Our website is back up and waiting for your visit!

Thanks again for making us popular. We've fixed our traffic quota problem and we're ready to go. Come by for a visit!

New Cheverly Community Market video!

While our site is down, Dan Scott (aka 1/2 of CHVBlog) shares this video that he took last weekend at the Market. It will be airing on Cheverly TV in the future, but you get to enjoy it now. Thanks for sharing this, Dan!

We're very popular!

Thanks to everyone who has visited the Cheverly Community Market website -- we're feeling well-loved. In fact, we're feeling so well-loved that our traffic quota has been exceeded and our site is down temporarily. We are on the case, and should have the website up and running (and being loved) again within 24 hours. In the meantime, why not visit our flickr page (and add your market photos), respond to our poll or catch up on the rest of the blog? Thanks for your patience -- we look forward to getting the website back up as soon as possible.

Photos from Saturday's Market

We've posted new photos from Saturday's Market on our flickr group page. Have some photos from the Cheverly Community Market that you'd like to share? We'd love to see them -- join the group! Later this week we'll post stories from Saturday, a story about Emma Dudley of C&E Farm and some other goodies (maybe even a recipe or two.) Keep reading the blog...and thanks to everyone who came to the Market last Saturday!

This weekend at the Market -- Action packed and delicious!

Looks like perfect weather will be in order for this Saturday's Cheverly Community Market! We have lots of great vendors and some very special events planned for you this weekend: Sylver Spoon Cupcake Bar, Cheverly, MD Sylver Spoon is a small Catering and Event Design enterprise headed by Chef/Designer Nicole Sylver of Cheverly. Sylver Spoon is excited to showcase their new Cupcake Bar where visitors may select their cake flavor, buttercream icing and toppings. All Sylver Spoon products are baked from scratch using high quality ingredients. Brooks Brand Salsa. Made here in Maryland, Brooks Brand Salsa is a medium to hot salsa made daily in small batches with fresh ingredients. A perfect compliment to a bag of fresh corn chips from Moctec. The first corn of the Season! Thanks to Scott Hertzberg's relationship with a Southern Maryland farmer who plants extra early so that there is local corn ready by July 4th , and the recent hot and rainy weather, Fresh, Local Sweet Corn will be available along with Safe, Local Tomatoes. How good is that? Krishon Chocolate will be back with some ice cream toppings guaranteed to recreate that memorable scene in "When Harry Met Sally." Mystic Water Soap returns as well with some new products to make our skin glow: A Dry Skin Facial Serum and a luscious Facial Mask. C&E Farms returns as well. Emma Dudley is bringing a great selection of fresh greens including Kallaloo. Plus her wonderful herbs and selected relishes. Plus More!!!! Fresh Pasta, Chipotle Goat Cheese, Oysters, Grass-Fed Meat, the best Ciabatta and Sourdough around, and incomparably fresh, hand-stretched tortillas. Cheverly resident Diana Derby will have an exhibition of her latest work, "Action Men", in Baltimore next month and will be at the Cheverly Community Market with one of the seventeen canvases from the "Action Men" series, but without very big hair. Stop and say "Hi, hon"! Caroline Hermann will be joining Scott Eichinger to share tips on pairing wine & food, as well on tips on wine tasting. Caroline has an advanced certificate from the London-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust. She works in wine sales and conducts local tastings and wine classes. Stop by and ask what wine will go with your Market bounty! Charles Andrews, our music guy and a member of Cheverly Community Market's own house band, will entertain. Stop by and request a song...he knows a lot of them! And you never know...he may have a very special guest vocalist join him for a song or two. See You on Saturday 8:00-11:00am ... and PLEASE REMEMBER TO BRING A FRIEND OR NEIGHBOR OR TWO!

Special event at the Market this weekend!

Cheverly resident Diana Derby will have an exhibition of her latest work, "Action Men", in Baltimore next month, July 9-25, at the Antreasian Gallery on The Avenue (W 36th St) in Hampden, directly across from the well known Cafe Hon. Hampden, near the Johns Hopkins main campus, is an artsy neighborhood of galleries, restaurants, shops and an attitude that always includes "big hair, hon". The gallery is open Wednesday-Saturday, 11-7 and Sun 10-5. Diana will be at the Cheverly Community Market in Cheverly on Saturday, June 21, with one of the seventeen canvases from the "Action Men" series, but without very big hair. Stop and say "Hi, hon"!

Meet the Vendor -- Circle C Oyster Ranchers Assn.

Have you stopped by for a chat with Circle C Oyster guy extraordinaire Rich Pelz yet? Beyond having fantastic -- fantastic -- oysters, Rich is an engaging storyteller. I chatted with him last weekend at the market and learned a bit about the oyster ranching techniques that he's developed over the past 20 years. He's very active in developing new aquaculture technology, and passionate about the Chesapeake Bay and its surroundings. Rich also gives an amazing oyster shucking demonstration. His oysters have unusually thin shells (which means more meat inside) and they can be shucked using only kitchen scissors and a kitchen knife. Pretty impressive stuff! You might be wondering about the Circle C name -- pretty unusual. Well, Rich developed a system of growing oysters that causes some of the oysters to develop a white stripe down their middle -- sort of a tan line. The growing system allows the oysters to grow near the water surface where algae grows. The oysters graze on this algae, which results in a particularly sweet, mild oyster. I think the technical term is "good eatin'." Visit the Circle C Ranchers Association website to learn more about the oysters and ranching methods, and for some great recipes. And make sure to stop by and say hello to Rich and his assistants at the market. He'll tell you a story or tow, and you'll go home with some of the best oysters you've ever tasted.

Big News -- Time Change

Hi everyone -- hope you're getting ready for next week's Market! We've been listening to customers and vendors alike, and we've taken your advice:

New Market hours:

8:00-11:00am

Please make note of the new time.

We hope that the earlier hours encourage more people to beat the heat and shop early. Thanks again for your continued suppport -- we're looking forward to seeing you at the Market on Saturday, June 21!

Update: Great Deals on Leftovers from Today's Market

Thanks to everyone who called and visited Crystal -- I know she really appreciates the Market community pulling together. Hope you're all enjoying your bread and cheese and everything else! E-mail from Crystal received this afternoon: You are my Heroes! If it wasn't for Tia's Lemonade Stand, I would not have been reminded of the saying "When Life Give you Lemons...." (and the ending isn't you get a bottle of Tequila and salt). When I was stuck with all the leftovers, little did I realize that the community response to take them off my hands and ease the financial burden would be so immediate and great. A big THANK YOU to all who stopped by on Saturday and Sunday to buy bread, pasta, sauce, cheese, and tortillas. MANY of you had already been to the market on Saturday morning and bravely fought the intense heat. All that's left is about $50 of cheese (Ricotta and Monacacy Ash -- which I'm selling for $5 each) So instead of being discouraged, I am encouraged by those who took the extra effort to help. A million thanks. Crystal Original post: Attendance at today's Cheverly Community Market was far lighter than usual -- blame the soaring temperatures and humid air! If you missed it (or even if you didn't, but plowed through your purchases already), Crystal Lal is offering some great deals on leftovers from the Market:

• Fresh pasta is $6 a pound (Feeds 3 generously -- At pasta plus its $10 a plate)
• Pasta sauce $3.50 16 oz

GOAT CHEESE -- $6 per 8 oz. package. Has been kept at consistently cool temperatures so is still top-quality and bargain priced!!

• Chevre
• Ricotta
• Monocacy Ash
• Monocacy Silver

MOCTEC

• corn tortillas $2 doz
• hand strecheded white tortillas $3 DOZ
• wheat hand stretched tortilla $3.50 doz

UPTOWN BAKERS

• Lots of good pastries -- selling them for $1 apiece There are lots of almond croissants and maple pecan twists.
• Baguettes ($2.50)
• and the following items, which are priced at $5 each: PARKERHOUSE ROLLS, CHALLAH, JEWISH RYE, MARBLE RYE, SESAME SEMOLINA, FARM W/ ROLLED OATS AND FRENCH PEASANT

If you didn't make it to the market, you can come by the house while Crystal is home until it's all gone. Call first 301-773-0635 -- she'll give you her address.

Share your Market Story!

Today we begin another new Market tradition: share your Market story. See anything really great? Have a great conversation with a vendor or neighbor? Meet new people? Try something new? Please share your Market experiences and stories.

My personal favorite story of the day: the couple who requested a Beatles song from Charles and Kelly, then had a lovely dance. It was charming.

Okay, your turn.

Rain or Shine or... Heat Wave!

Please don't let the ugly weather forecasts deter you from coming to Saturday's Cheverly Community Market -- we'll be there rain or shine ... or heat wave! Eating locally -- and supporting our local farmers and tradespeople -- is especially valuable in the face of global warming and a weak economy: from www.environment.about.com Eat Locally Grown Food to Reduce Global Warming Eating locally grown food even helps in the fight against global warming. Rich Pirog of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture reports that the average fresh food item on our dinner table travels 1,500 miles to get there. Buying locally produced food eliminates the need for all that fuel-guzzling transportation. Eat Locally Grown Food to Help the Economy Another benefit of eating locally is helping the local economy. Farmers on average receive only 20 cents of each food dollar spent, says Ikerd, the rest going for transportation, processing, packaging, refrigeration and marketing. Farmers who sell food to local customers “receive the full retail value, a dollar for each food dollar spent,” he says. Additionally, eating locally encourages the use of local farmland for farming, thus keeping development in check while preserving open space. So dress appropriately and come early. Many of the vendors will be under tents and there will be water and lemonade available.

Scott's Market Recipes for This Weekend

Our chef/educator/cookie master Scott Eichinger can't make it to the Market this weekend (I know, we'll miss him, too!) Since he's such a thoughtful guy, Scott has given us two recipes that use some of the great produce you can get at the Market this Saturday: Sweet Chili Cucumbers and Quick Strawberry Jam. Visit our recipes page for printable versions of these recipes, as well as other tasty treats. Saturday morning, make sure to stop by and get a 15-minute seated massage from Teresa Williams at the Market. Between a relaxing massage, great music, fantastic crafts, beautiful fresh flowers and -- of course -- the best in local food, you should be pretty relaxed by morning's end. See you Saturday at the Market!

Recipe for a perfect Saturday

After a restful night's sleep, arrive at the Cheverly Market at 9 am for fresh coffee and a delicious pastry. Be sure to wear a hat, comfortable shoes, and bring your reusable shopping bag. Leave Fido at home, but promise him a juicy bone that you will buy for him at the Clan Stewart Stand. As you patiently wait in line at the Jug Bay stand, introduce yourself to the nice folks in front or behind you. Most likely they are neighbors or friends you haven't yet met. If you are over 21, wander over to the Elk Run Winery stand and buy a local bottle of wine to pair with tonight's seasonal dinner. Options: Oysters, roasted beets, salad with fresh tomatoes and chevre, a crusty baguette and strawberries. Don't forget a bouquet of field-grown flowers for your centerpiece or as a hostess gift. Buy a pot of mint to plant and harvest throughout the summer for ice tea and maybe even juleps. Sit down and enjoy the music of the Cheverly Hot Noodle Concern. Dance. or not, Bump into someone you know and invite them to share dinner. AT MARKET ONLY THIS WEEK: ELK RUN WINERY and STANTONS MILL Stanton's Mill specializes in: Hushpuppy Mix Amish Funnel Cake Mix Buckwheat Pancake Mix Corn Muffin Mix Specialty Baking Mixes Custom Gift Baskets Stanton's Mill also specializes in: Unbleached flour Whole wheat flour White corn meal Yellow corn meal Buckwheat flour Grits Stanton's Mill uses only certified organic hard red winter wheat PRODUCE FROM JUG BAY: strawberries flowers beets summer squash cucumbers cabbage peas lettuce radishes green onions greenhouse tomatoes dates PLUS grass-fed beef and lamb, coffee, bread, tortillas and chips, cheese, oysters..... See you Saturday at the Market!

Show & Tell

Maybe it's my age, but I have trouble every week trying to get into a "blog" mode and post an entry for the market. After fretting for days, the answer has dawned on me. This is basically Show and Tell. In kindergarten, it was my favorite day of the week. Trot to the front of the class and share your treasure. So here I go. At least week's market, my favorite finds were simple: a bunch of Bachelor Buttons from Jug Bay, which I plopped in a galvanized bucket and kept on my back porch; a $2 medium dog bone for my old dog Shelby from Clan Stewart Farm. It's amazing how these two minor purchases had major impact. We adopted Shelby 10 years ago from an animal shelter. We think she is about 12 years old now. The old girl spends an majority of her day snoozing and the highlight of her day is chasing after a rawhide chew strip that we toss to her, which takes her about 3 minutes to chew, and then back to sleep. I gave her the Clan Stewart Bone on Saturday afternoon and she spent nearly two hours gnawing and working at it. The whole family stopped what we were doing to watch her enjoy it. We have not seen her so engaged in years. I guess that proves that natural, unprocessed, and preservative free improves the quality of life for our pets too. As for the flowers, what a refreshing departure from the usual selection at the supermarket. No need for a strangely green fern frond or a cliche' spray of baby's breath. And they weren't grown somewhere outside the continent and shipped an ungodly distance under refrigeration. Now it's your turn. This blog is really an opportunity for you all to share your discoveries. Please, let us know what you did with that goat cheese, those shell peas, or rhubarb jam. Or tell us your story or share your advice. This is your turn to be part of the market "Show and Tell."

See you at the Market this weekend!

Crystal