I just realized as I’ve been doing this blog for over half the year and I’ve never featured my farm since I was introduced because, as some of you know, I’m more skilled about promoting others than myself.

So here goes…

As the winter provides lots of greens and sweet root veggies, some of us still crave those summer crops like tomatoes and peppers. So how do you supplement those desires for delicious seasonal crops with supporting local?

Stop by Feathers & Fruit’s booth to peruse my array of Main St Farmers Market canned goods. Everything in each of those jars is made with products from fellow MSFM vendors like the spiced apples are from Wheeler’s galas and anything pickled has Toad Haven’s dil in it. See, there I go promoting others but it actually comes more naturally to me than farming does and when it came time to do the blog, I jumped at the chance because I wanted to share some more personal workings of the market especially the stories of the vendors.

As I am a first generation farmer and longtime extra extrovert, I found it easier to grow community and connect with my fellow farmers to decrease the amount of produce wasted (I prefer the uglies) and to offer something new to the market.

One of my most recent concoctions that have increased my Southern street cred has been Chow Chow. Also known as a chutney because it is a fruit based savory item, mine is made with Sequatchie Cove Farms’ bell peppers, Wheelers apples, Fall Creek Farms onions and Laurelbrooks tomatoes. Use it in vegan dishes like on roasted potatoes or Riverview Farms’ grits, or beef it up with rice and chuck or atop some eggs.

As I said in my introduction this summer when I took over the blog, my cooking experience involves burning hard boiled eggs therefore my recipes are not the most elaborate. I was hoping that my stories would fill your heart more often than your belly. Help yourself to seconds!