July 6 is Bike to Market Day at Lewes Farmers Market
The best of Delmarva’s fresh farm products awaits at the Historic Lewes Farmers Market, open from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, July 6, on the grounds of the Lewes Historical Society at 110 Shipcarpenter Street at the corner of West Third and Shipcarpenter streets. The HLFM is the largest producer-only market in Delaware.
Bike to Market Day is the day that everyone who can ride a bike, or walk, to the market is asked to do so. The market continues its tradition of beginning the free Annual Bike Raffle on Bike to Market Day. The bike being given away this year is a 2013 Electra Coaster 3i, three-speed cruiser. It is a bright green flash color and has whitewall tires and a cushy white seat. The bell sounds like a doorbell, and of course, the bike comes with an easy-release basket that can be taken to market. The winning ticket will be drawn Saturday, Aug. 31. Market patrons can enter every Saturday they come to the market.
Starting this year, the market is processing SNAP (EBT Food Stamps). To help lower economic barriers to local healthy food, the HLFM will match up to $10 in SNAP with HLFM “Bonus Bucks.” SNAP participants are encouraged to go to the SNAP Information Tent at the market to redeem their bonus bucks.
HLFM has just the ticket with not one, but two, demonstrations this Saturday. First, back by popular demand at 9:30 a.m., Sussex County Master Gardeners Jessica Clark and Brent Marsh will present their puppet show, The Adventures of Peter Rabbit. Children, and their parents, will enjoy the mischievous doings of Peter and his friends. The puppet show is inspired by Beatrix Potter’s well-known children’s book and features people and puppets teaching how to grow and enjoy vegetables.
At 10:15 a.m., Henry, Carrie, and Jim Bennett of the markets’ own Bennett Orchards will provide insight into how they produce not only their luscious peaches, but now also blueberries that market patrons so enjoy. Dedicated to reviving blueberry production in southeastern Sussex County, Bennett Orchards planted a state-of-the-art eight-acre blueberry field in 2011.
Innovative farming is nothing new for the Bennett family. Bennett ancestors were shipwrecked in the area in the mid-1700s and began their agricultural endeavors by extracting salt from seawater. This legacy has continued for over two-and-a-half centuries, and the original Bennett farm has been tilled by six successive generations of Bennetts since 1867. Bennett Orchards now is within an Agricultural Preservation District and has been listed as one of Delaware's historic Century Farms.
The market’s wide variety of vendors offer fabulous produce, meat, chicken, lamb, dairy products, and many other agricultural offerings. Specific types and varieties of fresh meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, flowers, and plants are listed by vendor in the HLFM newsletter sent to patrons on the first Thursday of the month during the market season, and on the HLFM Facebook page. To receive the HLFM newsletter, email historiclewesfarmersmarket@comcast.net and get added to the HLFM subscription list.
All these fresh vegetables - a great summer solution to using them in a healthy, tasty way is whipping up vegetable soup! Learn all about this wonderful option from Maureen Miller, children’s librarian at Lewes Public Library, when she reads "Growing Vegetable Soup" by Lois Ehlert at the Children’s Reading Program, 9 a.m. in the School House.
Children ask many questions about where food comes from, including “where does vegetable soup come from?” "Growing Vegetable Soup" answers that question for children and adults alike, explaining about the seeds and tools needed to grow vegetable soup. Then the book explains making the soup from planting seeds to harvest to preparation to cooking - listeners’ mouths will be watering! The book’s colorful illustrations are perfect for kids. And, there’s even a vegetable soup recipe.
