-September 4-Craft Market & CentraCare Health

-September 11-6:30 closing begins, Face Painting

by Melissa Hartner, Music by TWIN

-September 18-Master Gardeners

The Wright County Area United Way proudly supports many non-profit organizations in the Albertville, Buffalo, Monticello, and St. Michael areas. Our support in these communities would not be possible without the in-credible financial gifts we receive from individuals, companies and corpo-rations. The impact we make in these communities is directly related to community giving. Allocation requests from local organizations have climbed to over $600,000 annually. We were able to provide $261,257 in community benefits to 70 programs in 2014. Our impact areas for funding are food, shelter, health, and education. Stop by our booth at the Monti-cello Farmer’s Market to see what programs receive dollars in your com-munity and how you can help.

A weekly insight to what’s happening at the Monticello Farmers’ Market

-Sweet Corn, Squash, Melons

-Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cabbage

- Radishes, Kohlrabi, Turnips, Rutabagas

-Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplant, Ground Cherries

-Herbs, Green Beans, Edamame, Carrots, Beets

-Summer Squash/ Zucchini, Cucumbers

-Potatoes -Onions, Green Onions, Leeks, Garlic -Lettuce, Kale, Baby Greens, Chard -Baked Goods, Breads, Pretzels, Pastries -Honey, various flavors, 100% Pure Maple Syrup -Flowers, Perennials, Trees, Shrubs -Farm Fresh Eggs -Canned Goods, Jams, Jellies, Pickles, Mustards,

BBQ Sauce

-Popcorn, Caramel Corn, Caramel Puff Corn,

Cheddar Corn -Hand Crafted Items, Hair Accessories & more!-

Natural Body Care Products, Soaps,

Lotions, Sunscreen, Deodorant -Fermented beverages: Kombucha,

Kefir, Ground Chaga

-FREE Chair Massage -& MORE!

Issue 16 August 28, 2014

Thursdays, 3:30-7:00pm (6:30 closing begins Sept. 11)

Monticello Library Parking Lot

Tamara’s Heirloom Tomatoes

Congrats, Alex LaVigne, with the closest guess to the number of hours it takes to make pizza crust from Grandma’s Garden. The actual time to make the roasted garlic crust is 48 hours, wow! And it’s so good it probably only takes 48 seconds to eat! Alex can claim the prize this week at the market. Don’t forget to check out this week’s contest at the infor-mation booth!

Short on cash? Want to use your EBT benefit to shop for eligible food items at the market? Stop by the infor-mation booth to swipe your card in exchange for tokens which can be used to pur-chase goods from vendors.

Farmers’ Market Coordinator: Sara Cahill sara.cahill@ci.monticello.mn.us 763-271-7124

Farmers’ Market Manager : Stephanie Ellingson stephellingson@hotmail.com

Contributing Editors: Tamara Hanson tamannhan@charter.net Lynda Shindley lyndas@izoom.net

Tamara started renting a sandy loam field of an old potato farm from the Howe family in 2008. That year she rented 2500 square feet. That was 1800 square feet bigger than her home garden had been (it is flowers now). In 2009 Tamara started at market and doubled her growing space to 50 by 100 feet. It doubled again the next year and is now 22,000 square feet, which is a challenge for one person to handle. She does 15 CSA shares in addition to the Monticello market, and also works part-time. She likes to grow almost every vegetable possible in this climate, but to vary from the usual supermarket or farm-ers’ market produce. For most of her crops, she chooses heirloom varieties from around the world; many seeds are obtained through seed trades, sometimes international. She saves her own seed and has been trying to arrange a seed saving class right in the garden. Contact her if interested in learning to save seeds correctly. Grandma’s Garden also offers preserves, flower bouquets, seeds, plants, and baked goods, including the popular pizza crust. Tamara is against Genetic Modification of our food and uses non-GMO ingredients in baking and preserving, such as cane sugar, local sunflower oil, and local eggs. Tamara has always had a strong interest in the culinary pro-fessions and loves that she gets to bake for market, as well as grow produce. The business was named after Tamara’s grandma Myrtle, a Norwegian immigrant who farmed 200 acres and sold at a farm stand, and passed on a love for growing to her granddaughter. It also refers to the heirloom varieties and the old world farming practices, such as companion and inter-planting. All her produce is grown without chemicals, always. The garden is populated by many bees, lady bugs and other beneficial critters. Growing without chemical pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers is not easy; it requires hauling ma-nure and compost, hand picking bugs, non-stop weeding, and time consuming things like putting a drop of oil on each corn ear tip to kill corn worms. However, she says that is all worth it, but the hardest part is actually trying to compete with large farms and selling all the produce.

We accept SNAP EBT Cards

Edamame

Broccoli & Purple Cauliflower

Did you know? >>> Most vendors reuse mason jars so please bring your jars

back. Some vendors offer a credit towards the purchase of canned goods when jars are returned. Also, some vendors accept produce clam shells, egg cartons, nursery flats & plastic shopping bags. Just drop your extras at the information booth.

By Tamara Hanson of Grandma’s Garden

Harvest Calendar

early May

late May

early June

late June

early July

late July

early August

late August

early Sept.

late Sept

Oct, Nov

Apple x x x

Arugula x x x

Asparagus x x x

Basil x x x x x x

Beans x x x x x x

Beets x x x x x x x

Broccoli x x x x x x x x

Broccoli Rabe ? ? x x

Brussels Sprout x x

Cabbage x x x x x x x

Carrot x x x x x x x

Cauliflower x x x x x x

Chives x x x x x x x x x x x

Cilantro x x ? ? ? x x x x

Cucumber x x x x x x x

Dill x x x x x x x

Edamame x x

Eggplant x x x x

Garlic scapes x

Garlic dry bulb x x x x x x x x

Ground Cherries x x x x

Kale x x x x x x x x x

Kohlrabi x x x x x x x x

Leeks x x x x x x

Lettuce baby mix x x x x x

Lettuce, leaf x x x ? ? ? x x x

Mint x x x x x x x x x x

Melons x x x

Onions, dry x x x x x

Oregano x x x x x x x x x x x

Pac Choi (Bok Choy) x x x ? ? x x x

Parsley x x x x x x x x

Parsnip x x

Peas x x x

Peppers x x x x x

Potatoes x x x x x x x

Pumpkin x x

Radish x x x x ? ? ? ? x x x

Raspberries x x x x x

Rhubarb x x x x

Rosemary x x x x x x x x x x x

Rutabaga x x x x x x x

Sage x x x x x x x

Scallion x x x x x x x x x x

Shallots x x x x x

Spinach x x x x x

Squash, winter x x x

Squash, sum-mer ? x x x x x x ?

Strawberries June bear-

ing x ever bearing x x

Sunchoke x x

Sweet Corn x x x x

Sweet potatoes x x

Swiss Chard x x x x x x x x

Thyme x x x x x x x x x x x

Tomato ? x x x x x ?

Turnip x x x x x x x x x

Watermelon x x x

We have already talked about the benefits of buy-ing locally and the need to work with the harvest seasons when choosing produce. Working the mar-ket into your weekly schedule will help you get the most out of the products offered and would really be appreciated by the vendors. We see discernable patterns in attendance. It is sad that at this time of the year, the height of harvest, there is a dip in cus-tomers. I was visiting metro markets this weekend and overheard vendors noting the lack of custom-ers during state fair time. Everyone is busy and it can be difficult to visit the market every week. Without the repeat customers, though, the market can never survive. Here are some ideas to encourage coming to mar-ket every week. Sign up for the weekly email and newsletter at the market information booth. An email Wednesday or Thursday morning will remind you of the market and tell you what will be going on there. Also at the information booth you could give suggestions of events, products, or activities you would like to see at market. If you are on Face-book, “like” the pages of your favorite vendors. Their updates will be a good reminder to work the market into your Thursday schedule. It is difficult to not buy certain items at the store and wait until the market. At the first market of the season, I am al-ways disappointed in myself for buying asparagus with my groceries and then seeing it fresh picked at market. During the season it is a good idea to keep your dinner menus a little loose so you can see what is at market and grab it. Preparing the fresh produce in summer is so easy anyway. When you know how short the season is for certain items it becomes clear that you have to take action or you will miss it until next year! Without the support from our customers all the items could vanish. We want to heartily thank our sustaining customers.

Ivy Lane Garden Shop (plants, baked goods, jams, crafts) Rita McCooley

Schyma’s Pickles & Preserves (cucumber pickles, carrot pickles, fruit preserves) Chris Schyma

Beck’s Elk River Greenhouse & Vegeta-ble Farm (plants, fresh vegetables) Barb Beck

Diamond City Bread (artisan breads, cinnamon rolls, scones) Garrett Jordahl

Greenbush Farms (produce and canned goods) Chuck Long

Back 2 Health Chiropractic & Massage

Gardners Garden (Canned goods, pro-duse, and soft pretzels) Jeff Gardner

Hasty Woods Tree Farm (landscaping plants) Grant Everson

Grandma’s Garden (plants, herbs, vege-tables, baked good) Tamara Hanson

JT’s Sweet BBQ Sauce (3 kinds of BBQ sauce) Jeremy Teicher

Mothers Hands (hand-crafted Items)Nancy Swanson & Kristen Natysin

Hunz Farmz (eggs, chicken, beef, pork)Dan Hunz

Homemade Bakery (breads, Pulla loaf, caramel rolls, cinnamon rolls, hot dog and hamburger buns) Brenda Kumpula

Lacy J Ranch (produce) Jim Lacy

Barthel’s River Road Gold (maple syr-up) Heidi Barthel

Modern Roots (natural skin/hair care, kombucha, kefir, Chaga, eggs) Meg DiMercurio

Mark Christiansen (BBQ sauce)

Brown-Dog Honey (honey and honey products) John Swanson

Patty’s Popcorn (Caramel corn, caramel puffed corn, cheddar popcorn)

*Hunz Farmz, Ivy Lane Garden Shop, Diamond City Bread

will be absent this week* *Sonnenberg Sonnenboxes is done for

the season*

Recipe and Submitted by Stephanie Ellingson, Farmers’ Market Manager

7 Cups of Sliced Cucumbers 1 Cup Cut Green Pepper Sliced Onions (if desired) 1 Cup White Vinegar 2 Cups White Sugar 1 tsp. Celery Seed 2 1/2 tsp. Salt

Instructions: Mix together sugar, vinegar, celery seed, and salt until dissolved. Pour over vegeta-bles and refrigerate. Makes about 2 quarts.

Bruschetta 2 Quarts of Tomatoes or more, preferably

paste or beefsteak style with a little wa-ter content. Core and squeeze out seeds and gel. Coarsely chop and sprinkle light-ly with kosher salt. Drain in a colander for 1/2 hour at room temp

1-2 Cloves of Garlic, minced, and a little onion or shallot, minced

1-2 Tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar, depend-ing on the amount of tomatoes

1 Tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Basil cut into thin strips Mix ingredients together and serve on Baguette Slices

To make fresh salsa just add minced hot peppers, a dash of cumin and lime juice, cilantro is optional but rarely available at the same time as tomatoes.

Recipe Submitted by Tamara Hanson of Grandma’s

Cooking with herbs is a great, healthy way to pack flavor into dishes while limiting salt.

If you are cooking:

Try flavoring it with:

Beef: Bay leaf, marjoram, nutmeg, onion, pepper, sage, thyme

Lamb Curry powder, garlic, rosemary, mint

Pork Garlic, onion, sage, pepper, oregano

Veal Bay leaf, curry powder, ginger, marjoram, oregano

Chicken Ginger, marjoram, oregano, paprika, poultry seasoning, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme

Fish Curry powder, dill, dry mustard, marjoram, paprika, pepper

Carrots Cinnamon, cloves, dill, ginger, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, sage

Corn Cumin, curry powder, onion, paprika, parsley

Green Beans Dill, curry powder, marjoram, oregano, tarragon, thyme

Greens Onion, pepper

Potates Dill, garlic, onion, paprika, parsley, sage

Summer Squash Cloves, curry powder, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, sage

Winter Squash Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, onion

Tomatoes Basil, bay leaf, dill, marjoram, onion, oregano, parsley, pepper

Cucumbers chives, dill, garlic, vinegar

Peas green pepper, mint, fresh mushrooms, onion, parsley

Rice chives, green pepper, onion, paprika, parsley Source: www4.ncsu.edu/~aibrantl/cookingwithherbs.html