We are excited to hold the first Garlic Festival on September 5. Our First Friday Cooking day will feature recipes with lots of garlic. Geshe Morley will be the guest chef. The Apple Festival will be on September 12. We can always use volunteers to help run the presses, and don’t forget to enter the Apple Dessert Contest. Even if you don’t enter, plan to enjoy the entries after the judging. Pepper Day on September 19 features a free pepper tasting. In addition, several of our vendors participate in the Ag and Art Tour, which will be held September 6th this year. You can find more details at https://www.graysoncountyva.com/ag-art-adventure/
Our First Friday Cooking Day on September 5 is also the date of our new Garlic Festival. Geshe will be cooking an array of dishes featuring garlic, including garlic mashed potatoes, garlic soup and hummus. Don’t miss it! We’ll also have a small garlic tasting and information on growing garlic. If you are proud of your garlic, feel free to bring some to add to the tasting!
The Apple Festival is September 12. The Market will be pressing apples and offering fresh cider as a fundraiser from 9:30- 1pm. We open at 9am as usual, but it takes a little while to get everything going. The Festival also features an apple dessert contest. Entries will be judged on “appleness”, overall flavor and appearance. Please bring your entry to the Market by 9:30am and be sure that your name is attached to the bottom of your dish so it can be returned to you. Judging will begin at 10:00. Winners will be announced once the judging is complete. First prize is $100, 2nd prize $30 and 3rd is $20. Pie will be sold by the slice as a fundraiser after judging.
September 19 features the annual Pepper tasting. While the selection isn’t quite as extensive as our tomato tasting, it’s a great way to taste lots of sweet and hot peppers. Don’t worry, we’ll label the hot ones! We’ll have water, but if you plan to eat lots of hot ones, bring your own milk or cheese. Dairy quenches the heat, water can just spread it around.
Believe it or not, there are only 6 regular Markets left! We will return for 3 Winter Markets: November 21, 28 and Saturday December 5th. And our Online Market has been updated and is more mobile friendly. I hope you’ll give it a try. We are working to make more products available. https://independencefarmersmarket.locallygrown.net/welcome
