What’s Happening at This Week’s Orange County HomeGrown Orleans Farmers Market
The Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market is located on the west side of the beautiful historic Congress Square Park in Orleans, Indiana, and takes place each Saturday from 8:00 a.m. until noon. OCTOBER HOURS ARE FROM 9:00 A.M. TO NOON! Please support your local growers, bakers, artists and handcrafters by shopping at the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market. Bring your friends and family!

Last week we surveyed our wonderful vendors. Here’s what they expect to have at the Orange County HomeGrown on Saturday, October 17, 2009:

From the Farm: beets, assortment of peppers, gourds, maize, onions, potatoes, pumpkins and mini pumpkins, a variety of winter squashes such as acorn squash, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, green tomatoes, sorghum, turnips, plants decorative corn
From the Kitchen: bagels, brownies, cake, cinnamon rolls, cookies, fudge, jams, jellies, granola, lemonade, muffins, sugar free muffins, noodles, pies, flavored popcorn, quick breads, raisin bread, salt rising bread, sour dough breads, teas, hot spiced tea, yeast breads, hot chocolate
Art and Crafts: aprons, baby bibs, bags, baskets, bean bag toys, benches, bookmarks, canes, candles, cat hammocks, chopping blocks, cloth books, clothespin bags, crochet, handcrafted crochet needles, cutting boards, horseshoe crafts, hypertufa, jewelry, leather goods, painted gourds, painted tools, planters, photographs, purses, quilts, recycled bags, rugs, rustic furniture, signs, soft goods, soaps, squirrel feeders, stationary, stilts, monogrammed towels, wooden bowls, wooden toys, wreaths, wool yarns, woven items, knit & crochet kits with unique pattern designs using plant fibers such as cottons and bamboo (Includes FREE jumps start lessons with any kit purchased with assistance as needed throughout projects)
Host Tent: farmers market gift certificates

THIS WEEK’S EVENTS:
You can all sleep in an extra hour during the month of October before heading to the farmers market. Due to the later sunrise, we’ll be open from 9 a.m. to noon throughout the month of October. We’ll also have our Make-Your-Own Scarecrow area all ready with straw and twine for you and your family to make this year’s scarecrow for your home. Just bring some old clothes to stuff him with. There’ll be lots of locally grown pumpkins available for his head. We’ll have the Make-Your-Own Scarecrow area available each Saturday through October 24th when we’ll have our Make-Your-Own Scarecrow Contest. So use that imagination you have to create a great scarecrow this year! And as always, our beloved farmers market jammers will entertain us with their uplifting music!

OUR VENDORS OF THE WEEK:
Lost River Market & Deli will be our featured vendor this week. Lost River Market & Deli is celebrating its second birthday in October. As part of the month-long celebration it is hosting a Harvest Dinner Fundraiser on Sunday, October 25 at Paoli Peaks. (Details of this fun event are listed below.) Many of our farmers market vendors sell their produce and other products at this community-owned grocery store. If you are visiting their booth when the timer rings, you’ll get coupon!

2009 ORANGE COUNTY HOMEGROWN HOLIDAY MARKET:
Mark your calendars for your holiday shopping! The Orange County HomeGrown Holiday Market is set for Saturday, November 14th from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Orleans Elementary School gymnasium and cafeteria.

REPORT FROM LAST WEEK’S MARKET:
With worries about the heavy rains in the days just before this weekend, we all awoke Saturday to one of those clear crisp fall days that we all love. Congress Square Park was the best place in the world to be this past Saturday. Not only was our farmers market busy with 53 vendors and loads of visitors, but the Town of Orleans hosted a fabulously successful Fall Fun Fest. At 9 a.m., just the farmers market part of the park had 173 visitors and then at 10 a.m. 259 visitors. There were just too many people for us to count on the Fall Fun Fest part of the park! One of our favorite sights of the morning was the Pet Parade passing by the Host Tent. Every time we looked up, we’d also see Luke the horse pulling Brack and a buggy load of visitors around the town. Music lovers who sat on some of the straw bales enjoyed the music provided by our beloved jammers while others used the straw to make their own scarecrows.

OTHER GREAT FEATURES AT THE MARKET:
Be sure to stop by to see our BUCK A BOOK where you can browse a great selection of books. (We have thousands!) We welcome the donations of books for the book trailer. All of the money from book sales goes to support Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market (Orleans). Buy a book for a buck or trade two books for one book. Visit us at the Host Tent and have a free cup of coffee courtesy of our neighbor, Maple Street Restaurant. We also offer free ice water to wet your whistle, courtesy of our neighbor, The Dollar Store. We are fortunate to have friendly, helpful MASTER GARDENERS at every market. Bring your gardening questions to the MASTER GARDENER TABLE, and they will be very happy to help you! We have at least a dozen produce vendors who can accept WIC AND SENIOR FARMERS MARKET NUTRITION PROGRAM vouchers. Look for their signs or see us at the Host Tent. These vouchers may be used for fresh fruits and vegetables only. Another great feature of the Market is the addition of the ORANGE COUNTY RECYCLING CO-OP truck. They will take household items for recycling, such as cardboard, newspapers, junk mail, paper, magazines, catalogues, plastic bottles #1 and #2, aluminum cans, scrap metal, metal cans, plastic grocery bags. Please rinse out plastic bottles and remove lids. Also, rinse out cans. Please break down cardboard boxes. Many of our produce vendors are WIC VENDORS and will accept WIC and SENIOR FARMERS MARKET NUTRITIONAL PROGRAM vouchers. Visit the LOST RIVER MARKET & DELI INFORMATION BOOTH and learn more about our local community grocery store in Paoli, located at 26 Library Street behind the Paoli Public Library. This full service member-owned food co-op market not only has a deli, but also bulk items, local and organic produce, local meats, cheeses, natural foods, wine and beer. Be sure to stop by to take a look. Everyone is welcome.

VALLEY FARMERS MARKET:
The Orange County HomeGrown Valley Market is open on Tuesdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. now located between the Indiana Railway Museum and the French Lick Springs over-flow parking lot just off of Highway 56. You’ll also find Valley Farmers Market vendors on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the French Lick Market on W. College Street next to French Lick Post Office with the French Lick Market.

OTHER EVENTS OF INTEREST:
• Lost River Market & Deli is celebrating its second birthday in October. As part of the month-long celebration it is hosting a Harvest Dinner Fundraiser on Sunday, October 25 at Paoli Peaks. An afternoon of free family fun is planned with family activities scheduled from 4-6pm in the front room. Dinner will be served from 6-7:30 p.m. and dancing with dance lessons will be held from 7-9 p.m. Tickets for dinner are $15.00 for adults with children under 12 free. Tickets for dinner and dancing are $20 for adults with children under 12 free. Family Fun activities will include pumpkin carving, Food Pyramid Bingo, face painting, and outdoor lawn activities (weather permitting). For adults a euchre tournament is being organized. Throughout the afternoon everyone will have a chance to bid on items during the Fusion Auction and occasional live auctions. Items to be auctioned are still welcome. Dinner will include chili and soups cornbread and coleslaw. Everyone is invited to bring something to share in the dessert pitch in. Coffee, iced tea and water provided. A cash bar is provided by Paoli Peaks. All proceeds benefit Lost River market & Deli and will go toward meeting the Harvesting Funds for the Future goal of $40,000. Tickets are available at the Lost River Market & Deli. Patron tables are available for strong supporters of the Co-op who want to attend the dinner and provide additional funding towards the Harvesting Funds for the Future goal. A Patron Table with six seats is available for $150. We thank Paoli Peaks for being a generous partner in this event and encourage everyone to plan to attend the Paoli Peaks Open House on Sunday, November 8. For more information on the Harvest Dinner Fundraiser contact Lost River Market & Deli at 812-723-3735.
• Fun in the Forest Field Day October 24, 2009 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM This is a family event featuring many hands on and educational activities for kids and adults including wild game calling, orienteering, information on invasive species, use of a bucksaw, scavenger hunts, tree cookies, etc. Sponsored by White River RC&D Forestry Committee Pre-registration is requested. Contact White River RC&D (812) 883-3006 Ext. 5.