November 20, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

John Brock will be popping kettle corn and Bob and Jannine

will be at the market this coming weekend with.....


Gluten free baked goods

Baked goods

Soy candles with essential oils

Home made jewelry

Kombucha .... made with our fruit

Beef and pork

chocolate covered pretzels

crackers

and organic eggs if the chickens decide to lay this week.

The weather's nice, so who knows who and what will turn up this Saturday.  Look for them up on the porch.

October 9, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

Buffalo Creek Beef:
Hey Everyone!!
I will be at market on Saturday, 10/9/10. If yall need anything special please let me know. I will have plenty of pork sausage.
Joan

The Pie Lady:
I will be back at market Saturday. With plenty of dinner and dessert pies. Hopefully some apple pies too! See you all there!

September 25, 2010 Pork and Apples Day at the Botetourt Farmers' Market

The piggies are coming to the Botetourt Farmers’ Market Pork and Apples Day! Be on the lookout for them.

Donna Henderson will have pickles, pepper jelly and apple cakes.

The Molloys will be roasting and selling coffee on site -- just the thing to go with all those cakes and pies!

The Pie Lady will be at market with lots of dinner and dessert pies!

Happy Pork and Apples Day (almost)! Little Wasprock will be there tomorrow with fresh beets, fresh arugula, a few tomatoes, and peppers. We also will bring banana pepper mustard, sweet potato butter, pepper relish, pound cakes, spelt zucchini bread and apple dumplings. Looking forward to a great day!

Hillbilly Heaven: We will have Our Variety of Pickles, Jams and Dips. We will have Fresh Basil, Green Onions, Fresh Oregano, Pesto and Salsa. I will be baking Cinnamon Buns, Pumpkin Banana Bread. Our Specials for this week will be Apple Oat Bread, Fried Apple pies, Carmel Apples, Apple Chips and Carmel Apple Dip. We may have some produce. Wayne needs to check the garden.

Buffalo Creek Beef: I will be at the market tomorrow with Hot Italian Sausage links cooked with Golden Delicious apples. I tried it out this week and I think it is easy to do. See yall tomorrow

Full Circle Farm: Patrick will be there with our wonderful freshly milled whole grain breads, pizza crusts and mixes. Don't forget to buy a loaf of Milk and Honey bread to go with the wonderful apple butter that will be for sale. And we will be sending pizza crusts to enjoy with the delicious pesto offered by Toni.

John Brock will be popping kettle corn.

The Keitzers will bring organically grown pork and beef for sale.

Ellen Morrow: I'm bringing candles, dishcloths, and some habanero peppers

Pigman and his trusty sidekick will be at the grill cooking pork and apples and giving out samples. There will be an informal apple cooking demonstration at 10 a.m. and a kids’ craft demo at 10:30 related to our theme. Plus much, much more!

Come and join us!

September 18, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

Here is a preview of some of the products which will be available at the Market:

Little Wasprock will be at the market tomorrow with sweet potato butter, fresh beets, arugula, pears and peppers, banana pepper mustard, morning glory muffins relishes jams and jellies!

Haley will be selling dessert rolls at the market tomorrow, mostly Reese Cup and lemon-blueberry.

The Molloys will be roasting and selling coffee on site -- just the thing to go with all those cakes and pies!

The Pie Lady will be at market with lots of dinner and dessert pies! See you all tomorrow. Lisa

Hillbilly Heaven will be at the market with our large variety of pickles and jams. Our baked goods will be fried apple pies, apple oat bread, pumpkin banana bread, cinnamon buns,bullseye cookies with peach jam. We will also have pesto and fresh basil. I will have some green onions, yellow pear tomatoes and cherry tomatoes. Oh, we will also have our dips. Remember the holidays are just around the corner and they are great to have on hand for unexpected company or great appetizers. Hope to see you at the market!

What'll be at the Farmers' Market?

September 4, 2010 Farmers’ Market:

Haley will be there with fresh baked pumpkin, pineapple ,strawberry, and Reese Cup dessert rolls and yet another new one.... lemon-blueberry. Miranda Napier

Blue Ridge Vineyard will be on site with wine for tasting and buying.

The Pie Lady will be at the market tomorrow with lots of chicken and dessert pies! See you all then. It looks to be a beautiful day. Lisa

Greetings from Full Circle Farm. Patrick will represent the bakery
tomorrow with freshly milled spelt, wheat and rye breads and pizza crusts.
Be sure and get your bread for this week and next as the baker will be
taking a mental health break next weekend! We will be back in action the
week after.

The Molloys will be roasting and selling coffee on site -- just the thing to go with all those cakes and pies!

Little Wasprock will be there with fresh beets, spaghetti squash, peppers, arugula, paw paws, pound cakes, banana pepper mustard and lots of jams, jellies and relishes! See you at the Market!

It should be nice and cool tomorrow. There will be vegetables for sale as well as country crafts.

August 28, 2010 Farmers’ Market:

Greetings and Salutations from Full Circle Farm. We plan to have freshly
milled whole wheat, spelt and rye breads and the market. Along with some
wonderful pizza crusts, perfect for those end of summer tomatoes and some
fresh cheese. See you at the market! Ginger and the family

Miranda will be there with fresh baked pumpkin, pineapple ,strawberry, and Reese Cup dessert rolls and yet another new one.... lemon-blueberry

Terra Prima Farm will be there with Eggs, Quiche & Herb Blends!

Little Wasprock will be there with PEARS, pear preserves, spelt and regular zucchini bread, banana pepper mustard, jams, jellies and relishes! We also will have tomatoe pies, as well as fresh peppers. See you all there!

The Molloys will be roasting coffee beans.

The Pie Lady will be there with the 8 different varieties of chicken pies and chocolate pecan and maple pecan pies.

This weeks menu is our usual pickles and jams, our version of chow chow at it's best. Fried apple pies, giant cinnamon buns, if I get to it pumpkin banana bread. We are also offering fresh Salsa! So get out your chips and see you in the morning! Toni and Wayne

John Brock will be popping kettle corn and making change!

We always have a few produce vendors who show up with whatever’s in the garden.

That all sounds pretty intriguing, so if you want to find out all the great stuff that came to the market on Saturday you’ll need to be there bright and early -- under the big, new tent!

August 21, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

John Brock will be at the Botetourt Farmers’ Market tomorrow popping kettle corn on site.

Miranda will be at the market 8/21 with freshly baked dessert rolls. Pumpkin, pineapple, strawberry and peach-carmel pecan.

Little Wasprock will be at the Market with Tomato Pies, spelt zucchini bread, banana pepper mustard, peppers, pickles, relishes, jams. jellies and maybe, just maybe, fried apple pies! See you all there!

Terra Prima Farm will be there with Eggs, Personal size Crustless Quiche and Herbs!

Patrick will be representing Full Circle Farm with freshly milled whole
wheat, spelt and rye breads and pizza crusts and granola. See you at the
market!

The Molloys will be roasting coffee beans.

Hillbilly Heaven will be there with surprises.

Bill Shaver has been shrimp fishing. "Jumbo, (swimming in the Pamlico Sound Thursday night) Head on Shrimp in a limited amount.
And whatever grew while I was away"

The pie lady will be at market with lots of chicken and dessert pies.

We always have a few meat and produce vendors who show up with whatever’s available.

That all sounds pretty intriguing, so if you want to find out all the great stuff that came to the market on Saturday you’ll need to be there bright and early -- under the big, new tent!

What's at the Market?

August 7, 2010 Farmers’ Market:

The Pie Lady will be there with the usual chicken pies and Maple and Chocolate Pecans.

The Molloys will be roasting coffee beans.

The pickle lady is coming with pickles, pepper jelly, tomatoes, pecan pies and apple cakes. See you in the morning.

Greetings from Full Circle Farm! Patrick will represent the bread lady
tomorrow with our freshly milled whole wheat and spelt breads, pizza
crusts, 4-grain pancake mix and spelt brownie mix. Don't forget your Milk
and Honey Bread to make the ultimate in fresh tomato sandwiches. We hope to have grass-finished lamb in a few weeks!

Little Wasprock is out of town this week - but hello to everyone and a great market day tomorrow!

Greetings! Terra Prima Farm will have Eggs, Herbs & Personal Size Quiche available this week.

Windy Hill will be there with Chocolate cherries, NO not candy but Chocolate cherry tomatoes, better than the candy

We will also have Sugar baby watermelons grown in Billy's Magic Dirt!

and whatever is out there in the garden in the mornin



There will be plenty more surprises, as usual, so come on out and join us!

July 24, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

Miranda Napier will be at the market tomorrow. I will have the usual....pumpkin, pineapple, strawberry, peach caramel-pecan dessert rolls

Patrick will be representing Full Circle Farm at Ikenberry's tomorrow with
freshly milled whole wheat and spelt breads and pizza crusts.

Little Wasprock will be there with TOMATO PIES, spelt zucchini bread, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers and the last of the fresh beets. We also will have a variety of pickles, relishes, jams and jellies!

Donna Henderson plans to be there with pickles, pepper jelly, and possibly some baked goods.

The Molloys will be roasting coffee beans.

Randy Deel will be there with produce.

Terra Prima Farm will be there with fresh eggs, dried herbs and quiche.

Bill Shaver: "I will have big tomatoes, really big cukes,eggs and whatever is out there in the mornin'"

June 26, 2010 Botetourt Farmers' Market

Buffalo Creek Beef will be at the market on Saturday with a variety of BCB products. I will also have brisket samples to give out for all to enjoy. I will not be at the market on the weekend of the 4th. See everyone on Saturday. Thanks Joan.

The Pickle Lady will be at Ikenberry's Sat with pickles and pepper jelly.

Full Circle Farm will be at Ikenberry's this Saturday with freshly milled
whole wheat and spelt goodies: pizza crusts, milk and honey bread,
baguette, seedy loaf and some of our mixes. Be sure and preorder if you
would like us to hold anything for you!

Hillbilly Heaven will be at the market on Saturday. Our pickles are starting to come back. We have Fresh made Sweet and Dills. By many requests we will have Freshly made Peach Jam and Orange Hot Pepper Jam. Our Bulls-Eye Cookies with Peach Jam as requested. Zucchini Bread, Lavender Coffee Cake ( For those that didn't get any last week, we made it again this week) and Strudels. Large : ) and small zucchini, yellow squash, beets and I have some perennial Black eyed Susan plants. See you at Ikenberry's.

Pie lady will also be there with usual pies

White Oak Dairy will be there with semi-soft goat cheese and also marinated chevre.
-Anna Wilson

Little Wasprock will be there with eggs, squash, beets, zucchini bread, raspberry muffins, raspberry jelly, cherry jam, sweet pickle relish, squash relish and whatever else I can whip up today! Look forward to seeing everyone!

Randy Deel will be there with vegetables and homegrown mushrooms.

There are usually a few surprises each Saturday as well, like freshly roasted coffee beans and fancy baked goods and additional produce, so come out and experience the Botetourt Farmers’ Market!

What Do You Think of These Designs?

Here are a couple of ideas for a logo to go on mugs and/or T-shirts.  Reactions?

June 12, 2001 Botetourt Farmers' Market

I have it on good authority that you will find a variety of produce and eggs at the market on Saturday morning.  Last week there were cherries, homegrown oyster mushrooms, cabbage, sugar snap peas, lamb, eggs...

 The Pie Lady will be there, with delicious chicken pies.

White Oak Dairy will be there with plain and garlic cheese and goat milk soap.

Bill Shaver, Windy Hill Farm, will be there with chopped cabbage, sugar snap peas, Vidalia onions, salad mix with a Vidalia onion, some kale and beets

oh yea! and the pet rescue chicken who will be named at lavender day by the kids.

Do you have produce/eggs/meat to sell?

Botetourt Farmers Market

is now accepting applications for 2010 season
$10.00 gets you membership for the year and the right to sell
every Saturday or on occasional Saturdays and Wednesdays.

There is an online application form -- look to the right of this post, or stop in at Ikenbery's and request a form and a copy of the Vendor Rules. 

May 29, 2001 Farmers’ Market

Some of this week's featured vendors:


Full Circle Farm will be at Ikenberry's with freshly milled whole grain breads, pizza crusts and mixes. Let's hope for great market weather!

The Molloy Coffee Company will be there to roast coffee. They’re bringing some lettuce, too!

Bill Shaver will bring lettuces, mesclun mix, herbs and broccoli. Oh -- and a little rescue hen, which should be a big hit with the kids.

Look for us up on the porch!

Happy Spring from the Blue Ridge Poultry Coop!

Happy Spring from the Blue Ridge Poultry Coop!


I'm so excited to tell you that we're ready to process our first batch of pasture raised, all natural chicken for your family to enjoy! We have two upcoming processing dates:

Saturday, April 24th and Saturday, May 8th.

Chickens will be available whole, fresh for pick up on the farm from 4:00pm-6:00pm on the processing days. Please bring a cooler with ice if you'll be traveling far.

Chickens will again be $3.00/lb. We will also have fresh eggs available for $3.00/dozen. We accept cash and check.

Please email or call with the number of chickens you'd like to reserve.

We're excited to get the season underway and see you all on the farm again!

Please call or email with any questions you have. A confirmation email will be sent with directions to the farm.

Thanks!

Angie and Patricia

www.blueridgepoultrycoop.com

966-0158

Organic Family Dairies Being Crushed by Rogue Factory Farms

Farmers Appeal to OMB, President Obama for Justice

WASHINGTON - January 25 - Family farmers from around the country, who produce organic milk, are petitioning president Obama, and the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB), for the swift adoption of new strict rulemaking that will rein in the abuses of a handful of factory farms they claim are violating both the spirit and letter of the federal organic law.

The pending rewrite of the organic livestock standards, with an emphasis on assuring compliance with provisions that require that ruminants, like dairy cows, be grazed, is currently under review at OMB, where the administration is being heavily lobbied by industrial farming interests to water down the rules.

To meet the explosive growth in the organic industry, over the last five years, a number of large industrial dairies, milking as many as 7200 cows, have exploited the stellar reputation that organic dairy products have earned in the eyes of consumers who are looking for safer and more nutritious food for their families.

"With the flattening of demand for organic food, these giant dairies have flooded the market with cheap milk that is now crushing the family farmers who have built this industry," said Mark Kastel, Senior Farm Policy Analyst at The Cornucopia Institute. "These CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) are anathema to organic consumers investing in a more environmentally sensitive approach to food production and humane animal husbandry. Ironically, one of the reasons they are willing to pay extra for organic milk is they think that the farmers who produce it are being fairly treated."

The current surplus of organic milk, caused by factory farms, has forced prices down for family farmers. Sadly, there have been reports around the country of a number of suicides of both conventional and organic dairy producers. Some organic farmers are now facing foreclosure, a stark contrast to the economic promise of organics over the past two decades of growth.

Organic farmers are particularly resentful of two corporate players that heavily lobbied the USDA during both the Bush and Obama administrations, attempting to weaken regulatory language that requires dairy cows to be managed in a way that promotes their natural instinctive behaviors, including grazing on open pastures rather than spending most of their lives confined in barns and dirt feedlots.

The largest villain, in the eyes of dairy farmers, is Aurora Dairy. The $100 million corporation owns five "factory farms," managing thousands of cows each, in arid regions of Texas and Colorado. Owning its own manufacturing plant, Aurora packages and ships milk for sale as storebrand products at Wal-Mart and a number of leading supermarket chains. Aurora's factory farm milk reaches every corner of this country, undercutting ethical farmers and their marketing partners.

"Although the president of Aurora Dairy, Mark Retzloff, has heavily contributed to the Democratic Party, President Obama, and Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor who is now USDA Secretary, we trust that the current administration will focus on the suspect practices of his company rather than their past financial and political support," Kastel stated.

In what has been described as the largest scandal in the history of the organic industry, in 2007, the USDA found that Aurora had "willfully" violated 14 tenets of the federal organic law including confining their animals, instead of grazing, and bringing illegal conventional cows into their factory farm operations.

The Bush administration let Aurora off without a cent in fines, instead placing the company on a one-year probation. Since then, 19 class-action lawsuits by consumers, charging Aurora with consumer fraud, has been working its way through the federal court system.

More disturbing to many organic consumers and farmers alike, especially in California, is the revelation that a previously respected and popular organic brand, Straus Dairy, has actively partnered with Aurora in attempting to scuttle enforcement of the pasture requirements for organic cattle under evaluation by the OMB.

"Albert Straus has repeatedly stated in public, and now is petitioning the Obama administration, claiming that it's impossible in his environment, north of San Francisco, to comply with the new proposed federal requirements for pasturing his cattle," said certified organic dairy producer John Mattos, who farms about 10 miles further north of the Straus operation in Sonoma County. Mattos is a member-owner of Organic Valley, a cooperative of family farmers that competes with Straus.

Mattos purposely chose to milk Jerseys, and Jersey crossbreeds, instead of the more productive and more common Holsteins, because they thrive when grazing in more marginal areas. "I graze 5 1/2 months a year, my cows are outside year round, I have no problems with the proposed standards," Mattos affirmed.

There were no cows out on pasture at the Straus dairy when it was observed by Kastel when he visited the Straus operation, and other area dairy farms, in 2008.

"It is grossly unfair that just a handful of dairies, for selfish reasons, are trying to derail strict enforcement," said Bob Camozzi, an organic farmer who also ships his milk to Clover Stornetta, another local North Coast California dairy brand.

"Our farmers are committed to maximizing pasture consumption by our cattle due to the economic benefits, the profoundly positive impact it has on the health of the animals and the superior nutrients that are contained in pasture-based organic milk," Camozzi explained.

Meeting with and lobbying the OMB in Washington, along with Aurora, is not the first time Albert Straus has angered other members of the organic dairy community by speaking against strict enforcement of organic dairy regulations.

"Albert has portrayed his brand as coming from his small family farm. But as his brand succeeded and grew in the marketplace, he apparently added too many cows to be grazed on the available land he owns and then he further grew his operation by buying from other area farmers," said Tony Azevedo, a San Joaquin Valley dairyman and president of the Western Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. "It's a shame that he chooses not to pasture on a regular basis."

"It would be a national scandal, as some of us face losing our farms due to the industrial dairy scofflaws, if the Obama administration sides with the ‘bad actors' in our industry," affirmed Bruce Drinkman, an organic dairy farmer from Glenwood City, Wisconsin, who milks 55 cows. "We are in dire financial straits because of the same kind of unethical competition from factory farms that put so many of our conventional neighbors out of business. We need the President and the USDA on our side!"
 -------------------------------------
Seeking economic justice for the family-scale farming community. Through research, advocacy, and economic development our goal is to empower farmers - partnered with consumers - in support of ecologically produced local, organic and authentic food.

-- From the Cornucopia Institute

Meet the Farmer TV

You can access the series by clicking here.

This is an informative series made in Virginia for farmers and consumers.

Enhancing the Productive Capacity of Land through Whole-Property Planning

A post-Thanksgiving reminder of the presentation this Friday morning!

Sponsored by Catawba Landcare

Friday, December 4th 2009

9:00am

Catawba Community Center

For a second year, a group of students from Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources have worked with several volunteer landowners in the Catawba Valley to assess their goals and their properties to develop whole-property agroforestry plans. During this meeting on December 4th, the students will be presenting their land management proposals along with the cooperating landowners.

Last year, this project raised some great ideas and suggestions among landowners and the audience members who attended. It’s an opportunity to explore different options for your land, and to hear how students at Virginia Tech are working directly with the community.

Catawba Landcare is a group of committed residents and landowners in the Catawba and North Fork Valleys who care about our land, community, and economy.
We are organizing a series of meetings and workshops to share our stories and to learn from the experiences of our neighbors.
To learn more
Visit www.catawbalandcare.org

or contact Courtney Kimmel – cekimmel@vt.edu

Farmers' Market -- Saturday, November 21

There will be a few farmers hangin' around Ikenberry's tomorrow morning. It will probably be a short market day. We don't guarantee everyone will be there early and stay until 1 p.m. If you need something come on over mid-morning.

Keltic Myst (Al the Soapman) will be there.

Buffalo Creek Beef will be there with a cooler full of beef.

Ginger Hillery (or a representative) will make an appearance with bread and other baked items.

Brambleberry Farm will bring eggs and greens -- chard and kale.

A new vendor will bring cedar wreaths and other natural items from her farm.

Ikenberry's is stocked with Fraiser Fir wreaths and other holiday items.

Pesticide Exec Nominated