Valentine’s Day is this coming Friday, and what better way to celebrate with your sweetie than warming up at a winter farmers tailgate market!
There’s one vendor at Asheville City Market who will get lots of visits over Valentine’s Day weekend: Rachel’s Delectables. Rachel specializes in cheesecakes, several types and sizes to fit any occasion. Two of her recipes feature local cheese from Looking Glass Creamery. When possible, she uses local eggs from Dry Ridge Farm. Dry Ridge Farm also vends at Asheville City Market, selling their farm-fresh eggs every week. A market product that shares the red of Valentine’s Day is apples. Creasman Farms – who carry apples of all different colors – has new apple variety called Gold Rush. It’s a late season apple, good for cooking and eating. Gold Rush keeps well and is a great combination of sweet and sour. In addition to red, you can find plenty of green at Asheville City Market such as salad mix and kale from Jake’s Farm. This past Saturday, Lost Arrow Ranch’s table was overflowing with root vegetables and cabbages. This coming Saturday, Asheville City Market will welcome new vendor Blue Meadow Farms, bringing even more produce to the market.
There are plenty of greens at the Woodfin YMCA Indoor Winter Tailgate Market including a braising mix of assorted greens from Ivy Creek Family Farm, who offer a variety of greens, dried beans, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, and more. One shopper reported buying a Shiitake mushroom log from Razor Mountain Heritage Breeds this past Saturday at the Woodfin market.
The Jackson County Farmers Market will be having a fundraising brunch this Saturday, February 15 to celebrate Valentine’s Day. They will be serving potato leek soup and biscuits courtesy of market vendors Kathy and Keith Cirka – owners of The Backwoods Bakery and Cakeworks. There will be vegan, vegetarian, and non-veggie options.
There are plenty of other winter markets open now. For a list of these markets, visit the farmers market section of asapconnections.org or at our online farmers market calendar.