Happy Birthday Horton Farmers' Market!

This weekend marks the official 'half-way' point of the market season and we are celebrating in true 'farmers' market' style! Here are a few things we have lined up for the Market's 131st Birthday Celebration on August 1st :

Centre Piece Marketing Presents - Sam Hurrie

You may have read about Sam Hurrie Entertaining Elgin in the special edition of Relish Elgin's Arts in Elgin or heard him play around Elgin County. Sam will be performing his own style of Blues at the market from 10 - 12noon.

Birthday cake will be served by various guests of St.Thomas and Elgin starting at 10:30am. And we have lots of presents - to give away! But here's the catch - you will have to perform a little jingle to receive a ballot to enter the draw for the presents. The jingle goes : "Good Things Groooow In Ontario" The singing event will be throughout the morning and you can be sure that you will hear that jingle from yours truly a time or two. I will also be convincing a few other guests to join in - perhaps some of the vendors as well!

Amanda Nethercott, the fantastic face painter, will be back and set up beside the Kids Kraft Korner in the south pavilion. Reminder - face painting is for all the kids, including the young at heart. We will have free glow sticks for the kids to take home.

As it is the first Saturday of the month, the St.Thomas Public Library will be back with loads of books for you to peruse and check out on the spot. They will also have used books for sale and a sampling of some of the activities going on at the library.

Blueberry pies are the specialty this week of the folks from the St.Thomas Seniors Centre. They have sold out every time they have been to market this season so you know what that means!

We have a new vendor this week - Bird Man on the Marsh. He will be selling his handcrafted bird houses for various types of birds.

Candle making is the display of Jaydancin's. They are back from vacation and making a variety of enviro-friendly candles to show you how it is done.

And the bean marinade was a big hit last week! As it turns out, Cathy, who made that yummy concoction (from McSmith's Organics) uses a little bit of this and a little of that. The base was balsamic vinegar. I mentioned I would post the recipe on the blog - there is a similar one posted for you to experiment with. The key ingredients that most people commented on were the fresh, crisp beans from the market and chickpeas! Enjoy!

Janis Smith has sold out of her fresh cut flowers every time! She is bringing as many as nature will allow and she has also helped out Mom, Cathy of McSmiths by preparing ready to go coleslaw bags. She has been chopping organic cabbage and carrots - all you need to do is add the dressing.

Congratulations to Mike & Joyce Hlatki who won the customer appreciation draw for this week. Be sure to look for the green and white Foodland Ontario balloons and sign up for your chance to win. I contact the winner during the week to pick up their prize for the following Saturday at the market.

And about the honey..... the bees have suffered a loss this year on a large scale. The folks from Gibson's Honey have signed up for the market but have limited resources as they have lost a large percentage of their bees and will need time (a full season) to re-build their crop. Thanks for your patience with this as we continue to look for honey resources.

The Horton Breakfast Sandwich Combo continues to be a big seller. A dollar from the sale of each sandwich goes directly back to the market. These procedes help with things like the musicians, the sampling sessions, and increasing customer awareness of what the market has to offer. To sum it all up - we continue to evolve in community, in resources, in vendors and in sustainability. It's all good!

See you at the market!

Tricia Herbert

Market Manager