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. 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, July 18th, 2009:

From the Farm: beets, blackberries???, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, chili peppers, corn, cucumbers, eggs, green beans, herbs, maple syrup, meat (beef), onions, sweet peppers, peaches, persimmon pulp, potatoes, rhubarb, summer squash, tomatoes, zucchini, fresh flowers, plants
From the Kitchen: cookies, fudge, granola, jams, jellies, lemonade (3 kinds), muffins, noodles, pies, quick breads, salt rising bread, yeast breads
Art and Crafts: aprons, baby bibs, bags, baskets, bean bag toys, bird houses, candles, cat hammocks, 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, wooden bowls, wooden toys, wreaths, wool yarns, woven items
Host Tent: farmers market gift certificates are now available

THIS WEEK’S EVENTS:
This week we’ll have some of our favorite special guests return to cheer on our wonderful vendors! At 10:00, the energetic Throop Elementary School Cheerleaders will have a Farmers Market Pep Rally & Cheerleading Clinic for School Age Children (up to 6th grade.) If you want to start your day off on a happy note, don’t miss this event! Also at 10:00, we will welcome a new chef, Kori Allen, to our farmers market for a Farm to Fork Chef Demo. We’re also trying out a new event with Farmers Market Bingo! Stop by the Host Tent, pick up a Bingo card and start playing! To play, find the vendors, jammers and volunteers on the bingo card and ask them for a sticker. When you get “five stickers in a row” come back to the Host Tent for a coupon! If you are in our Walking Club, don’t forget to stop by the Host Tent to show off your tracking sheet and get a coupon! If you’d still like to be a part of the Walking Club, come see us in the Host Tent. Don’t forget to stop in and enjoy the wonderful music provided by our beloved farmers market jammers. If you play an instrument or like to sing, you can be a jammer too! All musicians are certainly welcome. If you jam with us more than three times, you’ll get a t-shirt and a cap! After your trip to the farmers market, go home, take a nap and return to the park for the free Concert in the Park at 7:00 p.m. featuring the Crawford County Band.

OUR VENDOR OF THE WEEK: Debbie Clendenning is our featured vendor this week. She sells bags made from recycled plastic shopping bags. They’re extra strong and perfect for use as a farmers market tote. Buy one of her EcoFriendly bags and help keep all of that plastic out of the landfills! If you are visiting her booth when the timer rings, you’ll get coupon!

LOVE YOUR FARMERS MARKET CONTEST:
As of July 11, 2009, we’re ranked #36 of the top 100 farmers markets in the country! Here’s a love note quote left at the website about our farmers market: “It is one of the highlights of our week to visit the Farmers Market in Orleans. The people are friendly, the produce top notch, great atmosphere with local musicians playing, local chefs whipping up something with the fresh produce they have just purchased, crafts, used books, walking club, and baked goods. Anything that rates setting your alarm on a Saturday morning speaks for itself.” 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:
· 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.
· 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 cookbooks. Please consider donating or trading cookbooks at our Buck-a-Book trailer.

REPORT FROM LAST WEEK’S MARKET:
We were expecting a hot and muggy morning, but the clouds came in and a cool breeze kept everyone at the farmers market comfortable. It threatened rain and radar revealed rain encircling our market almost the entire morning, but we got nary a drop. Jon Lamb, one of our vendors, later declared that he had been doing a “don’t rain” dance under his vendor table, so because of Jon’s dancing feet, we had another big market this week with 64 vendors in attendance. As early as 9:00, we counted 194 visitors. At 10:00, we counted 240 and at 11:00, there were 194 visitors enjoying our farmers market. The corn has now arrived and there was a long line of corn lovers waiting to buy! Speaking of long lines, just a few steps away from the corn line, there was a line of hungry visitors getting free samples of the delicious marinated grilled beef (from our vendor Briscoe Beef) and the tasty fresh corn relish made with a dash of chilly dilly lemon that Chefs Robbie Bellew and Mitch Cosby of the French Lick Resort Hotel whipped up with this morning’s fresh produce. Buck-a-Book was bustling with readers taking advantage of the nice selection of books. Larry Ordner spent the morning with us after donating 500 children’s books from Senator Richard Lugar’s office. He even helped with tearing down at closing time. It was Book Lover’s Day and so all of our donations for today will be given to our three local libraries. Sycamore Land Trust was on hand to give out information about their mission to conserve the Southern Indiana landscape. Our jammers were a big hit as always, especially with our out of town visitors from Texas and Iowa!

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 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! 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.

FREE HOMEGROWN ARTS LAWN CHAIR CONCERT THIS THURSDAY!
This Thursday, July 16th, the Orange County HomeGrown Arts Lawn Chair Concert Series will present a free 2 hour concert on the front lawn of the French Lick Resort Hotel. Beginning at 6:30 p.m., BLEND, an a capella doo wop group will perform. Blend is the A Cappella group bringing back all of your favorite hits from the 50's and 60's with a twist of fun! BLEND is able to entertain crowds of all sizes and ages and is sure to leave everyone tapping their feet or clapping their hands with a smile upon their face. BLEND is a show you do not want to miss! This concert will happen rain or shine. Inclement weather location will be up on the hotel porch. So be sure to take advantage of this evening of great music! The Orange County HomeGrown Arts Lawn Chair Concert Series is made possible by volunteers, audience contributions, and a grant from the Jasper Community Arts Center, Indiana Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and Visit French Lick West Baden.

VALLEY FARMERS MARKET ANNOUNCEMENT:
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.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY:
Orange County HomeGrown is an all-volunteer, non-profit, community service organization. If you are interested in volunteering for any of its projects, such as the Orleans or Valley Farmers Markets, the Lawn Chair Concert Series or the Adopt-a-River of Lost River, we’d love to have you. Just call (812) 653-1047 or send us an email at orangecountyhomegrown@earthlink.net