THIS WEEK AT THE MARKET:

This Saturday, May 19 from 8am to noon, rain or shine:

*Last Minute Addition: Briar Hill Farms - goat milk soap, goat milk fudge, goat cheese, natural beauty products made from beeswax, honey, and goat milk, eggs

*Jarrell’s Specialty Foods - muffins (blueberry, lemon poppyseed, chocolate chip, banana nut, and more), tea cakes, banana nut bread, carrot cake, casseroles (chicken vermicelli, ritzy chicken, chicken and rice, king ranch chicken, chicken enchilada, beef lasagna), Jarrell's famous chocolate russian cake and even more famous chicken salad

*Good's Fudge Shoppe - handmade fudge (chocolate, chocolate walnut, peanut butter, coffee, specialty flavor of the day: vanilla)

*Johnny's East Coast Bagels & Artisan Breads - bagels (plain, onion, sesame, poppy, everything), coriander rye batards, sourdough boules, multigrain loaves, baguettes

*Mack's Tomatoes and Produce - green beans, broccoli, cabbage, white turnips, beets, new potatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, bell peppers, sweet peppers, hot peppers, dried figs, dried okra, jams including green tomato, and zucchini, jellies, relishes including chow chow, pickled items

*Renner Gardens - salad greens, steaming greens, arugula, spinach, curly mustard, kale (blue, Italian), collards, cabbage, joi choi, green onions, parsley, beets, turnips, radishes, potatoes, purple haze carrots, celery, fennel, sugar snap peas, roma beans, cut flowers, herb plants (oregano, mint, basil, parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme), pickles, relishes

*Renee's Garden - vegetable plants (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers), herb plants (basil, chocolate mint, sage, thyme), fresh herbs (basil, chocolate mint, chives, thyme), collards, sprouts, cut flowers

*Adams Farm - string beans, patty pan squash, hot peppers, cucumbers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, jelly (mayhaw, muscadine, regular and low sugar), homemade sourdough bread

*Rough Edge Gardens - green beans, yukon gold potatoes, new potatoes, cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini, jams and jellies

*Joywalk Daylillies - daylillies, irises, new potatoes, hot peppers, heirloom tomato and flower plants

*Rust & Wood - craft and art pieces made from recycled materials

*Paul Shields - yard and garden art made from out of horseshoes and railroad spikes

*Rough Edge Gardens has fresh and frozen mayhaws and mayhaw juice for sale NOW! Call Jarrell Huey at 318-251-3830 for prices and pick up information.

All those interested in becoming vendors or volunteers for the 2012 season of the Ruston Farmers' Market are invited to contact Karen Pittman, at 318 251-3479 or email us at info@rustonfarmersmarket.org

Please check out our sponsors listed at the bottom of this page.

courtesy of Bill Ross Photography

The Hot Market in Ruston

The Ruston Farmers Market is shaping up to be the hot market this summer. On Saturday, May 19, we'll be open from 8am to noon, rain or shine. It won't be rainy this Saturday, though that didn't keep anyone away last weekend. Look for hot crops starting now and continuing on for weeks to come: cucumbers, squash, peppers, and cut flowers. But we still have those great spring vegetables: potatoes, greens, peas. Also, we have breads and casseroles, fudge and cakes. As if that's not enough check out the handmade craft and art items to adorn your gardens and yard. We're your market and we're just getting going.

We'd like to send a special thanks to all the volunteers who helped us last Saturday. We tried to mention you all in our newsletter, but probably missed someone. What can we say: we can't keep the market going without you. Support your market by purchasing a bumper sticker for $1 or a market bag for $5.

If you would like to sign up for the RFM Newsletter, please complete the form below:

Support Your Local Businesses Supporting RFM

Are you interested in featuring local produce on your restaurant's menu? Please contact us at the Welcome Tent or call 255-0478.

Vendors & Volunteers

We are always looking for new farmers/vendors and volunteers. If you know of any interested parties, please contact John Benschoter at 318-255-0478 or Karen Pittman at 318-251-3479 or email us at info@rustonfarmersmarket.org. You can also keep informed by signing up for our newsletter using the form above.

North Louisiana Farm Fresh (NLFF)

North Louisiana Farm Fresh (NLFF) is a new umbrella for the Ruston Farmers Market recently incorporated by the State of Louisiana. NLFF will be involved with growing the farmers market, expanding agricultural opportunities in the region, assisting farmers and growers, nutritional and educational outreach, community gardens, and more. You can email us at info@rustonfarmersmarket.org for more information.

You can always help us "grow" our market by putting your talents and ideas to "fruitful" use by becoming a member of NLFF.

For more information about NLFF we are available to talk with you at each and every market at our Welcome tent. You can also email us at info@rustonfarmersmarket.org or call John Benschoter (255-0478) or Karen Pittman (251-3479).

Our desire is to provide high quality, fresh, locally grown produce; plants; flowers; and value-added goods to Lincoln Parish residents. Want to know more about Ruston Farmers Market? Sign up for the RFM Newsletter by sending your email to: info@rustonfarmersmarket.org.

Why Buy Local?

The food is delicious.
Spending your money where you live keeps your community thriving.
North Louisiana is particularly blessed with a booming community of small farms and food producers.
Locally-grown food obviously does not cause as much pollution due to less travel time.
Keeping family farms alive keeps rural landscape alive, supporting less sprawl.
As a tourist looking for local flavor makes your visit more authentic. Folks don't travel to Italy looking for a good burrito. If you come to Ruston, taste what we grow.

And if all of this is not reason enough, think of the health and safety of you and your family. Small, local farms are less likely to use hormones and more likely to raise grass fed or free-range animals and organically or naturally grown vegetables.

If you know your farmer, you know where to ask questions; the shorter the route from the farm to your table (at home or in a restaurant), the more knowledge you have at hand and the more flavor you have on your plate.

A very special thanks to our Friends of the Market. Please take a moment to go to our Contact page and note our sponsors.

Where We Are Located.

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