It won't be long until our gardens will be bursting with fresh produce. I've already planted my tomatoes, onions and lettuce, and I can't wait until they're ready to pick.
The vendors at St. Alban's Farmers Market will start the season Saturday at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, 7514 Hixson Pike. They'll be set up from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday during the growing season.
Here's the lineup.
- New Harmony Farm: Some root crops (radishes and turnips), turnip greens, kale, a handful of flowering plants for sale and possibly fresh lettuce.
- The Country Garden Apiary: Local honey, honey products and some local produce.
- Brady's Farm Direct Meat: USDA-inspected, processed and frozen pasture-raised Angus beef, as well as whole-hog country sausage and pork.
- Crider's Creek Farm: Fresh eggs and hand-crafted market bags.
- Palma Ceia Honey: Wildflower honey from Florida.
- Buffalo Brad's Steak and Turkey Jerky: All-natural top round beef, top round bison and breast-meat turkey jerky.
- Possum Creek Herb Farm: Culinary and medicinal herb plants, select perennials and herb-related products.
- Circle K Farms: Regional produce.
- C& * Enterprises: Sew crafts and bird houses.
- Hoe Hop Valley Farm: Fresh eggs. Also, orders will be taken for whole chickens that will be delivered around Memorial Day weekend.
That sounds like a great starting lineup.
Market organizer Dee Clark said she's ready to get the season going. "I can hardly wait," she said. "I have really missed the group."
For more information, call 842-1342.
Get ready for some great fun at the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tenn., this weekend. For a complete lineup of activities, log onto www.nationalcornbread.com. The streets will be lined with food vendors, one of whom just picked up a first-place trophy for his barbecue sauce at the National Barbecue Association Conference held in Greenville, S.C.
Sam Dog Barbecue won first place in the Awards for Excellence division, which was quite an accomplishment as the Bridgeport, Ala.-based company was up against 300 entries. And it was the first time Sam Dog had entered, said Greg Talley, who owns the company with wife, Debbie.
Find their booth and get a taste for yourself. And be sure to take home a bottle.
If you can't make it to the festival, you can visit the restaurant at 203 Stella St. in Bridgeport or purchase the sauce online at www.samdogbbq.com.