Buy Direct from the Producer at the Brambleton Farmers Market!

NEW LOCATION!! In the Town Center parking lot behind Fox Cinema--visible from NorthStar Boulevard! The Market will run Every Sunday through Oct 31.

Follow the Loudoun Farmers Markets on Twitter!
www.Twitter.com/LoudounFarmMkts

The LVHMA Farmers Markets are currently booking talented people to perform at our Summer Farmers Markets in Ashburn, Brambleton, Cascades, Leesburg and Purcellville. If you are musical, can dance or perform some other type of family-friendly entertainment and are willing to work for tips and publicity, please contact Judy Stroske, Market Coordinator at 540-454-8089 or Judy@loudounfarmersmarkets.org
It's a great gig for talented students who are trying to earn money for school, or adults who enjoy performing!

Each week we try to let all of the friends of the Farmers Markets in on what is happening on our Member's farms and businesses.

Hidden Creek Apiary in Purcellville VA (Ashburn Market) has been affected by all the recent rain and cool weather. Their early planting of Blue Lake green beans rotted in the ground and now they have to re-plant six 20 foot rows. The cool weather has also delayed Kim and Doug Bowman's tomatoes from leaving the protective confines of the greenhouse--they are all 2-3 ft tall and growing like crazy--just waiting for warmer temperatures so they can go outside. Kim also works at a Nursing Home and she is now fostering a baby duck that was born to a Momma Duck that the residents feed and care for. Kim noticed that this little guy (named Jordan) was not moving one of his legs about 24 hours after hatching, so she brought him home and put him in the brooder they use for their chickens. After a visit to the vet, it was determined that one of his legs was dislocated and the other has something wrong with his growth plate, so the little guy (who only weighs a few ounces) has both legs splinted. They are keeping Jordan indoors and he thinks Kim's daughter, Marissa, is his mama and if left alone, he cries terribly. He likes to sit on Marissa's lap while she does her home work or watches tv. Luckily, he does sleep through the night but is ready for company as soon as he hears anyone get up. He will probably make the trip to the Ashburn market this weekend as he is spoiled rotten and with both legs splinted they have to keep him still. Kim is feeding him duck starter feed and coconut milk as he is low in calcium, vitamin D and Vitamin B and he is eating at least 10 times a day. Jordan even made a trip to Gettysburg with the Bowmans on Mother's Day weekend and rode the entire way up and back on Marissa's lap and he goes to work with Kim to the Nursing Home every morning.

Warren Howell of Allder School Berries in Purcellville (Purcellville Market) has had better luck dealing with the cold temperatures. None of his 600 tomato plants, which are all planted outdoors, were hurt by last week's frost. The temps only went down to 31 degrees for a short time, so they escaped unharmed.
Warren's early red raspberries are looking wonderful--abundant and well developed for this time of the season. The early berries are Tulameen (a Northwest variety that likes living in NOVA), a big producing variety named Nova (from Nova Scotia) and a purple variety called Royalty. Led by Tulameen, they should make their first appearance in early June.
For the most part, his blueberries are also doing well but the crop might be short this year because he had to move 120 plants to get them out of the way for construction of the new "green" house. Warren was afraid the move might kill many of the mature plants but that fear was misplaced. The problem that has arisen is now that they've survived, keeping them productive has been difficult. Warren underestimated the amount of irrigating they would need to produce both new leaves and berries, and thus some plants have lots of leaves and no berries and others, lots of berries with few leaves. He expects the berries on the leaf-less plants may wither, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Check back next week for more information from the LVHMA farms!

Eat Your Weird Veggies! Try Kohl Rabi--

You've probably all seen them on the farmer's table--looking like a little spaceship with green arms (or purple arms, depending on variety). And if you don't have a German background, you may not know how to fix those strange looking things. But Kohl Rabi (German for cabbage turnip) can be eaten either raw or cooked and tastes similar to broccoli stems.

To start with, take a sharp knife and cut off the top and bottom--save the small tender stems and leaves, they're edible, too! Then peel off the tough outer skin, leaving you with a white ball similar to a peeled potato. From here you can go in many directions--slice or julienne the Kohl Rabi and serve raw with salt or any dip for a vegetable tray. You can also add slices to your green salads for additional crunch.

Slice the ball and boil in water until tender (again like a potato), drain and toss with butter and parsley. You can even make it with your favorite Potato salad dressing. Dice Kohl Rabi and roast it with a little olive oil and salt (maybe a touch of garlic) in a 400 degree oven until tender and a bit carmelized and serve with a splash of good vinegar. For a unique presentation, try stuffing a Kohl Rabi! Boil the whole, peeled ball until a knife can be inserted easily (about 15-20 min), drain and set in a baking dish. Cut a slice off the top and hollow out the insides. Chop the "innards" and mix with ground beef, pork or sausage, diced onion and bread crumbs. Stuff the mixture back into the Kohl Rabi, sprinkle with parmesean cheese and bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Take a look at this week's recipe for Kohl Rabi Casserole and try a new veggie this week!

--Judy Stroske, LVHMA Market Coordinator

Earth Day Every Day!

Your Health, Malathion and other Organophosphate chemicals

This week a study by epidemiologist Marc Weisskopf of Harvard University's School of Public Health was released in the journal Pediatrics which determined that children found to have higher levels of the pesticide malathion in their urine seem to be at an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Because the government health and nutrition survey is a "snapshot" of urine levels at one point in time, it says little about long-term exposures, Weisskopf conceded, but is still a matter of concern. Weisskopf and his colleagues studied data on 1,139 children from the government's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for the period 2000 to 2004. In addition, the 2008 report of the U.S. Pesticide Residue Program found that 28 percent of frozen blueberries, 25 percent of strawberries and 19 percent of celery were contaminated with malathion.

If you are concerned about chemicals affecting you and your children, talk with the Farmer at the Farmers Market. Where not all fruits and vegetables are grown completely chemical free, most of the LVHMA Member Vendors do not need to use pesticides on their products and rely on approved Integrated Pest Management procedures.

Products in season for the month of May

Arugula Asparagus Basil Beef Beets Bok Choy Breads Broccoli Raab Cheese Chicken Cilantro Collards Dill Eggs Flowers Goat Jams & Jellies Kale Lamb Lettuce Mushrooms Onions * Parsley Pastries Pies Plants Pork Radishes Rhubarb Sage Salsa Soaps Sorrel Soups Spinach Strawberries Summer Squash Swiss Chard Turkey Turnips * Wine Wool & Products Yogurt