Blackberry Blossom Farm goes to the Joneborough Farmers' Market
Update for 2010
Janice has gone back to school for a year to become a Massage Therapist. I will be concentrating on getting the Campground up and running, so you may not see much of us at the Farmers' Market this year! We do plan on returning to the market next year. Don't let our absence stop you from enjoying all of the great eats and crafts the market has to offer! It truly is a wonderful experience!!
Joining area farmers in bringing local food to the table.
The Jonesborough Farmers' Market which started in the Spring of 2008 saw a successful first season of local buyers and sellers joining in for a Saturday of good food, music and fellowship. This way of life is catching on like wildfire across our nation as people become concerned with food safety and health issues. Also spurring the trend is the environmental impact of having our seasonal produce shipped across hundreds or thousands of miles and the impact of irresponsible spending as buyers weigh whether eating out of season is worth the sacrifice in quality. The Farmers Markets of today are becoming the new gathering spot of days gone by, taking the place of community centers, stores and grange halls. Every walk of life is accepted and respected at the Farmers' Markets, some catering to a more upscale clientele while others are deeply rooted in the 'maters and taters' crowd. The Jonesborough Farmers' Market has the unpretentious ability to cover it all.
Our humble beginnings at market
Notice our tent was a van hatchback! Our first week there, it poured rain and the Sausage Guy gave us refuge under his tent. Nice people and neighborly help like that kept us coming back.
Falling in love…
We joined the “marketeer” side of the Jonesborough venture midseason in July, but quickly fell in love with both fellow market vendors and buyers alike. We paired up with our cove friends, Ian & Janel from Silverleaf Farm and shared pre-market preparation, the hour ride to market and booth space every other week through October. It was exhilarating to find such a receptive audience every Saturday we attended. Regular customers came back week after week to see what new product we were highlighting and to re-purchase the old stand-bys they’d come to love. We learned as we stumbled along, taking mental notes from our failures or taking sound advice from fellow vendors who willingly offered education without criticism.
Our signature crop, sweet, delicious BLACKBERRIES!
Friends that come to visit get pulled into the act. Ana helped prep, sell and count the proceeds. That's a true friend!
Financial profit aside, relationships with fellow farmers, musicians and buyers were the most rewarding part of our first year experience. We loved arriving early to set-up, many mornings in the dark, sometimes in the rain, and later in the season, in the cold early morning mountain weather. But like spring promising a warmer summer, our fellow vendors started arriving one by one, each bringing their specialty to the market space. The market would come alive!
Summer enjoying the music by Roy and Ryan, some of our favorite musicians!
Blackberry Blossom Canned Peaches, open these in February for instant summer.
Water Buffalo, Goat Cheese and eggs... OH MY!
A coffee booth manned by the market manager's young son provided us with fair trade coffee to help jolt us into the selling frenzy that would follow as the morning wore on.
A bread booth opened across the aisle with sweet cinnamon buns and Amish friendship bread, an appropriate accompaniment to the coffee for breakfast.
There was the Scratch Bakery guy arriving with wood fired pizzas topped with shop-smoked meats and homemade hummus.
Then there were the multiple vegetable vendors of all ages, including a young entrepreneur whose voice hadn't changed yet but he knew his vegetables because he lovingly grew and tended them.
Heather with her gorgeous garlic and blue potatoes, the sausage guy, the artisan chocolate lady.
The family business who raised Water Buffalo, the cheesecake lady, the goat cheese man, the candle woman, the egg guy.
Jane, with her beet and chocolate cakes, Ingrid and her beautiful painted river rocks,
the soap gal, and the sweet loom rug lady and her husband who
were selling years worth of her rugwork. They also sold the loom,
which now sits in our studio waiting to be worked again.
The fun eclectic plant people, many part artist, part growers. The names
of all these fabulous people we still don't know, but they
are ingrained in our brains and in our hearts. We see their faces
clearly and recognize them for the quality products they produced
on their own homesteads and brought to market week after week
with smiles on their faces. We appreciate their willingness to
share trade secrets with novice vendors like us.
Savannah and Mom, note her Moravian and Amish Quilt Paper Stars.
Wild Plum Jelly, ready for labels and calico fabric toppers
By market's end we'd seen a variety of vendors pass through the parking lot spaces, some stayed all season, some only for a few weeks until their product was shared and inventory exhausted. The customers also varied from week to week, regular faces showed up with market basket in hand to see what looked good each week, and some, just tourist visitors passing through town for the day. Marilyn always brought her winning smile and basket, daughter Summer brought cheer, and her husband Curtis, always brought encouragement. The talented musicians brought variety and atmosphere. Somehow hearing a banjo, fiddle and guitar plucking a mountain ballad just makes you want to purchase apple butter. The numerous visual craftsmen and artists brought food to feed the soul.
Making our famous Blackberry-Jalapeno Jelly
Silverleaf Farm’s yummy Pears
Success is measured in more than money...
For all of the financial reasons we originally went to market for, we feel we gained far more profit from the memories of our customers. We enjoyed the bragging about our famous Jalapeno-Blackberry Jelly. Many requesting a case for Christmas gifts, then sheepishly admitting half of the case was for their own devouring. Or the weekly requests for products we'd come up with out of necessity, and gallons of wild plums, hence our Blackberry-Wild Plum Chutney was created. We sold cucumbers by the bagful but got more requests for quarts and pints of my mother-in-law's 100 year old recipe for Appalachian Sweet Lime Pickles and pickled dilly beans and okra. Janel had the winning recipes of Caramel Spice Apple Butter and Pear-Pepper Relish. We sold bags of farm-dried mountain herbs for herbal teas and dried heirloom tomatoes. But our signature crops were clearly Silverleaf's blueberries and Blackberry Blossom Farm's blackberries. It's what we originally went to market to sell, shocked that we had so many other value-added farm products to bring to our market and our customer's tables.
Wild Plums which came into the farm kitchen by the gallons!
Janel and sis Linda manning the booth as we progress, we now have a tent and tables. Woo-hoo! Also note Janel's very cool Flower Paintings and our added tasting table.
Taste it before you buy...
We pride ourselves on having an extensive tasting table so you can try our market items. Not all items appeal to everyone, as I recall one tasting customer's screwed up face after popping a sweet lime pickle in her mouth. The word 'sweet' also means a vinegar tang, it IS a pickle, but clearly not her favorite! As this year opens, we'll include our children's handmade items like their quality handmade Quilts, Moravian Star jewelry, Spool Dolls, Sis Linda's handmade Cards, cherry pit and wheat heating pads and more. Janel's primitive painted flower boards will also be available again.
You're a Treasure!
We hope to see you this season at the Jonesborough Farmers' Market and hope we'll all add to the experience and life memories of each other's journey. We truly treasure every one of you!
This is the view at Blackberry Blossom Farm and Campground. Come visit us for an experience away from traffic, noise and stress. Breathe some cool mountain air and renew your spirit.
What's in a name?
We know it's important for people to start seeing where their food is grown, and how it's grown. Our farm is open for inspection from our customers. We never use chemicals not approved for organic production, and although the cost and record keeping is too intensive for a small farm like ours to be certified organic, you can come see for yourself, it's our only method of operation. We are certified "Naturally Grown".
One of our dairy goats, Fawn. They don't provide us with milk anymore, just love and manure for the gardens.
Get Current Farm Information on the Website!
Check our website for weekly offerings for in-season produce and farm times for pick-up, and don't forget our U-Pick Blackberries in July and August! You can't get much fresher than picking food a few hours before it hits your table, freezer or canner.
Our Back to Basics Steam Canner; no more filling my kitchen with hot boiling water bath canners. Steam canning does the job with less water, less heat in the kitchen and quicker. Get yours at Lehman';s and you'll never use your water bath canner again!' Check it out here: