Wednesday, June 24, 2009

WILDFLOWER GARDEN PROJECT AT ESPANOLA FARMERS MARKET

The Espanola Farmers Market will be hosting five high school students at the Market starting Monday, June 29th. The students will be working with a rotating series of farmer/ mentors to shape and plant our forty-foot wildflower garden at the entrance to the Market. They will create eight oval beds lined with river rock, install wood chips on the garden paths and install a picket fence around the garden’s perimeters. They will also learn how to make a red worm compost and plant the garden with a variety of native and cultivated plants. The Market welcomes donations of flower bulbs or native wildflower seed anytime during the month of July. The students will work with the farmers for nine Market Mondays and also assist farmers as needed. The Wildflower Garden Project is funded by the New Mexico Community Foundation and the Pojoaque Valley Fund.

Next Monday, The Missing Parts, a blue grass band from Tucson, Arizona, will be performing at the Espanola Farmers Market from 10:30am until mid-afternoon. Visitors are invited to stop by the Market to shop for fresh fruits and vegetables, look at our wildflower garden in progress, and enjoy the music.

Monday, June 15, 2009

FIRST DAY OF 2009 ESPANOLA FARMERS MARKET

On the first day of the Espanola Farmers Market, there were 15 vendors, more than any other first day opening the season. The anticipated changes are many, and the number of vendors and shoppers are expected to skyrocket as the season progresses. Here's a special highlight of the market on its first day --the arrival of Paulie's Ice Cream truck. It has been a regular feature at the Espanola Farmers Market for the past nine years:

Michelle and Ciddio of Esquibel Orchards had plenty of cherries and greens spread out on their table.

Cherries were the specialty of Peggy, Elefio and Methias Montoya.

Onions were plentiful, as well as peas, salad greens and chard. Sprouts are a new item. And underlying everything was the tender loving care of gardeners and farmers who proudly displayed freshly-picked fruits and vegetables.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

GET READY FOR ESPANOLA FARMERS MARKET'S OPENING DAY

Monday, June 15th is Opening Day for the Espanola Farmers Market’s 2009 season. We invite the public to visit the Market at 1005 N. Railroad Avenue from 10 am- 5pm and enjoy the first fresh fruits and vegetables of the season -quelites, sweet peas, lettuce, mixed greens, onions, garlic, herbs, peaches, apricots, plums and other fruits.

We will have horno bread (we welcome the return of our Pueblo horno bread baker), pastelitos, honey, jams, USDA-certified grass-fed lamb, dried chile, beans, blue corn meal and other special treats.

We have enlarged the market area to create a shady comfortable plaza with spaces for thirty vendors, more shade canopies, tables and chairs for our customers, and additional public parking spaces. A wildflower garden will grow this summer, as students work with farmer/mentors to shape and plant the garden near the Market entryway.

The Market accepts WIC, Senior WIC, SNAP (formerly EBT) and Debit cards. Espanola Farmers Market will be open every Monday, including holidays, from mid-June through October. Children can select a free book at our Kids Book Exchange. We also have a colorful selection of Market aprons, tee shirts or post cards and issues of A Farming Chapbook from previous Market seasons. Come visit us! Every Market Monday is a special event!