Field Trip: Maryland's Best Governor's Buy Local Cookout

Last night, we had the great good fortune to attend the Maryland's Best Governor's Buy Local Cookout at the Government House in Annapolis. Hosted by Governor Martin O'Malley, the picnic featured 14 teams of local producers and chefs celebrating local food during Buy Local Week.

Here are just some of the wonderful things we saw and tasted.

And here are the recipes. 

(Our printed copy will be at the Market table this Saturday if you'd like to peruse it and chat!)

Thank you to the amazing team that put this event together, and to Governor Martin O'Malley for hosting such a great Maryland celebration! It was inspiring, and we are proud to support Maryland agriculture and Buy Local.

This week at the Market: Cakes by Ruthann

Cakes by Ruthann brings us delicious tastes from far-off islands using local produce. There are so many ways to buy local, and we love seeing how everyone -- vendors and customers alike -- supports local farmers. Andrea and Nicki use fresh, local fruit to make their delectable peach punch, the very popular strawberry lemonade, and mini apple pies. Make sure to visit Cakes by Ruthann at Cheverly Community Market this Saturday and try some of these ultra local treats!

The spicy jerk chicken patties are back along with spinach, beef and curry chicken Jamaican patties. In many hot climates, the common wisdom is to consume spicy foods to combat especially warm days -- why not try it this Saturday?!

Celebrate Maryland's Buy Local Week & help us spread the word!

With yesterday's rains, the ground is soft and it's easy to get those yard sign stakes in -- please help us publicize this weekend's Market by posting your yard sign today! 

To celebrate Maryland Buy Local Challenge Week, we have a great lineup in store for you, including wonderful food, entertainment, and crafts. Bring your family, friends, and neighbors to Cheverly Community Market this Saturday and Buy Local, Buy Maryland.

There's still time -- accept the challenge today!

Meals from the Market: What are your favorite things to cook with Market fresh food?

As we look forward to Saturday and replenishing our pantries with fresh, local foods, we look all over the internet for the best recipes and techniques to make the most of items available at Cheverly Community Market. We collect those recipes and techniques on our Pinterest pages every day, and highlight items you'll be able to find in the coming weeks when you shop with us.

We use all those recipes as jumping off points for our own recipes. And that's how this...

 Becomes this...

As we approach Saturday (and the Maryland Buy Local Challenge Week July 20-28) -- and later our Annual Farm to Table Potluck (August 10) -- we hope you'll find some inspiration on our Pinterest and other resources -- from cookbook collections to magazines to websites. Here's a wonderful article via The Kitchn: Ten Meals Straight from the Farmer's Market. There are great ideas throughout the article, and wonderful variations in the comments. We hope you find something to jumpstart your creative cooking there.

This is an ideal time of year to takes some flights of fancy in your cooking -- produce is abundant, herbs are plentiful, and the ideas are overflowing!

SPECIAL MESSAGE: We have postponed our Annual Farm to Table Potluck and are currently reviewing possible dates for the Fall. If you've already purchased tickets, we will refund your money, or you may hold on to your ticket for the future date. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your continued support.

Thank you to our farmers!

The first local asparagus of the year.

We're extending a special thank you to Eileen Shlagel of Shlagel Farms and Laurie Waltz of Waltz Family Farms for making special off-season deliveries to Cheverly. They both make quite a drive to bring us absolutely gorgeous produce, eggs, and meats, and their efforts make these cold months while we wait for opening day a bit more tolerable.  This weekend, Eileen delivered the first asparagus of spring to us, as well as spinach, tomatoes and fresh brown eggs. What a feast!

Customers picking up orders from Eileen Saturday morning.

We probably won't have another off-season delivery before opening day on May 4, but, to get you thinking about farmer's markets and the increasingly important role they play in the community and farming industry, visit this great blog, Buy Local, which is supported by I Support Farmers Markets. It's one of our favorite sites for thought-inspiring pieces about farms and farmer's markets from a wide variety of sources.