Who's Coming to Market Tomorrow? A late -- and very welcome -- entry to our vendor list!

We are so glad that Eileen and her family from Shlagel Farm will be with us tomorrow for Holiday Market! The end of the season just wouldn't be the same without our stalwart vendors -- this is definitely a celebration!

Shlagel Farm will have eggs, ciders, greens, potatoes and maybe even some broccoli.

About those eggs...here's a note from Eileen: "My chickens are better than free-range. Here's an educational explanation for you. Free range are typically moved around in a cow pasture under a small hoop house. Every couple of days they move the house. The chickens can go under the hoop house to lay if they want or get out of the rain. They have no protection from other animals. On our farm the entire flock would be dead in one or two nights from raccoons, foxes etc..... I don't know how that problem is handled other places. I just know that they could not be protected here. We looked into it and decided that their safety was paramount. Their house was quite a source of fascination on the fall farm tour because it's pretty and very large. They would be termed "cage free" and all natural. They have a large house with individual laying boxes that they can get into (they choose their own and always go to the same one). It has a door like a doggy door so it's warm and dry in there and no wind. It has windows so they have plenty of light even when the doors are closed. Their food is in there so even in the snow they'll be cozy. Then they can go out their doggy door into a very large yard that is totally enclosed even a roof with fence so no animal can get to them. But they have a lot of room to run around, fly a little etc.... They have a nice life. So calling them cage-free doesn't do them justice. Commercial growers put them in a cage and they cannot move at all because they are shoulder to shoulder with the next chicken and their egg plops out on to a conveyor belt below them. It's very sad to me."

We're looking forward to tomorrow morning and know that you are, too!

See you Saturday at Holiday Market!