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. 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, August 15, 2009:

From the Farm: beets, black raspberries, cantaloupe, assortment of peppers, cucumbers, eggs, eggplant, green beans, herbs, maple syrup, meat (beef), onions, potatoes, summer squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, fresh flowers, plants, mums
From the Kitchen: bagels, cake, cinnamon rolls, cookies, cornmeal, fudge, jams, jellies, lemonade (4 kinds), muffins, sugar free muffins, noodles, pies, quick breads, raisin bread, salt rising bread, scones, sour dough breads, tea, Kool-Aid, yeast breads
Art and Crafts: aprons, baby bibs, bags, baskets, bean bag toys, benches, bird houses, 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, 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 are now available

THIS WEEK’S EVENTS:
It’s Customer Appreciation Day this Saturday! (Tuesday, August 18th will be the Valley Farmers Market Customer Appreciation Day) We are always grateful for our visitors and customers. To celebrate, many of our vendors will have specials and items on sale this day. Also, with every purchase you make, you’ll receive a ticket. Write your name on the tickets you’ve collected and turn them into the Host Tent for a chance to win farmers market prizes donated by our vendors! (You must be present to win.) Drawings will take place every hour. Vendor, Alesia Hoover, will bake delicious treats which we will serve for free at the Host Tent along with the free coffee donated by our neighbor, Maple Street Restaurant and ice water donated by our other neighbor, The Dollar Store. We’re even having a special Tomato Tasting with the HomeGrown Board Members, Ian and Carla Mc Spadden. So come celebrate the wide variety of locally grown tomatoes grown by our friendly produce vendors. The Stonebelt Stargazers will bring their telescopes to the farmers market for moon and sun viewing. Afterwards, be sure to go home and take a nap so that you can attend Spring Mill Stargazing Party at Spring Mill Park with the Stonebelt Stargazers 9:30-11:00 p.m. (Gate admission. Meet them at the swimming pool parking lot.) And, as always, our Farmers Market Jammers will lift your spirits with their fun music. Bring your instrument and/or your singin’ voice and join in!

OUR VENDOR OF THE WEEK: Alesia Hoover is our featured vendor this week. She makes scones, honey wheat bread and cinnamon rolls. She is making little treats especially for Customer Appreciation Day. If you are visiting her booth when the timer rings, you’ll get coupon!

LOVE YOUR FARMERS MARKET CONTEST UPDATE:
As of August 13th, we are ranked #17 of the top 100 farmers markets in the nation!
(To see the current list, go to http://www.care2.com/farmersmarket/top_markets ) Here are a couple of love note quotes left at the website about our farmers market: “You feel like 'family' when you’re shopping there.” and “It is the best farmers market that I have ever seen. All of the friendly venders put this market over the top.” If you think the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market is the best in the land, and then please cast your vote for us so that we can win the Love Your Farmers Market Contest and help us defeat the big city markets ranked above us! You can cast your vote online at http://fromaliceskitchen.blogspot.com/ When you get to this webpage, click on the Vote Today button on the right side of the screen. While there, check out some yummy husband-tested recipes. There are over 200 recipes on the page so far. Recipes featuring ingredients found at Lost River Market & Deli and the Orange County HomeGrown Farmers Market are put to the test and added to the blog on a regular basis.

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:
· If you are looking for a gift for someone special, farmers market gift certificates are now available for purchase. You’ll find them at our Host Tent. The gift certificates can be used to purchase any item from any of our friendly vendors.
· Buck-a-Book is in need of children’s books and cookbooks. Please consider donating or trading cookbooks at our Buck-a-Book trailer.
· We could sure use more volunteers to help with customer counts, veggie inventory, coffee help and set up and tear down. Please see Alice in the Host Tent if you are interested in giving of some of your time. No experience necessary, just a friendly smile is required.

REPORT FROM LAST WEEK’S MARKET:
It was a bit warmer this morning, but we were grateful for the sunny skies. Seventy-seven vendors set up all along the park. We registered five new vendors including two rookie vendors. The sidewalks were crowded today with lots of visitors. We had shoppers from Germany, Holland, Washington, California, North Carolina and all parts of Indiana. Chefs from the French Lick Springs Resort made a refreshing salad using ingredients they purchased from our produce vendors for a Farm to Fork Chef Demo. Many shoppers had fun playing Farmers Market Bingo Game. Brack and Linda were back taking visitors on horse and buggy rides.

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. Their Customers Appreciation Day will be Tuesday, August 18th.

OTHER EVENTS:
· Spence Restoration Nursery is hosting an educational bus tour on August 12, 2009 in Indianapolis. The tour will be of native plant communities being successfully used in place of traditional landscaping, storm water BMPs, and educational plantings around the Indianapolis area. Several experienced professionals will be on hand to answer questions about the problems and pitfalls that can occur in native plant installations and how to avoid them. If you are interested, please email Kevin Tungesvick kevin@spencenursery.com.
· Sign up for Daily Soup-of-the-Day and Deli-Menu Emails at Lost River Market & Deli. Just send an email to soup.lostrivercoop@gmail.com with "SIGN ME UP!" in the subject line and we'll start sending your daily emails (Mon-Fri) to let you know what's cooking in the deli kitchen.
· Lick Creek Band will perform pop, rock and jazz at the next Orange County HomeGrown Arts Lawn Chair Concert in French Lick in front of the French Lick Springs Resort Hotel on Thursday, August 20 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. In case of rain, the concert will move up onto the porch.