Farmers Market Tips

04/08/16 9:27 AM
Saturday, August 6, 2016      –      8 a.m. – Noon  

FARMERS MARKET TIPS

Here are a few tips to make your shopping experience productive and fun.

– For best selection, go early. [Organic blueberries sold out last week by 8:15!]

– When you can, order ahead. Check our website to email to reserve your favorite items.

– Find something new? Ask the farmer how to prepare it. Branch out! Your new favorite veggie awaits discovery.

– Local food in season needs only the simplest preparation. No need to mask the intrinsic flavor with heavy sauces or fancy recipes. Dig in and enjoy.

– Bring bags and an adventurous spirit.

And there is this, too:  Know who grows your food and you will be healthier and happier.

How about some local literature? Authors Teresa Inge and Sally Parrott have written short stories included in the anthologies Virginia is for Mysteries, Volumes ! & !!. Some of the stories are set right at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront. Don’t be in the dark.

Virginia Beach History Museums will be demonstrating how to write with a quill pen. Come scratch out a colonial message.

Come often! It’s a habit you will grow to love.

RECIPE

BLENDER GAZPACHO

 One of my favorite meals in the hazy, hot and humid days of summer is gazpacho. This delightful soup not only does not require you to heat the oven or stove, but it is served chilled, making it refreshing even as temperatures soar.

In a large bowl, add four large, quartered tomatoes; 2 slices white bread, torn into pieces; 1 small cucumber; 1 medium bell pepper, seeded and quartered; 1 large garlic clove, cut in half; 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil; 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar; 1 tablespoon hot sauce; a dash coarse salt; and a dash black pepper

If you liked, you can also add a handful of spinach or fresh herbs.

Toss ingredients and process in batches in a blender until smooth. If too thick, add tomato juice or water, a little bit at a time. Taste and add additional hot sauce or seasoning if desired.

Pour into large bowl, cover, and refrigerate until chilled. Serve as-is, topped with fresh chopped herbs, homemade croutons, and/or with chilled, steamed shrimp. Makes 4-6 servings.

Vendors This Week:

Brentwood Farm

Build Your Food

The Chilly Mermaid

The Creative Wedge

Croc’s 19th Street Bistro

Cromwell’s Produce

Edmonds Farm

Fruitive

Fudge Grudge

Full Quiver Farm

Give. Treat. Love

Grace and Gratitude

The Green Cat

Juice Bar & Market

Hashi Food Truck

It Started With A Fig

Jubilee Seafood

Lavender House

Mattawoman  Creek Farms

My Vegan Sweet Tooth

The Neighborhood Harvest

New Earth Farm

Pendulum Fine Meats

Pennacook Peppers

Rockefeller’s Restaurant

Speedy’s Hot Sauce

Terrapin Restaurant

Three Ships Coffee

Two Fish Seafood Company

Udder Chaos Farms

Veg Out Gardens

Vy’s Pies

Whole-ly Rollers

Zinnia Girls

 

–    Chef Patrick Evans-Hylton

author of Dishing Up Virginia

 

 

The Market is located at 19th Street & Cypress Avenue

 

Parking is generously donated by these local businesses and city parking lots: the grass lot behind Wave Riding Vehicles along 19th Street; the Runnymede parking lots along Cypress Avenue at 20th and 21st Streets; and the Virginia Beach Convention Center lot at 19th Street and Parks Avenue. On-street parking is now available along 18th Street west of Cypress Avenue. 

 

Motorists who park in other lots or who block driveways do so risking tickets and towing, including the Wareing’s Gym and Mary’s parking lots on Cypress Avenue at 18th and 17th Streets. 

 

Vendor-only parking has generously been donated by the Shoreham Condominiums next door to the market.

 

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The Old Beach Farmers Market board consists of: Duff Kliewer, Patrick Evans-Hylton, Laura Wood Habr, Jo Ann Hofheimer, Jeremy Maloney, Cappy Sinclair Denny Wance, Gerrie West, and Ann Wright. Ann, Jo Ann and Patrick edit the newsletter. Contents of the newsletter, including recipes, are archived on the OBFM website. 

 

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Old Beach Farmers Market began as an all-volunteer venture. Though we now have a part-time market coordinator, volunteers remain the heart of our operation.

We always looking for friends to help out; please contact us if you’d like to lend your time and talents to the Old Beach Farmers Market.

 

 

 

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