is amazing how genderized we become at such an early age. With any bumps and bruises, even the slightest bit of negativity won’t stop us from our mission at this point, overall the Greenport Farmers’ Market is a lovely and giving place and we are very grateful to be able to provide this resource to our community and visitors. Donna from Rubys Cove B&B biked down with her amazing aura and spirit, she has become a Market Friend and even brought us back some brunch, which was great! A sincere thank you again to all you that have that have provided support and enthusiasm to our project. As I write this I am snacking on Blue Duck Ciabatta with Catapano’s Lemon-Pepper Chevre - Yummy!.....how can this be anything but a great and giving concept!?! I am so proud of the community that we have built in such a very short time, I would especially like to thank Ira of KK’s farm for being an exceptional gentleman and helping the volunteers to breakdown Garden of Eve - this is truly what it is all about, farmers helping farmers - community supporting LOCAL sustainability - all with heads held at a positive high.

A HUGE thank you to our Vendors who believed that this could really happen, our Volunteers and Advisory committee who came out and worked the market today, to our Board who have survived all the bumps and bruises, to our sustainable/local Food Shoppers that have come and shown their support, and for our generous Sponsors and Friends who have helped to us to get off the ground.  We will see you next week at the market!

We have hired a new Market Manager!  Read about her: http://www.greenportfarmersmarket.com/about-us.html

Approved!  We were approved to locate our market at the lot on the corner of First and Adams Streets.  We are grateful that the Village Board is giving us an opportunity to share our vision with Greenport residents and visitors.  Looking forward to a great season at the market.

Spent a nice (ok..... maybe a little damp) afternoon at the Lenz Artisan and Farmers’ Market today. Lots of networking with vendors and future customers. Bought plenty of yummy items for the Easter table: Catapano Lemon Pepper Chevre, KK’s Spinach and Baby Greens, Oysterponds’ Blackberry Jam, Lenz Chardonnay, fresh eggs, pickles, and lots more. We even got one of Blossom Meadow’s Beewax Crayons. It is wonderful to receive the positive feedback, even more excited now for our opening day!