Loudoun Valley HomeGrown Markets

Memorial Day Weekend--looks like no one left town! The weather is beautiful and the crowds are here at the Leesburg Farmers Market.

The Wegmeyers are here for the first time this year. Harriet and Tyler are famous for their pumpkins in the fall, but now they have sweet Chandler strawberries in the spring! Harriet said that they were up late last night picking and the shiny red berries look super fresh. By 10am, she's almost sold out.

Bigg Riggs has a huge pile of lettuce--the same type of lettuce they served at the House of Representatives in Washington DC last Wednesday. Check out next week's LVHMA Newsletter for more details!

Have you seen the "Octopus Columbine" plants that Jon at Blue Ridge Gardens has? Quite unique and pretty!

People are lined up to get meat for their cookouts at Millcreek and Mill Road. Will and Sean are expected soon for entertainment--gotta run out to Middleburg, so I'll miss them.

---Judy Stroske, LVHMA Market Coordinator

Darn! I got here too late! The weather was fabulous and I guess everyone else headed to the Market early--by 11am almost everything was sold out!

Sally Bolton (Vineyard Nursery) and Over The Grass Farm say they will have more product on hand next week. Sally brings 20+ pints of her strawberries and they do go fast--aspagagus too!

I did get some kohl rabi from Sally--I'd never tried this knobby purple vegetable before so I prepared it the way Sally suggested: Peel off all the purple skin and slice. Boil in water until tender (just like a potato), then coat with a creamy cheese sauce. I made a basic white sauce and added fontina and parmesean, salt & pepper. The family loved it! Tastes similar to cauliflower with more of a potato texture.

My research on this veggie tells me that kohl rabi is a very low calorie choice that is also high in fiber, vitamin C and potassium. They are very high in indoles which are thought to be significant cancer fighting compounds. More reasons to try this unique looking vegetable!

----Judy Stroske, LVHMA Market Coordinator

Finally!! A beautiful day for the Purcellville Farmers Market--no rain, no wind--just nice and sunny!

J&W Valley View Farm has joined the Market from Montross, VA. As they are south of here, they're season is about 2-3 weeks ahead of ours. They arrived with BEAUTIFUL cut basil, piles of fluffy red and green lettuce and STRAWBERRIES!!!

LVHMA was handing out free balloons to the kids--biodegradable, in case they escape.

PNC Bank was handing out info on their Green initiative--they will be back next week, also.