The Weblog

The local foods movement is alive and well in Champaign County! Here are some updates on other projects while we finalize our virtual market:

Local Producers Map:
Our local producers map is ready for publication and you will soon be able to find it on gochampaign.com. Copies will be distributed around the community, in the local telephone book, and other “hangouts”. The guide lists the location and contact information for nearly 50 local producers within our county. The map was a project of the Local Food Council and printed with the help of some local sponsors including the Monument Square District, Champaign Bank, the Community Improvement Corporation, the Chamber of Commerce, the Farm Bureau and others. It is a great start to finding a local source for Champaign County’s finest!



 
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Hey, Now!


Look at the time!! You have one hour to still get your orders in!!

It’s nice seeing all of the familiar faces that are returning, this week!!

Go!

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Tuesday Reminder!


Good morning, little local market of love customers!!

It’s Tuesday, and you know what that means!! It’s time to get your orders in before, well, you know the tune…before Tuesday’s Gone…

Get your list ready, grab a few minutes, and place your orders!!

Don’t forget…we have all the tell tale signs that spring is here, and also don’t forget…it’s Easter!! Order up!!

I was also thinking, what a great Easter basket idea for someone, some family, someone living on their own, a neighbor, a co-worker…put a basket together of all locally grown/produced items!!

Soooooo….get your groove on! We are here to help!!

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Waiting For The Sun


Can you feel it now that Spring has come? That it’s time to live in the scattered sun…”
(The Doors-Waiting On The Sun-Morrison Hotel)

The sun is certainly shining on us, now! Yesterday, and now today…the beauty is all around! Sun, warmth, growth, green, planting…it’s all happening. Everyone and everything is all waking up from a mild yet still the very winter months.

With that, we will also begin seeing excitement in the market as the seasonal vendors return, and in exciting news, I spoke with Dugan Creamery, yesterday, and they are about 2-3 weeks from the market!! Yay!!!

JC Growers have been busy on the farm, and house painting, but will be back, soon!!

Swisher Hill Herbs have added more and more live plants and herbs!!! Signs of spring!!

We have a new vendor, Just Ducky, with duck eggs!!

We welcome back, Rocky Ridge with their egg selections!

We said, Hello, to End of the Road, last week, and enjoyed their amazing spinach, loose leaf lettuce blend, and look forward more of their products!

Hippie and the Farmer put their first out of four gardens in, last week!!

I ran into Beth from Harrigan’s Harvest, and while the asparagus is not yet ready, we all know that it’s worth the wait!!

And, with the ushering in of spring, we also welcome the upcoming Easter holiday!! You know you will need to get your Easter dining plan, together, and get your market orders in!!

It’s all around us…let the spring sunshine take control…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Magnolia Wind


I’d rather not walk through the garden again
If I can’t catch your scent on a magnolia wind…
(Magnolia Wind-Guy Clark)

A very windy day, leading into a very windy evening. I was out in the wind, all day, and while I can handle the wind during the day, night time wind truly scares me. The noise, the brutal force, all of it. So, I have a few key songs that I sing to get me through it. This is one of them, and how fitting, with the name. Just a soothing tune, old, and covered by many artists.

As I am ending my day, I am having a glass of wine, reflecting on the day, happy and excited to be a part of my businesses, this market, our community, and all of you. The wind may come and go, but all of this, all of you, that is my constant.

Tonight is a perfect night to sit, as I open the market, and get my orders in. It’s cold, windy, and not much going on, so I am thinking ahead to the week, all that I have going on, and let’s not forget the upcoming Easter holiday!!

Think of what you may need from our market for your festivities!! Think about making your Easter dinner, Easter breakfast, Easter lunch, all from local items!! How beautiful a celebration to have a spread of nothing but local beauty.

Also, as we move into spring, and then summer, I want you to really think about your food, where it comes from in your shopping, and how it can be improved. Healthy, wealthy and wise…buying local, eating local, supports your health, your own personal wealth, because it’s so cost effective to eat from food that is grown in your local community, and the wise…more and more studies supporting how real food, whole food, non-gmo food, local food, natural food, organic food, not only improves your health, but it also improves your brain power. Your body needs food. It needs good food. It needs food that you know it’s origins…think about getting your food from us.

I will now let the wind take over, and also hoping that the wind blows you into our market…go ahead, let the windy night help you order…

We are your constant…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Well, now...


What’s it gonna be, baby? Yes or no?
(A bit of play on lyrics of Confessions By The Dashboard Light…Meatloaf)

But, yes, really…we are less than a half hour before closing, so what’s it gonna be?

See you at the 10pm closing time…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

We Are Live!


In my market glancing, as I prepare to make my purchases for the week, I noticed the smiling offerings of the first live herb plants from Swisher Hill Herbs!!

Yay!! Another sign of the change of seasons…and, as I always say, from way back in my Grateful Dead days, live versions are amazing versions!!

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Landslide


Oh, mirror in the sky
What is love ?
Can the child within my heart rise above
Can I sail thought the changing ocean tides
Can I handle the seasons of my life…
(Landslide-Fleetwood Mac)

Good morning, little local market of love customers!! It’s a windy, rainy morning, but definitely has spring blowing around, out there.

The change of seasons is upon us, the time for growth, of hope, of new beginnings. Maybe it’s in the produce growing season, maybe it’s in your own personal growth, maybe it’s in the dawn of a new day…however you look at it, it all changes in the spring. The seasons of life…

I returned from a long weekend vacation, up in the mountains of Tennessee, with a large group of my sorority sisters. We are the sisters who spanned the years of 1982-1986. The band of us who helped to colonize the chapter, on that campus, and the first pledge classes, to bring the needed growth, in the beginning. Without the pioneer attitude, hard work, constant care, and constant attention to growth, and moving forward with vision, we never would have gotten the chapter off the ground. And, in the year 2017, that chapter is the strongest on our alma mater’s campus…strong in numbers, strong in academics, strong in social awareness, strong in community.

As I sat around the table, in the cabin, one night, over bottles of wine, boxes of old pictures, laughing over old memories as we made new memories, exchanging life stories, sharing battle scars, rejoicing in our triumphs, and mourning now the loss of four of our fellow sisters, we hugged, we smiled, and we all agreed on one thing…

The strong bonds that were planted in the beginning of our journeys, way back in 1982, kept us strong, taught us about life, taught us to have a strong appreciation for the plight of fellow women, and for an undying love that brings us back, every couple of years.

I seem to apply this theme in all that I do. The planting of the seeds, the constant care to facilitate growth, the outpouring of both love and heartache to nurture, and then the constant care to continue the growth, and the ability to sustain through solid roots and bonds.

I have seen it, also, in this market. The seeds were planted, years ago. The growth took off, the constant love from you helped to carry it, and now, today, we continue to see the strength from all of our efforts.

It is Tuesday, the market will close, this evening, at 10pm, we have our End Of The Road family back on, and as the weeks unfold, we will see the return more of our seasonal growers, the part of his market family, that is essential to our growth.

Take a bit of time to shower us with love, today…it only makes us stronger…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Hello


Welcome to another week of fun!

The market is now open!

XOXO
Cosmic Pam

Sunshine Of Your Love


I’ve been waiting so long
To be where I’m going
There, in the sunshine of your love…
(Cream-Sunshine Of Your Love)

And, here we are, basking in the sunshine of your love, for us, for our market!!

And, the sun will be shining just a bit brighter on the market, today, as it’s Tuesday, your orders will groove us, all day, into the evening, until 10pm, tonight, when we will then close for the week!!

Then, the real sunshine grooviness will begin, when the market reopens on Thursday.

First…we will be welcoming back, seasonal favorites, End Of The Road Farms!!! Yes, your favorite little family of naturally certified farming will be back at the market!! Since they left us, their family grew by one more babe, right at that time. They took on the Miami County virtual market, and now are heading back to us, as well!!

Also…Thursday, you will find the market in the hands of your co-manager, Mark!! Your Cosmic market manager is leaving early on Thursday morning to go off on a mountain adventure with a gang of sorority sisters, on our annual, every two year, sojourn. And, then, that means that I will also be appointing Mark the duties of opening up the market, that night, just in case I am totally out of touch in the mountains!! And, to make it all groovy, I will appoint Paul the task of picking the song for that market!!

The two market guys running the show while I go off to play…let’s make sure to show them, and the market, a whole lot of sunshine love, by placing a whole lot of sunshine orders!!

Ok, but until then, we have today, all day, to make this market the sunshine of your love…

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam

Let The Games Begin!


You know I am a huge March Madness girl!! You know my team is Kentucky, followed by North Carolina!! I have lived in both states, and both teams are near and dear to my heart. BUT, having gone to college in Kentucky, I always hope that the sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home…

And, also, the games must begin with this market opening for the week!! Get in, look at the market site, make your orders, and watch the games, all at the same time…

Start the madness…throw us some orders!!

XOXO,
Cosmic Pam