4th of July weekend is around the corner and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the holiday than with fresh grilled local veggies, thick cut tomatoes, and juicy peaches! What's more patriotic than eating locally grown fruits and veggies? 

This week’s vendors include:

• Mileur Orchards:  Peaches, assorted fruit butters and sauces, and 6 inch pies and crisps
• Homer Grown: Sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, kale, carrots, beets, new potatoes, broccoli, onions, scallions, and summer squash
• Karl Sweitzer Produce: new potatoes, summer squash, kale, collards, cabbage, beets, onions, sweet corn, and tomatoes 
• Mustard Seed Growers: Collards, kale, chard and fresh herbs
• Countrysprout Organics: kale, carrots, flower bouquets and Maryanne's Organics Body Care
• Flora Bay Farm: Flower bouquets, cut herbs, new potatoes, heirloom kale, Swiss chard, hard neck garlic, hot peppers
• Mclaughlin's Strawberry and Vegetable Farm: Tomatoes

It's peak vegetable season. One of the best way to flavor up all of the fresh produce you can get at the market is with fresh cut herbs. Many of our vendors have great selections of these and more exotic cut herbs available at market. Try something new this week! 

Get to know your produce and your farmers with a market scavenger hunt! For the next two weeks at the Community Farmers Market we will be providing short and easy to complete scavenger hunt sheets to be completed at the market. This is a great way to engage you kids at the market, to teach them about new foods, and to get to know your farmers! 

Scavenger hunts can be picked up at the Market Information Table on market day. Return your completed scavenger hunt sheets to the market information table to be entered for a market drawing at the end of the season. 

Do you Instagram? Photo catalogue your responses via Instagram by tagging #marketscavengerhunt @carbondalemarket. 

Swiss chard is known for it's large, dark, glossy leaves. It is a close relative to beets and spinach and has a mild flavor that is subtly sweet with earthy undertones similar to beet greens. Though lesser know, chard is every bit as vertical as it's cousin spinach and can be used place of spinach in most of your favorite recipes. Chard, unlike spinach, is available summer through late fall and into the winter. Chard stems can come in a variety of colors including electric red, light pink, bright orange and pale green and add a great pop of color to any dish!    

Nutrition Fun Facts: Swiss chard is an excellent source of minerals such as calcium, potassium, and magnesium! Together, these three minerals target the muscles to ensure proper maintenance, fluid retention, and contraction occurs. (2) Chard also has been linked to blood sugar regulation by helping regenerate cells in the pancreas (3).

Storage Tips:  Do not wash Swiss chard prior to storing as it will cause it to deteriorate faster. Chard should be stored in a plastic bag in the crisper of the fridge where it will last for up to 5 days. (3) 

Preparation Tips: Stalks and leaves can be consumed raw, baked, blanched, boiled, pickled, and sautéed. For a quick sauté, remove the leaves from the stems and chop into 1 inch strips. Stems take longer to cook and should be finely chopped and added to the pan when you add onions, garlic or root vegetables. Leaves will cook down quickly and can be added at any time to a sauté.  Large leaves can be used in place of tortillas for a healthy veggie wrap. Chard is a great 

Local produce, coming your way! The Community Farmers Market is starting a weekday farmers market in downtown Carbondale on Wednesday evenings, in addition to our Saturday morning market at the Carbondale Community High School. The market will be held at 220 S. Washington, in the lot at the corner of Washington and Walnut from 4-7pm on Wednesdays beginning June 17th.

This isn’t the first time a farmers market has been held in this downtown area.  Bruce Chrisman of Countrysprout Organics remembers bringing their 18th month old daughter to sell at the Carbondale Farmers Market in 1978. “We sold alfalfa and lentil sprouts, yellow baby watermelons, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Maryanne sold lemonade and baked goods.” The Chrisman’s currently sell their certified organic produce and skin care products at the Community Farmers Market and the Neighborhood Coop. Carbondale Mainstream operated a Wednesday farmers market downtown in the early 2000's.

We see this market as an opportunity to provide high quality local foods to Carbondale residents that cannot make it to Saturday morning farmers markets. We also hope that a weekday market may attract area chefs looking to source local produce for their restaurants. 

The market will feature a small core of produce growers, a number of whom farm without the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. We think it is important that customers get to know their farmers and have an opportunity to learn about what goes into their food. Our growers love to talk with their customers about their produce, how they grew it, how to prepare it, what it goes well with. The smaller market means that customers get a bit more face time with their farmer.

In addition to produce, the Community Market will also feature local honey, dried pasta, baked goods, soap and skin care. The market accepts credit, debit and EBT in exchange for market tokens. We hope to see you there!

Cabbage is a versital all seasons vegetable. It can planted early in the season and harvested for summer salads, or late in the fall and stored for winter stews and soups.  Coleslaw is a staple at many summer picnics and BBQ’s, however, cabbage salads need not be drenched in mayo to be good. Try this week’s recipe for Rainbow Cabbage Slaw for a unique twist of the summer classic!

Nutrition Fun Facts: Cabbage (and it’s relatives broccoli, cauliflower, kale, etc) contain high qualities of powerful antioxidants that produce enzymes that help the body detox. Regularly consuming vegetables in the cabbage family can lower levels of ‘bad cholesterol’ in the blood and reduce the risk of heart disease. It is an excellent source of fiber, B6, folate and other vitamins that regulate heart rate and blood pressure.

Storage tips: Keep cabbage cool by storing in a loose plastic bag in the crisper of your fridge. Partial heads can be wrapped with plastic and returned to the fridge. Cabbage is a traffic storage crop and can last for weeks or months in cool environments. Once cut, cabbage begins to loose vitamin C content so use cut heads within several days for maximum nutrition.   

Preparation tips: Cabbage can be eaten raw and cooked. Raw cabbage can be cut into wedges and then into large pieces and dipped in salad dressing for a healthy snack. Thinly slice or shred for slaws or salads. Shredded cabbage is a great topper for tacos, in spring rolls, or as a crunch side salad base. Steaming cabbage brings out a different set of nutritional properties. Whole cabbage leaves can be steamed or boiled until pliable, stuffed with ground meat or rice and vegetables. Thick sliced cabbage can be added to soups and stews and is very tender once cooked down.