Brisk Market At Beaver

Beaver Farmers' Market Customers Bundled Up!

Saturday was probably the first of the really cool days to come.  It got up to 45 degrees, but coming off of 70 degrees a week ago, it seems bone chilling!  That and a little rain still didn't keep the customers at home yesterday. 

Picking Out A Cabbage From Oak Spring Farm

It does change what people are buying though.  Big bags of leafy greens and leeks, cabbage, potatoes, and apples were the order of the day.  We got a bag of one of our hard to find favorites - Melrose apples.
In our previous post, LFLF mentioned Thanksgiving decorations ... that proved to be a prophetic comment.  Look at the great display of winter sqaushes that can be used for decoration and then cooked up later ...

Douds-Floyd Farm Centerpiece Squashes!
 

Breads, baked goods, & apple cider were also being snapped up off of the tables ..

Colorful Halloween Cookies At Pat's Pastries

Shopping For Apples



New Vendor At Beaver Farmers' Market

Hawk's Hill Farm At Beaver Farmers' Market

LFLF missed several weeks at the Beaver Farmers' Market and when we arrived today, we were happy to see a new local vendor.  Hawk's Hill Farm from Georgetown, PA had a great display of veggies and greens ... and they told me that the artwork was by their daughters.  Very nice!

Veggie Close-up From Hawk's Hill Farm - Georgetown, PA

We walked away with a quart of haricot vert (French for green beans), the thin fillet green beans.  Witness the debate here about "just what is" a haricot vert ?!?
The selection of produce is really starting to pick up now.  We also got summer squash and onions before heading to our next stop today.

Leaf Lettuce & Garlic Braids

 Several farmers had lettuce and there were some garlic scapes as well as garlic braids for sale.

Oak Spring Farm - Cukes, Garlic, Rhubarb, Peas, & Raspberries!

Don't forget the cut flowers - these lilies had such saturated color.  Wow!

Ridgemont Farms - Bucket Of Lily Stems

Beaver Farmers' Market Is Open!

Beaver Farmers' Market Opening Day

LFLF went to the opening day of the Beaver Farmers' Market looking for green onions and did not come away disappointed.  I had to move on to "Farmer #2" because as I waited in line at "Farmer #1", eyeing the onions, the woman in front of me said "I'll take those too." pointing at the onion bunches.  Aaacckkk!   So ... it was time to move on to the next booth.

Oak Spring Farm - Potato Buying Customers In Line 

Schweikert Greenhouse Veggie Plant Flats & Herbs

Schweikert Greenhouse was at the market with lots of flowing baskets - perfect for Mother's Day - and the green flats of veggies and potted herb plants.  The hanging baskets were walking past us out of the market with several customers as we shopped.

More Folks In Line At Pat's Pastries

Of course, LFLF picked up a bag of cookies from Pat's Pastries ...

Last Beaver Farmers' Market of 2013!

The View From Under Pat's Tent!

The last day of the 2013 Beaver Farmers' Market was a rainy day ..... a small crowd had gathered under the tent at Pat's Pastries.  That's Pat in the green coat waiting on her customers.  At least it was warmer than usual with temperatures in the high 50's.
The holiday cookies were going fast & LFLF picked up one of the large containers.   The hardy holiday shoppers were picking up potatoes, broccoli, winter squash, beef, bread, apples, cookies, and wreaths.
LFLF also got the last of the seasonal cider from Oak Spring Farm.  We picked up 2 gallons to freeze them for later ...... we  just pour off a cup or so from each gallon to allow it room to expand when it freezes.   Nothing like hot cider in January!

Oak Spring Farm - Talking About The Apple Cider

Snow For The Locals!

Snowy Market Greetings From Phil of Douds-Floyd Farm, Dick of
McElhaney Family Farm, & Wayne of Oak Spring Farm!

What a way to get in the Christmas spirit!  Only one more market day left on Saturday 12/21 at the Beaver Farmers' Market, but the farmers & vendors were out today in the snow for their loyal customers.  LFLF got there around 11:45 to select our Christmas wreaths from May-Malone Farm & pick up some Christmas cookies from Pats' Pastries.  

Wreath Customers At May-Malone Farm

The vendors and customers had to deal with the falling snow and slush in the parking lot, but they were still out there. 

Snow Covered Kale At Enon Country Gardens

Wood Street Bread Company Serves Up The Fresh Bread!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

Finally, we picked up a head of cabbage for cabbage & noodles and a gallon of cider pressed on Wednesday from Oak Spring Farm .......
Something I just noticed ...... it's near market end, but all of the customers are different people in the pictures.  We muffed a picture of shoppers buying beef from McElhaney Family Farm --- too blurry in a bit of a snow squall when we snapped the pic! 

Winter Squash, Cabbage, & Golden Delicious Apples

Beaver Farmers' Market Still Open!

Yummy Holiday Cookies From Pat's Pastries!
 

Yes, the Beaver Farmers' Market will be open for 3 more weeks - 12/7, 12/14, & 12/21!  Who could resist taking home some cookies from Pat?  These were for "now" and some Pecan Tassies went into the freezer to add to the LFLF holiday cookie plate ..... ssshhhhhh ..... who will know where they came from?  ;)

Shallots & Potatoes From Oak Spring Farm

The market has lots of potatoes, winter squash, apples, apple cider, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, leeks, & root veggies, plus beef and fresh evergreen Christmas wreaths & swags. 


Shopper Buys Last Bag of "Arkansas Black" Apples

So how did you spend "Small Business Saturday"?  
Next post ..... LFLF takes you to a local small business ..... stay tuned!

Young & Old At Market!

Beaver Farmers' Market - Young & Old!

LFLF made a beeline for the holiday cookies and some potatoes at the Beaver Farmers' Market last Saturday.  The weather was surprisingly warm for this time of year & kids to grandparents were out enjoying the day.

Beaver Farmers' Market - Festive Holiday Cookies!

There are 2 more markets left for the season - December 8th and December 15th.  There are also fresh wreaths & swags for sale from May-Malone Farm and plenty of winter squash available to create a stash of long keepers for the winter. 


Beaver Farmers' Market - Veggies At Oak Spring Farm

Catching Up - Last Saturday!

Beaver Farmers' Market - Oak Spring Farm Customers

LFLF is finally catching up to cover our visit last Saturday to the Beaver Farmers' Market.   The weather was dry instead of rainy like it had been all week.  We had in the neighborhood of 5 - 6 inches of rain ..... at least it came over 4 or 5 days!

Snapping Up Really Fresh Broccoli From Douds-Floyd Farm

LFLF was in line right behind this customer for a couple of heads of broccoli & then we moved on for some carrots from another farmer.  It's past Halloween and most of the customers were focused on apples. winter squash, cabbages, lettuce, greens, baked goods, & bread.

Purple Cabbage, Turnips, Parsley, Carrots, & Acorn Squash

The only disappointment of the day was that there was no apple cider to be had!  :(
Seems that some of the farms had bad luck with apples this year, so cider apples - usually seconds - were in shorter supply .......

Now For Beaver On Saturday!

Beaver Farmers' Market - Jackets & Sweatshirts!

We're finally getting caught up on the blog .....  LFLF zipped through the Beaver Farmers' Market on Saturday early while we were out running errands.   It was rather cool in the morning so everyone was wearing layers on top, but some hardy souls still had on shorts!  Since it was a bit crowded, we took a different approach and tried to sneak in pictures of the purchases being made ....

Buying Baked Goods At Pat's Pastries

Buying Beets At Oak Spring Farm

Buying Peaches At McConnells' Farm

Buying Peppers At Douds-Floyd Farm

Buying Sweetcorn At Swicks' Orchard

Now that's a lot of buying!  :)  As for LFLF, we got onions, cookies, sweet corn, tomatoes, & green peppers.   The onions were sauteed with a ham steak today & the tomatoes will be part of BLT sandwiches this week.  Some of the sweet corn will go into a Mexican meatloaf recipe!  Use your imagination, but the recipe includes taco seasoning, corn, black beans, salsa, with cheese & picante sauce on top.  Instead of rice or oatmeal, use a little crushed tortilla chips .........

What's At The Market?

Shoppers At The Beaver Farmers' Market

We had a fantastic morning for a stop at the Beaver Farmers' Market.  The temperature had dropped from the 90's earlier this week and there were lots of shoppers grabbing up fresh veggies. 

Oak Spring Farm Peas

We picked up some nice small yellow crookneck squash & Bibb lettuce from Douds Floyd Farm and 2 containers of edible pod peas from Oak Spring Farm.  LFLF was away this week in Houston where the temperatures were lower (!) than they were here.  We came home to find one of the basil plants that we got last weekend in pretty bad shape .... luckily it hadn't reached what is known as the "permanent wilt" point, so it has been revived.  Good for us since we'll use some of it to saute with the squash.

Swiss Chard In Season

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins!

Janoski's Squash & Pumpkins

LFLF did a little looking around on Friday at Janoski's Farm & Greenhouse for pumpkins & squash.  We were looking for the smallest pumkins for our fence posts.  There were lots of small pie pumpkins, but they were a little too big, so we went away empty handed, but got this great shot above of part of the selection available.  Plenty to choose from & there were several families circling the area for just the right pumpkin. 

Beaver Farmers' Market Fall Display

Luck held out for the farmers today at the Beaver Farmers' Market ...... lot's of rain Thursday night into Friday, but no rain today!  It was very windy all day & most vendors didn't bother to put up their pop up tents.

Oak Spring Farm Pumpkins

LFLF found just the right size pumpkins from Oak Spring Farm for our fence posts.  We picked the 10 smallest ones out of this crate.  Bonus - they all had nice handles!   I confess to liking the traditional tan/brown stems, not the dark green stems that the plant breeders select for currently ......
What else did we pick up?  Ginger snap cookies, red cabbage, edible pod peas - yes, this is the fall crop, Melrose apples - tart & delicious to eat out of hand, apple cider, & potatoes.  
Oh yes ..... our last LFLF post was put up HERE by mistake on the Wild Rose Farm blog ......