SFM Newsletter- April 22, 2016

Salisbury Farmers' Market Eat fresh. Eat local. Market date: 8-Noon, April 23

4/16: Opening Day "Touch-a-Tractor" Thanks everyone who came out on opening day! The weather was perfect and we had hundreds and hundreds of folks come out. If your kids planted a seed with Miss Chelsea, you've met one of our performers for this coming market!  The Parks & Rec Touch-a-Truck event was pretty dramatic with lots of trucks, construction equipment and even a helicopter! But we had our own fun. A ton of cute kids showed up and drove the tractor from James River Equipment. Here's my favorite pic from last week!   4/23: Week 2! Musical guests: Chelsea Childers, Mary Gillespie, Sue McHugh If you've lived in Salisbury for more than a year, you have probably heard of Chickweed, the indestructable women's music and art festival (it'll be July 23rd this year). Major Chickweed contributors Sue McHugh, Chelsea Childers, and their friend Mary Gillespie will all take a turn busking at the market. We're so glad to have them! (Please chip in if you like what you hear!)   Guest chef cooking demo: Dustin Watson Dustin Watson has been a cook at Salty Caper and Romo's and like any good home cook, he likes a chance for improvisation (Fun fact: he now helps build custom motorcycles). We're glad to have him and excited to try what he puts together!    Products Bread Basket Emma's Bread Basket is back (they had a wedding to attend last weekend) with a big inventory: Assorted yeast breads, artisanal breads, sweet breads, pies, cakes, cookies, granola, fried pies and donuts. Our tables will be loaded!   Correll Farms We are excited about a beautiful Saturday and the beautiful greens that we will have available! This week we will have a huge selection of lettuce, including Romaine, Green Leaf, Red Leaf, a beautiful Lettuce Mix, and a few others. We also will have lots of Kale (red, green and toscano,) Collards, Bok Choi, Koji, and possibly Napa Cabbage. We also will bring some of the most beautiful Spring Onions and asparagus that we have ever grown, fennel and a few Radishes. See you Saturday!   Country Gardens (probable) I'm not totally sure if they'll be in but last week they had lots of pretty flowers and garden transplants!   Fading D Farms Water Buffalo Cheeses. New: Mozzarella di Bufala. Aged cheeses include: Bel Bufala, Roco, and Sapore. Fresh cheeses: Pograsso (BLUEBERRY, plain, dill, or garlic). No ricotta this week. ALSO: ground water buffalo meat and a few select steaks.   How Sweet It Is About the same as last week! Dinner rolls, Cinnamon buns, Pound cake (Lemon, Chocolate, Sour cream cinnamon), Coffee cake. Banana nut bread, Chocolate pecan brownies, Butterscotch brownies, red velvet raspberry cream filled cake. Cookies! (Peanut butter, Chocolate chip, Sugar, "Kitchen sink", Molasses). Muffins: (lemon, blueberry and harvest). Pies: blackberry, apple, cherry, mixed berry.   Hutchens Homestead Like last week...it looks like it'll be just eggs... for now!   Lee's Fresh Flowers and Vegetables Produce: Spring onion, green garlic, radishes, oriental greens, baby boc choy. Flowers: Irises and maybe peonies. McCombs & Co. Pimento cheese, original and jalapeno. Chicken salad, slaw, Firecrackers (spicy snack crackers). They'll have their new "mild" "Fire"crackers. "All the flavor without all the heat!"   Miller Farm Strawberries, lettuce, kale, spring onions. Plants. Also possibly tomatoes, potatoes and cucumbers from off farm.   ReWorked Heirloom tomato plants and herbs. Plus fresh: Oregano. Lemon Thyme. Mint. Rosemary. Sage. Lemon Balm. Plus a variety of beatiful recycled demin and repurposed glass crafts! The Soap Shack Goats Milk Soaps, Goats Milk Lotions, Bath Teas, Bath Fizzy Goats Milk Laundry Soap, Bath Salts, Bubble Scoops, Bubble Crumble, Lip Balm, Lip Scrubs, Cookbook, Sugar Scrub, Salt Scrub, Kids Soaps, Tomato Soap, Charcoal Soap, Carrot Soap. Plus gift sets for: Mother's Day, Birthday, Get Well, and Teacher Appreciation   Thomas Family Farm Pasture raised pork, sausage and select cuts (picnic hams, boston butt, ham steaks, spare ribs, shoulder roasts, etc.).   Treehouse Soaps Treehouse is introducing a new gardener's soap Saturday, called EarthMover. She'll also have her "Yuzu" soap, a Japanese fruit scent; Goat milk with lavender & lemongrass essential oils; unscented ones with Shea butter, almond oil, avocado oil, & mango butter; and Pure Castile.   Two Pigs Farm Organic STRAWBERRIS, spinach, kale, green garlic, spring onions, Swiss chard, asparagus. Pasture raised Berkshire pork, non-gmo grain finished beef, lamb, pastured chicken, heritage duck. Free range chicken and duck eggs. *Opening day sausage special*   Upside Down Farm Shiitake mushrooms are back! Plus homemade sewn and woodworking crafts. Absent vendors: Twin Oak Farms, Spring Lake Family Farm, All Grown Up, Garden Greenhouse (a great place to go if you're looking for transplants!), Vanhoose Cake Connection, JB Dog Treats. That's all for now. I look forward to seeing y'all again! Eric Bowen Manager, Salisbury Farmer's Market Executive Director, Bread Riot Calendar April 23 - Cooking demo by Dustin Watson formerly of Romo's April 30 - "Cooking Fresh at the Market" monthly cooking demo on fourth Saturdays of the month.   May 1 - Bread Riot Bernhardt Backyard Burger Bash, 4-7PM, $15/plate benefitting DogPAWS May 7 - First Saturdays Folk Works Monthly Folk Jam at the Market. May 15 - Riot in the Vineyard, 3-7PM, The big annual farm-to-fork picnic, featuring dueling whole hog barbecue. Tickets:  riot.ticketbud.com/vineyard May 25 - Salisbury Farmers' Market, Mid-week Summer Markets start. Wednesdays, 8-noon (Fisher & Jackson St) and Wednesdays 4-7PM, (next to New Sarum Brewery)

RIP Cupcake

Cupcake

April 2009 - February 2016

Below is the story of Cupcake & how she came to be the famous sheep that she is today.  It's amazing how attached you can get to an animal whether it is a cat, dog or a sheep......

Unfortunately, we loss Cupcake last night due to birthing complications but her baby is with us & we will raise her (Sprinkles) and love her just like we did Cupcake.

Cupcake will be missed.

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Originally posted on April 9, 2009

If you are on Facebook you know all about Cupcake the Lamb but for those of you not on Facebook here is Cupcakes story:

Lee decided that we needed to add lamb to our Farmer's Market fare so we bought 3 bred ewes (moma sheep) about a month ago- I'm pretty sure I posted about that.

They have all had their babies now. The first was a little black lamb which Charlie named Blackie. Next came a set of twins which for some reason have not been named and lastly Cupcake & her twin brother Brownie (Rosty named them).

Cupcake & Brownie were born last Friday/Saturday. For whatever reason Cupcake's mom has rejected her and will not let her nurse. In order for Cupcake to nurse without being butted by her mom we would have to halter the mom and make her stand still. We were doing this at least twice a day. Cupcake was able to drink to her little heart's content and was thriving.

Let me back up here and say that on Sunday night/Monday morning Rosty came into our bedroom saying he had just thrown up & Lee was also not feeling good. They both had a stomach bug which I got by Tuesday.

We have had some really nice weather here until Tuesday.

Since Tuesday was going to be such a cold night we had a moma pig that decided to farrow. She had 9 babies. Animals always know when it's going to really, really cold or when you are going to be out-of-town!

Lee had made sure that Cupcake had eaten and then went to check on the pig.

I had been in the bed all day long sick and really did not think about Cupcake and how cold it was going to be on Tuesday night.

When Lee got to the farm on Wednesday morning Cupcake was not well. I guess her mom would not let her sleep near her and be warm but there was plenty of straw in the barn for all the animals. Lee called me and said she wasn't doing well. I said to bring her to me at work and I would nurse her back to health.

Cupcake did not look good when she got to me. Lee brought her in a laundry basket along with a bag of electrolytes and a makeshift bottle (water bottle). A co-worker did not think she would make it through the morning. There were 2 other people in the office and they helped me fill bags with warm water. I took some rags and lined her laundry basket and then wrapped her in my coat, we then took the warm bags of water and put them around her. The big concern was that her mouth was cold and she was not eating/drinking because of this. I took another smaller bag and filled with warm water and placed under her mouth/chin.

I continued to check on her and check the water bags. She was very lethargic and would not move, at one point I thought I had lost her. After about an hour I checked her mouth and it was warmer. Then a short time later my co-worker (a female who is a mother also) came back to check on her and when she lifted the coat from over her head Cupcake raised her head and tried to stand. We were so excited! We tried to feed her the bottle but she wasn't interested.

She eventually took some of her bottle & actually relieved herself on me when I had her out of the basket. I was so excited! She continued to get warmed up and show some signs of life. Later in the afternoon we had her on the floor so she could stretch her legs. This is when Lee came in with the milk replacement. He made her a bottle & she chugged it down!

She came home with us last night and slept in the bathroom and I am happy to say is bright eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.

I was concerned that she would keep us up all night along but I fed her before bed and she slept all night long. I checked on her once during the night and she was snoozing. This morning when I went in the bathroom she was trying to nuzzle me so I made her a bottle that she chugged once again.

She is at the farm today in a pen by herself . I will go over at lunch and feed her. We will let her stay with us a few more nights and bottle feed her. Then we'll just see how it goes from there.

I have decided that she is a permanent resident at the farm now and her mother will soon be mutton!

Lee told me that he never thought she would have made it through the day. I told him a mother's love......

A Mother's Love

Helen Steiner Rice

A Mother's love is something that no on can explain,

It is made of deep devotion and of sacrifice and pain,

It is endless and unselfish and enduring come what may

For nothing can destroy it or take that love away . . .

It is patient and forgiving when all others are forsaking,

And it never fails or falters even though the heart is breaking . . .

It believes beyond believing when the world around condemns,

And it glows with all the beauty of the rarest, brightest gems . . .

It is far beyond defining,it defies all explanation,

And it still remains a secret like the mysteries of creation . . .

A many splendoured miracle man cannot understand

And another wondrous evidence of God's tender guiding hand.