Whitted Bowers Farm: The Beet, Weaver Street's E-Newsletter

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Whitted Bowers Farm:
New to the Piedmont Farm Tour!
by Emily Buehler, Contributing Writer
The long driveway at Whitted Bowers Farm crosses a huge open space, flanked with dirt-covered fields just waiting for their time to come. Rob and Cheri Bowers bought the land in Cedar Grove only two years ago, after they met at a film festival: within minutes of meeting, they were talking excitedly about biodynamic fruit. Neither had farmed full-time, but both had experience on farms; Cheri had done some relevant coursework, and Rob had grown four acres of organic table grapes. Cheri's family (the Whitteds) have lived in Orange County for seven generations, so the Bowers moved back from California and began their fruit farm. More

Piedmont Farm Tour
Farm Tour Kick-off!
SV Wine Show & Sale
2nd Friday ArtWalk

WSM Board Enews

OC & CH Spring Events
Bicycle Forum
Wild Herb Walk
CHICLE Cultural Event
Classifieds Due

April Wine Dinner
Local Farms/Local Art

Weekly Produce Specials
Weekly Meat Specials

Value Recipe: Easy Tilapia
with Wine, Asparagus & Tomatoes



Whitted Bowers Farm continued
They started an experimental orchard to see what will grow well here: mayhaws, juneberries, rosehips, autumn olives, cold-hardy citrus, heirloom apples, peaches, plums, figs, persimmons, and even a pomegranate tree are in the ground around the house. The lone pear tree was taken down by a beaver, who, thankfully, has since moved on. For their first year, they planted four acres of muscadine grapes, all of which were killed in 2007's April freeze. A North Carolina grape specialist told Rob it was the worst time he could have chosen in fifty years to plant grapes. Needing something to sell for the 2007 season, the Bowers turned to annuals and planted heirloom melon seeds. The melons thrived in the drought, filling the Bowers' house as they tried to sell them all at the Farmers' Market in Hillsborough. "The whole market smells like melons!" other farmers told them; Rob became known as "the Melon Guy in the white truck." Cheri shows me pictures of the melons, which are European varieties: these are not your average melons. With names like the Prescott Fond Blanc and the Charentais, they look like they've been lifted straight out of a Renaissance still-life. The outsides are bumpy and pale yellow, or green and yellow striped; inside, many resemble cantaloupe. Getting heirloom seeds was hard; the Bowers will save seeds for the future. Melons are known for being fussy and high-maintenance; if it's not a drought year, they often have trouble with fungus on the plants. This is where biodynamic preps come in. In a huge blue mixing bowl, sprays can be made with natural ingredients (like seaweed, nettles, or chamomile) to treat the plants for different conditions. The huge mixer creates a vortex in the prep, then stops and destroys the form as it begins to spin in the opposite direction. Rob speaks of putting energy and love into the mixtures, getting beyond the simple mechanical motion of the mix. The preps are one part of biodynamic farming, which Rob dubs "uber-organic." The other part has to do with when seeds are planted, land is cultivated, and crops are harvested: the moon and planets affect the earth and cause good and bad times for planting different types of plants and performing most tasks on the farm. Planting schedules can be found in the form of almanacs. Just past the mixer is the new greenhouse, in which the Bowers will start their melons and keep cuttings of their strawberries and grapes. They hope to produce all their own plants someday. They have two ponds for irrigation and plan to build a water catchment system for their house's huge roof. They've added a barn and a packing shed, where the harvested melons will live this year, instead of piled throughout their house. Bags of "starting mix" lie waiting; the Bowers cooperated with neighboring farms to buy the bags in quantity. After the greenhouse we pass through the young orchard to the chicken coop, where a rooster crows from the roof of the henhouse. I'm taken in by a poofy-headed chicken, who scratches around with the other, usual kinds of chickens, unaware of her spectacular hairdo. The Bowers will increase their livestock as a way to generate the farm's fertility; they also hope to function as a livestock rescue someday. Past the chicken coop are the strawberry fields. Rows of round leafy-green clumps stretch across the ground. At the back is a row of table grapes, and beyond are a hundred blackberry and blueberry bushes, all of which show great growth for one year. The Bowers haven't gone all-out with their blueberries, since their neighbor runs a U Pick blueberry farm; but they recognize the need for blueberries in the area and are keeping it in mind. They also hope to add pecans, walnuts, and hazelnuts someday, and an heirloom pumpkin patch. They talk to customers to get ideas and don't mind trying new or risky plants; and they're determined to do it all organically. The Bowers may have strawberries in time for the Farm Tour—weather permitting. Go out to stroll around the fields and learn about biodynamic farming and all kinds of fruit. And be sure to check out the pictures of the melons, which arrive in late June: once you see them, you'll be dying to try them. Piedmont Farm Tour maps and buttons are now available at Weaver Street Market.

Weekly Produce Specials - THESE SALES ARE EFFECTIVE WEDNESDAY, April 2 through TUESDAY, April 8.


	Organic Braeburn or Pink Lady Apples	3 lb. bags $4.99 each	save $1.00 per bag
	California, Organic Asparagus	$3.99 lb	super low price
	Organic, Mexican Valencia Oranges	4 lb. bags $3.99 ea	save $1.00

Weekly Meat & Seafood Specials

	Niman Ranch Boneless Pork Ribs	$3.99 lb	All natural save $1.00 lb
	Grady's Sausage Patties	$3.49 lb	All Natural save $1.50 lb
	Fresh, Farm-Raised Tilapia Fillets	$6.99 lb	All Natural save $2.00 lb
Read more about other Weaver Street Market Specials.


Value Recipe: Easy Tilapia with Wine, Asparagus and Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS: • 4 (4 ounce) tilapia fillets (This week's WSM special: Fresh farm raised, all natural Tilapia Fillets $6.99/lb, save $2.00/lb!) • salt and pepper to taste • 4 tablespoons butter (This Month's Co-op Advantage Special: Organic Earth Balance Buttery Sticks $2.79, 16 oz. box, reg. price $2.99) • 1 lemon • 3 cloves garlic, pressed • 1 cup white wine (This season's WSM's "Wine Sale & Show" special: Alcion Chardonnay Wine $3.49, save 50¢!) • 4 fresh basil leaves, chopped • 1 large tomato, chopped • Fresh Asparagus (This week's WSM special: California Organic Asparagus $3.99/lb, save $1.00/lb!) DIRECTIONS: 1. Preheat ovet to 425 degrees. 2. Place the tilapia fillets side by side on a 9x13 pan. Season each one with salt and pepper. Place one tablespoon of butter on top of each piece of fish, and sprinkle garlic, basil and tomato. Pour the wine over everything. 3. Place the pan in the preheated oven, and bake for 20 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Great with herbed mashed potatoes or rice pilaf.
Find more recipes here.



Piedmont Farm Tour

Saturday, April 19 Sunday, April 20 New Hours! 1-6 pm Tickets $30, $25 in advance 35 farms to choose from 5 new farms this year! Maps and buttons now available at Weaver Street Market!

Farm Tour Kick-Off

Thursday, April 17 6:00 - 8:00 pm on the lawn in Carrboro Meet and mingle with farmers! Enjoy live music, and taste wine by local vineyards on the tour. Buy a button/ticket and pick up a map! Purchase a Farm Tour T-shirt - 100% organic cotton!

SV Wine Show & Sale

Weaver Street Market's 4th Annual Spring Wine Sale March 28-April 13 This sale will feature a selection of favorite and fine wines from around the world at discounts up to 41% off regular price! 10% regular case discount applies on top of sale price! This is a "no risk" wine sale - you can taste all these wines at the Wine Shows! Wine Show: Saturday, April 5, 1 - 5 pm at Southern Village Saludos Compay will provide lively, entertaining music while you sip 40 fine wines from around the world. Tickets are $5 and are available at both Weaver Street Market locations. A portion of the proceeds benefits WSM's Cooperative Community Fund. Enjoy...music, hors d'oeuvres, and your favorite wines at great values! Hours Weaver Street Market: Carrboro, 7:30 am - 9 pm M-F, 8 am - 9 pm Sat/Sun, 929-0010 Weaver Street Market: Southern Village, 7 am - 9 pm Daily, 929-2009
View the complete list of wines on sale here.

2nd Friday ArtWalk

Friday, April 11 6:00 - 9:00pm This is a perfect opportunity for those of you who enjoy art, entertainment and live music! This community gathering event will be taking place in Carrboro and Chapel Hill on Friday evening. Enjoy a wine and food tasting at Weaver Street Market in Southern Village from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Admission is free to everyone.
View more Weaver Street Market events here.



WSM Board Enews

Weaver Street Market's Board of Directors now publishes a monthly email newsletter featuring current board news, including notification of newly posted minutes, highlights of hot topics and board discussions, forthcoming agenda items that you can share your views on, and board-related volunteer opportunities.
Sign up for the Board e-newsletter here.

OC & CH Events

If you are an Orange County resident and have confidential paper to get rid of, bring it for free to one of these Shred-A-Thons: Tuesday, April 22 at University Mall near Dillard's; Saturday, May 3 at Eubanks Road Park-and-Ride (1/2 mile west of MLK Blvd.); or Saturday, May 10 at Orange High School in Hillsborough. All events are 10 am to 2 pm. Paper will be shredded and recycled. Keep out all non-paper items for best results. Limit: ten "banker boxes" or equivalent. (If you shred your own, you can recycle it at the curb. Just be sure to place it in a paper bag, no more than two bags at a time, so it doesn't blow down the street.)

The Town of Chapel Hill will host an Earth Action Day Celebration atop the James C. Wallace Parking Deck on Rosemary Street on Saturday, April 26 from 11 am to 4 pm. A free event for the whole family, Earth Day on the Plaza will provide a fun-filled afternoon of learning more about our planet and the human relationship with the environment through demonstrations, performances, and activities by and for all ages. For more information see the Community Events link here (click on Earth Action Day logo).

Did you miss the Weaver Street compost demo and still want to know the scoop? Come to the Community Center Garden (behind the rose garden) on Estes Drive, Saturday, April 12, from 10am-11:30am for a free lesson in how to make your own nutritious soil amendment from kitchen scraps that will help retain moisture, feed your garden, and starve the landfill. The same demonstrations will be held later that day at the Spring Garden Tour, 12:30 and 2:00 pm. For ticket and tour information call (919) 962-0522 or visit their website here.

Bicycle Forum

Participate in the Carrboro Bicycle Transportation Plan
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Drop in 4:30-7:30 pm
Carrboro Elementary School

The Town of Carrboro is hosting a public workshop to exchange information regarding the town's Comprehensive Bicycle Transportation Plan. Community members can drop by the informal meeting at Carrboro Elementary School anytime between 4:30 and 7:30 PM.

Some of the major goals of the Transportation Plan are to provide safe, integrated, and connected bicycling facilities to serve destinations in and around Carrboro. Improvements can include the installation of on-road bicycle lanes, increasing rider/driver awareness and education, and safer intersection crossings. If there are places around town that you'd like to bicycle, or areas that you think need improvement, stop by the meeting to give your input!

More information is available by calling Adena Messinger, Transportation Planner for the Town of Carrboro, at 919-918-7329. The transportation plan's website contains an online comment form.

Learn more about Greenways here.

Wild Herb Walk

Monday, April 7
5:30 - 7:00 pm, rain or shine
Meet outside Cup-A-Joe
120 W. King Street
Hillsborough
Join Herbalist and Wildcrafter, Will Endres on this informal walk to learn more about the incredible healing herbs and plants located right here in the heart of Hillsborough. Cost $15. No pre-registration required. Just show up ready to learn.

Sunday Field Day - Wild Medicinal & Edible Herbs
Sunday April 13, 9 am - 5 pm
This class will meet and travel to places in and within 20 minutes of Hillsborough to learn about local wild herbs. Cost $45 each, prepay by money order or cash, due by the Wednesday before class. Send to Will Endres, PO Box 27, Prospect Hill, NC 27314

Wild Medicinal and Edible Plants Exploration Class
This mobile class heavily emphasizes field identification and is primarily outdoors. All activites encourage students to deepen their relationship with the wild plant world that envelops and renews us all.
Dates: Thursdays, April 17 - August 28, 2008, 9 am - 4:30 pm. Call Will to register, $300.

Will Endres is a local Hillsborough resident who is recognized nationally as an expert and pioneer in the healing properties of herbs. He also has developed a line of herbal tinctures and dry herbs, many of which he sells at local farmers' markets and natural foods stores.
Will can be reached at 919.732.9785.

CHICLE Cultural Event

4-part series: April 6, April 13, April 20, and April 27
Immigration: Asking the Hard Questions.
Immigration is a hot topic these days and CHICLE (the Chapel Hill Institute for Cultural and Language Education) and ISA (Institute for the Study of the Americas) of UNC-CH are co-sponsoring a 4-part series along with a group of agencies from around the Triangle. Programs will include a movie and discussion on various topics surrounding immigration. The series will be held at the Fed-Ex Global Center, 301 Pittsboro St. on the UNC campus. All the programs are free and open to the public.

Kickoff event
Sunday, April 6th, from 12:30-6:00 pm.
Events on the 13th, 20th and 27th, will be from 4:00 -6:00 pm.

April 6 Crime, Deportation, Criminal Justice and Immigration
12:30 - 4:00 pm - Community Conference: Community Impacts of Local Policy Responses to Undocumented Immigration
4:00-4:30 pm Reception
4:30 pm - Film and discussion - Al Otro Lado, a 2005 documentary about immigration and drug trafficking through the lens of Mexico's 200-year-old tradition of corrido music. Discussion about issues raised in the film with Joe Wiltberger (UNC Anthropology) and Jonathon Riesner (UNC Comparative Literature)

April 13, Economics and Immigration
4:00-6:00 pm - Some hard questions we hope to address: Why are they here? Are they depressing wages? Are they taking jobs from non-immigrant North Carolinians? Film: Morristown: in the Air and Sun Filmed over an 8-year period in the mountains of east Tennessee, interior Mexico, and Ciudad Juarez, this film is rooted in the authentic expression of workers who speak about their lives, work, disappointments, and hope. Discussion facilitated by Dani Martínez-Moore , NC Justice Center
For more information call 919-933-0398.

Learn more about CHICLE here.

Classifieds Due

Sunday, April 6, 9:00 pm at our Carrboro Store
Classified ads for our May print newsletter dated: April 30-May 27, are due at our Carrboro Store by 9:00 pm on Sunday, April 6.

The cost is $10/month for owners and $15/month for non-owners. Please limit your ad to 50 words or fewer. Weaver Street Market reserves the right to edit ads for length.


April Wine Dinner

Australian Wines with Importer, Robert Whale Monday, April 21 7:00 - 9:30 pm For this exciting wine dinner, Panzanella welcomes special guest, Robert Whale, president and founder of Robert Whale Selections, importer of fine Australian wines. With 2 decades of experience traveling and tasting throughout Australia and New Zealand in search of unique, site-specific, boutique wines, Robert has become identified with top-quality wine producers from Down Under. The importer's book represents wines that are food-compatible with balance, structure and elegance. This is an opposite style of many Australian wines, which frequently offer more flavor and oak than elegance and character. Please join us for this celebration of delicious, wonderfully made Australian wines, and meet an importer who dares to be different. Plenty of marvelous food will be prepared by Panzanella Chef, Chris Capron. The cost of this event is $45 per person; space is limited, so reserve early. Please pay in advance and pick up a ticket for this tasting at either Panzanella or the customer service desk at Weaver Street Market in Carrboro.
Visit Panzanella's website to view all menus (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch).
Sign up for Panzanella's Enewsletter here.

Local Farms/Local Art

A Group Art Exhibit Celebrating the 13th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour April 1 - June 1, 2008 Public Reception: Monday, April 28, 5:30-7:30 PM This April and May, Panzanella presents a juried exhibit of works based on NC farms. The show celebrates the thirteenth annual Piedmont Farm Tour, which takes place Saturday and Sunday, April 19th and 20th. The exhibit includes painting, drawing and photography created by 26 North Carolina artists. Vote for Art: From Tuesday, April 1st through Sunday, April 27th, Panzanella guests will be invited to vote for their favorite piece in the show. The 3 artists with the most votes will win gift certificates for use at any Weaver Street Market and Panzanella. Prizes will be awarded at the Artist Reception, April 28.