14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour: The Beet, Weaver Street's E-Newsletter

Link to Weaver Street Market's Home Page

14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour:
largest tour in the country!
By Cat Moleski, Contributing Writer
For fourteen years Weaver Street Market has co-sponsored the Piedmont Farm Tour, each year helping it to grow until it has become the largest farm tour in the nation. That's an impressive achievement and one that we are proud to have been a part of. Taking a weekend to drive around the countryside of North Carolina is a great way to re-connect with the land and the people who grow and produce an abundance of delicious, healthy food close to our homes. It's also a heck of a lot of fun! From adorable lambs, pigs, ducks and bunnies to cutting edge organic and sustainable vegetable growing techniques, the 14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour has something for everyone. More

Wine Sale & Shows
Hillsborough Open Mic
Jazz Brunch Begins!
OC Easter Egg Hunt
Volunteer for the Farm Tour!

Display Ad Space
Celebrate Earth and Sky
CHICLE Cultural Event
Hillsborough Yoga

Beausol Gardens
Natural Easter Egg Dye

Easter Special
New Brunch Items!
New Art 4/6

Weekly Produce Specials
Weekly Meat Specials
April Newsletter

Easter Specials
New Goat Cheese!
Botanical Interests
Maple Salmon Recipe



14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour! continued
Saturday, April 25 Sunday April 26 1:00 - 6:00 pm This year's tour has forty farms - more choices than ever before. It will feature old favorites like Celebrity Dairy, Chapel Hill Creamery, Maple View Farm, Pine Knot Farm and Peregrine Farm as well as eight new farms and projects. Overall, the tour features eighteen produce farms, twelve farms with humanely-raised animals, two nurseries, three vineyards and five farm projects. Cost: $25/car in advance for all the farms. $30/car the day of the tour. Maps and Buttons will be available for purchase at all three Weaver Street Market locations, April 3. This tour is sponsored by Weaver Street Market and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association. All proceeds from the tour benefit the CFSA.
Read more about the Farm Tour here.

Weekly Produce Specials - THESE SALES ARE EFFECTIVE Tuesday, March 31 through Monday, April 6.


	Seedless White Grapes	$1.79 lb	product of Chile
	Organic Pink Lady Apples	3 lb. bags $3.99 each	Last of the season! product of Washington
	Organic Cherry Tomatoes	2 pints/$4.00	product of Mexico

Weekly Meat & Seafood Specials

	Alaskan Wild-caught Sockeye Salmon Fillets	$9.99 lb	save $3.00 lb
	Local Pasture-raised Pork Italian Sausage	$5.49 lb	Hot or mild save $1.00 lb
	Local Pasture-raised Pork Breakfast Sausage	$3.99 lb	Mild! save $1.00 lb

Read more about other Weaver Street Market Specials.
View the April CAP Flyer here.


April Newsletter

The Weaver Street Market print newsletter will no longer be direct mailed. Instead, you will find a link to a pdf of it here.

Easter Special: Local Eggs!

Fickle Creek Farm Eggs on sale for Easter! 25% OFF/dozen eggs! Locally grown in Efland, NC Today thru Monday, April 13, 2009 If you're looking for a truly free-range egg, Fickle Creek Farm's eggs are the answer. The chickens have large pastures that they can forage in and mobile coops where they roost and lay their eggs. Four Great Pyrenees dogs guard the chickens from fox, hawks, and other predators. The farming philosophy of Ben and Noah, the owners of Fickle Creek, is "sustainably as possible and as humanely as possible." They use no antibiotics, no growth hormones and follow a natural laying cycle.
Learn more about Fickle Creek Farm here.

New Local Goat Cheese!

Holly Grove Farms Mount Olive, NC by Peg Todloski, Merchandising Specialist What a lot of people don't realize is that we here at Weaver Street Market spend many hours driving around North Carolina looking for great products. I'm lucky enough to have to go look for good wine and cheese — I know, it's a tough job... My latest driving excursion brought me to Mount Olive, NC to meet Ron Craig, goat, pig and cattle farmer. He owns Holly Grove Farms and my reason for visiting was to talk with him about his goat cheese, and to meet and greet his goats face to face. He's got about one thousand goats and hopes to cap out at around twelve hundred. He runs a tidy ship, or I should say farm, with lots of help from family and folks who have worked for him for years and years. He states without question or apology that he is, plain-and-simple, a pig farmer, and has been his whole life, wrangling his first pig at a local fair at the age of eight. He recently got in to goat farming five years ago and says he really enjoys watching the goats and all their 'interesting' behavior — goats are definitely fun to watch. He believes in treating his animals well, growing all their hay on his farm and feeding them nothing but all natural feed, with no animal by-products and no added hormones or antibiotics. Ron was very entertaining and incredibly passionate about farming. I left Holly Grove excited about carrying their goat cheeses at WSM and happy about supporting another great family owned and operated farm. Something Ron said really resonated with me, and that was he wanted to produce a product that was of good quality at a great price for everyone to enjoy. Well, he does and we're proud to offer it to you in all three stores. HOLLY GROVE FARMS FRESH CHEVRE $4.50/8oz - Plain, Chive, Jalapeno SUMMERTYME BLUE $5.99/8oz - Goat and cow's milk blue cheese
Learn more about Holly Grove Farms here.

Botanical Interests

It's time to plant seeds! by Emily Buehler, Contributing Writer The last frost of the winter may be passed, and the dirt is calling — it's time to plant seeds. And thanks to our local cooperative extension agency, we have a handy Guide to Planting Dates that you can download in PDF form here. High quality seeds are available at all three Weaver Street Market locations from Botanical Interests, a family-owned business located in Broomfield, Colorado. Curtis and Judy Jones began the business in their spare bedroom 15 years ago, in order to make available better quality seeds as well as informational tools to help and inspire gardeners. They now have 22 employees and nationwide distribution. Their seeds have a reputation for high germination rates and are untreated and free of genetic engineering, and many are certified organic. Visit the website below, where you can get more information on planting and read their interesting blog (which includes topics like how to grow and use Fava Beans, and Symbolic Seeds to pass out as wedding favors).
Learn more about Botanical Interests here.

Recipe

Maple Salmon INGREDIENTS: • 1/4 cup maple syrup • 2 tablespoons soy sauce • 1 clove garlic, minced • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper • 1 pound salmon fillet (This week's WSM special: Wild Caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets $9.99/lb, save $3.00/lb!) DIRECTIONS: 1. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper. 2. Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once. 3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). 4. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork. Serve with seasonal salad with cherry tomatoes, pink lady apples and white, seedles grapes. (This week's WSM special: Organic Cherry Tomatoes 2 pints/$4.00) (This week's WSM special: Organic Pink Lady Apples $3.99/3lb bag!) (This week's WSM special: Imported seedless White Grapes $1.79/lb) And starting tomorrow we'll have Annie's Organic Dressings on Co-op Monthly Advantage sale - $2.79/per bottle!
View more recipes here.



5th Annual Spring Wine Sale & Shows

Please join us for our 5th Annual Spring Wine Sale & Shows, three consecutive weekends of tasting some of the best deals in wine. Some of the highlights of this sale are; another great deal on North Carolina wine, our first sulfite-free sale wine, a good selection of either sustainably farmed, organic or biodynamic wines, and prices ranging from $3.99 to $15.99 and deals at up to 44% off! Over 3/4 of this spring's selections are 25% off or more, and 2/3 of the sale wines are ten dollars and under. So, if its real value for your buck you're after - this is the wine sale for you! Featuring nearly 40 wines at heavily discounted prices, taste all you like for only $5, and take home a commemorative wine glass to celebrate the occasion. A 10% additional case discount applies on top of all regular discounts. Live music by Saludos Compay and Different Drum. Wine Sale! - April 3 - April 22. Weaver Street Market's Spring Wine Shows will be Saturday, April 4 in Hillsborough, 1-5 pm Saturday, April 11 in Southern Village, 1-5 pm Saturday, April 18 in Carrboro, 1-5 pm
Read more about other Weaver Street Market Events here.

Hillsborough Open Mic

Hillsborough store Acoustic Open-Mic Every Thursday 6:30-8:30 pm Our esteemed guests in the Lounge for the next few weeks: April 2: John Saylor - The Cave's open-mic host visiting the Lounge for the first time April 9 Bill Whitmore and Friends - Chapel Hill real estate agent by day, guitar slinging aesthete by night April 16: Gilbert Neal - Hillsbohemian troubador extraordinaire with eclectic lyrical interests April 23: Gregory Blaine of Rootzie - Blue Bayou mainstay in full acoustic glory April 30: Ladies Night Out - Featuring special artist Kat Whalen! May 7: Skeedadle - Retro-fitted Durham five-piece bring their dirty blues genius for your pleasure May 14: Haw River Rounders - return visit from possibly the highest educated trio in the Triangle

Jazz Brunch Begins!

Sunday, April 26 11:00 am - 1:00 pm on the lawn in carrboro We're kicking off our Jazz & More Sunday Brunch series with a special event on April 26th to feature a newly designed trail map series designed by local nonprofit group the Sustain Foundation. April 26 - Chris Reynolds Swing N' Jazz - Just Like the Name Says May 3 - The Jeff Brown Quartet - Original Jazz May 10 - The Tim Stambaugh Band - Bluegrass, Celtic, Folk & Traditional May 17 - One Sun - World Beat Instrumental Jazz May 24 - Equinox - Jazz & Pop Standards May 31 - The Donnybrook Lads - Jigs, Reels, and Hornpipes June 7 - Dana & Susan Robinson - Original Old Time Music June 14 - Different Drum - American Music with a World Beat June 21 - Craicdown - A Poly-Ethnic Hoedown June 28 - Magnolia Klezmer Band - Romanian, Ukrainian, & Dixieland Klezmer Big Band

Orange County Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 4th, 2009 9:30 am - Juggle Boy! 10:30 - 1:00 pm Egg Hunt Blackwood Farm New Hope Park New Hope Church Rd at NC Highway 86 Hillsborough, NC 27278 This Orange County Easter Egg Hunt event is for kids from 2 to 10, and is sponsored by the County's three parks and recreation departments. The egg hunt is divided by ages 2-4 years; 5-7 years and 8-10 years. There will also be a Therapeutic Recreation area for children with special needs. Enjoy prizes, games, the Easter Bunny and entertainment by the Juggle Boy, the #1 US Juggler and co-world record holder.

Volunteer for the Farm Tour

The sustainable farming and food movement is stronger than ever and a big part of that has been getting people out onto farms to see things firsthand. We could not have accomplished this without the help of volunteers. We would love to have you join us in 2009 for one day of volunteering. Here are the details: The tour will be Saturday and Sunday April 25 and 26, 2009 It is 1 PM to 6 PM both days Volunteering is easy — you check people in when they arrive and help the farmer as needed Volunteers receive: • the pleasure and fun of helping support sustainable farming • behind-the-scenes knowledge of a specific farm • fun with kids • a cool tour T-shirt • a free button to tour farms the other day of the tour • our enduring appreciation! If you would like to volunteer this year, email Fred Broadwell at the Carolina Farm Stewardship or call him at 919-542-2402 (office) or 919-943-1068 (cell). Once again, thank you so much for considering this service! Recruit others and spread the word about volunteering!



Display Ad Space

Beginning in April, Weaver Street Market will be offering display ad space in our print newsletter. Click here for ad rates and specifications.
View the current list of classified ads here.

Celebrate Earth & Sky

Sunday April 19, 2009 1:00 - 5:00 pm Carrboro Century Center An expo of high school earth science student projects along with local "green" organizations. Focusing on sustainably-developed islands from around the world. FREE!

CHICLE Cultural Event

Documentary Film and Discussion La Maldita Vecindad, Altha Cravey and Elva Bishop 101 E Weaver St. Suite G-1, 3rd floor over Weaver Street Market Sunday April 5, 2009 at CHICLE, 5:00 pm Free and open to the public This documentary brings together several distinct celebrations of the Virgen de Guadalupe in Durham North Carolina. In La Maldita Vecindad, a run-down apartment complex on Durham's east side, dancers of all ages honor the Virgin with hours of ancient indigenous traditional matachine dancing. Afterword, many of these same dancers and their families go to a special Catholic mass for the Virgin. In another activity linked to the immigrants rights movement, relay runners carried a burning torch through Durham en route from the Basilica in Mexico City to New York City in December of 2005, and again in 2007. These three celebrations of the Virgin — and their interconnections and their impact on the community — are highlighted in our documentary.
Read more about CHICLE here.

Hillsborough Yoga

Flow into Spring with Hillsborough Yoga & Healing Arts, where the drop-in rate is only $6! for the Month of April! 1812 Becketts Ridge Drive, Hillsborough 919.732.3051 A Family and community oriented place! Hillsborough Yoga has just opened in November and is owned and operated by a mom and daughter — Paula and Judith Huffman. Inside there is also a store called Local Visions that sells NC artists' work. There is massage therapy, meditation classes and lots of other insightful practices that you and your body will love!
Read more about Hillsborough Yoga here.

New to the Piedmont Farm Tour

Beausol Gardens
By Cat Moleski, Contributing Writer
Beausol Gardens, down near Pittsboro, is a wonderful expression of the blending of John's background as a farmer and Deb's experience as a landscaper. Their farm seems to spring naturally and spontaneously from the forest around it, with daffodils and blueberry bushes tucked along the road and the edges of the fields. Their barn houses a farming intern and their greenhouses where they start their vegetables and cut flowers. Their home is made of aerated autoclaved concrete covered with plaster, which looks like adobe and adds beauty and a focal point to the farm. Around the side of their house is a perennial garden where Deb will have a scavenger hunt with turtles and herbs for children on the farm tour.

Harry and Deb follow the NOP standards for organic farming as well as the principals of biodynamic methods to plant and harvest their vegetables and cut flowers. With 70 varieties of cut flowers and a wide assortment of vegetables, they are able to sell at the Raleigh and Durham Farmers' Market and supply a Vegetable CSA and a Cut-Flower CSA 23 weeks a year.

There will be a lot to learn, do, and see at this farm on the Piedmont Farm Tour. Ask John about the biodynamic principal of companion planting, buy starters for your garden, check out the aerated autoclaved concrete structures, or sign up for one of their CSAs. To contact John or Deb about joining their CSA call them at 919.545.0204.

Natural Easter Egg Dye

Make dyes for Easter eggs from materials in your kitchen.
Dyeing eggs can be a fun way to celebrate the springtime and an interesting project for adults and kids. Use the following ingredients to make all natural dyes for eggs.
Red cabbage leaves produce a robin's egg blue color
Orange peels create a tender yellow
Carrot tops yield a smoky yellow green
Yellow Delicious Apple peelings dye eggs pale lavender flecked with soft rust
Brown (not white) onion peels dye orange
Fresh spinach gives you a pinkish color with gray-green buffs.

To dye eggs, place in a pan and cover with water. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and dye material. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes. The color will deepen or change if the eggs are left in the dye solution overnight. DO NOT eat the eggs if you leave them out of the refrigerator overnight!


Easter Specials

April 12 - Happy Easter! For Brunch, we'll be open for an additional hour, serving Easter Sunday Brunch from 10:30 am - 3 pm. The Easter Brunch Specials are: Shrimp and Grits with Mushroom Gravy, served with a salad of mixed greens Baked Mac & Cheese, served with a salad of mixed greens Yogurt Parfait, with fresh fruit, honey and granola
Visit Panzanella's website to view all menus (lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch).
Sign up for Panzanella's Enewsletter here.

New Brunch Items!

Beginning this Sunday, April 5, the Sunday Brunch menu gets some fresh new dishes: A new salad! - Salmon Nicoise Salad - with mixed greens, poached salmon, olives, roasted potatoes, capers, croutons, roasted garlic and balsamic vinaigrette The Grilled Chicken Panini gets a springtime makeover - now made with brie, pesto and green apple on focaccia. New Egg Dishes: Crabcake Benedict - 2 poached eggs on 2 crab cakes, served on focaccia and topped with hollandaise, with your choice of skillet potatoes or grits Salmon Scramble - three eggs scrambled with poached salmon, onions, cream cheese and basil served over sliced tomatoes, with toast and your choice of skillet potatoes or grits.

New Art Show

2009 Local Farms/Local Art Exhibit: An Art Exhibit Celebrating the 14th Annual Piedmont Farm Tour April 7 through June 8, 2009 This is our second year presenting the Local Farms/Local Art Exhibit. This year we have two venues and 33 North Carolina artists! The exhibit will be displayed in Panzanella and the Hillsborough Weaver Street Market from April 7 through June 8, 2009. Save the Date: Please join us at Panzanella for the Artists' Reception, Monday, April 20, 5:30-7:30. These are great community events - fun, free, and open to the public.