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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The Weight


I picked up my bag and I went lookin’ for a place to hide…(The Band-The Weight)

Well, I bring you this Monday morning weblog from my morning office aka my lovely front porch. I should be busy baking, busy racing around, busy scanning and emailing forms for Art Affair, emailing minutes and an agenda to members of another board that I serve on, getting my daughter ready to move to Knoxville, catching up on the one million things that make up my life.

But, other plans must have been in store for me and well for my surrounding area of the county. We are all without power. At first, I was highly annoyed, highly paranoid about not being able to start my mountain of obligations.

Then, I wandered out to my front porch with the only cup if coffee I managed before the power went out, and I sat on the front step. My face is drinking in the early sunshine, I am listening to birds, enjoying the view, and realizing that for just this moment, I am enjoying not having the weight of things calling my name.

Sometimes we have to be forced into a timeout from life to make us just sit, think, breathe, regroup.

This cannot happen, often, but today, just for a moment, I just really needed the time.

Take your own time, today, and look at our market offerings. Think about how ordering can take a huge weight off of you and your week.

Taking that small step can free you and your mind. Go ahead..

Welcome Back!


We are excited to welcome back and usher in the season…Champaign Berry Farms has just added red raspberries and gooseberries to the market!

Race, run, don’t miss out!!

Get your berry fix while you can!!

Junior's Farm


Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go
Down to Junior’s farm where I want to lay low
The low life, high life, oh, let’s go
Take me down to Junior’s farm…
(Wings – Junior’s Farm)

It was an amazing day out in Fletcher at Lee and Jennifer Ruff’s farm!! They are the most delightful and interesting couple with plenty of tales that weave their dating, farming, marriage all into a sweet and hilarious life.

The drive down their lane was so pretty and you could catch a glimpse of Lee finishing up his afternoon chore list. We were greeted by Jennifer who gave us a bit of history of them, their past plans, future plans, and how they came to be on this little, sustainable, organic/chem free farm.

It is amazing what these two accomplish…they are out there, every single day, doing it all. We saw their beautiful fields, their chickens, their pigs, got to see the beautiful lettuce that is growing and that they bring to us, each week. They showed us where the sorghum action all happens. Lee has moved buildings, they have cultivated a life that involves just about everything they are growing, butchering, planning.

The tour ended all too soon and I enjoyed the day so very much!!

I would love for each of you to think about conducting a farm tour. It was so exciting to see another one of our growers/producers in their habitat.

This little market is so fortunate to offer so many unique growers/producers, all with different backgrounds, different visions, different goals. It brings us all together, one story at a time, and allows us to bring such a colorful backdrop to our customers, each week.

This finds us on a Sunday night after a busy week for most of us. Think about the week to come, and think about how busy you will be. Think about how the growers and producers, of this market, want to do the work for you! Place your trust in us, your faces of all things local, and we will make the week a bit easier for all of you…

It’s already a rock and roll kind of market on a Sunday night with all kinds of orders and SO MANY NEW CUSTOMERS!! Keep it up!! Let’s blow the market out of it’s best record!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Into The Mystic


Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic…(Van Morrison – Into The Mystic)

Get away, today, on this beautiful and sunny day, to let your soul and spirit fly, as we head out to visit our latest farm tour for our market!

Here is another reminder of the Ruff’s invitation, the direction, and their phone number!

It should be a fun get out of town kind of day. I am looking forward to an afternoon of sun, seeing all of your faces, and a day away from baking!

Here is all the info. you may need…see you, this afternoon!
Lee and Jennifer Ruff of End of the Road Farm would like to invite you on Sunday, June 22nd at 2 pm for a guided farm tour of their sustainable, draft-horse powered homestead. Samples of various goodies made from their sorghum, spelt flour, and pastured eggs will be provided.
Please wear comfortable walking shoes, as you’ll tour the crop fields, mobile chicken and pig pens, two market gardens, and horse paddock/pasture. We ask that children be well supervised, as this is a working farm as well as our home, and as such, buildings are off-limits. We look forward to sharing the afternoon with you, and hope you will join us with questions, enthusiasm, and an interest in seeing how and why we have chosen this wonderful farming life! Thank you!!
Directions from Urbana:

Take State Route 36 East into Fletcher (approximately 18 miles).

At the first stop light in Fletcher, turn left onto State Route 589.

Take the first right at the United Methodist Church – there’s not a street sign, but you’re now on First Street

Stay on First Street past the Yield and Dead End signs – this becomes our driveway!

You’ll see our house number, 455, posted next to the gate as you drive through, and we’ll show you where to park!

455 W. First Street

Fletcher, OH 45326

(937)903-5249

Goin' Down The Road


Goin’ where the climate suits my clothes…goin’ where the water tastes like wine…(Grateful Dead…Goin’ Down The Road Feeling Bad)

Well, another market closed out the week, tonight! I am about to open up the new market in just a few seconds!

Thank you to all of the lovely customers, tonight, my lovely volunteers, my lovely vendors. The kind hearts, the helping hands, the smiling faces. Because of the combined efforts of everyone, we have succeeded in keeping the market steady, with high numbers, and climbing!

We welcome the new customers who find us, weekly. We welcome our loyal customers who have been with us, week in and week out. We appreciate you so very, very much…

This is the time of the summer, or almost summer, that my wanderlust begins to pull me and my thoughts in a million directions. Picking up and goin’ down the road is how I always feel in this month of June. Take me to the beach, take me to the mountains, take me to a festival…just pack up, head out, no particular plan, just lots of laughs, lots of fun, lots of no responsibilities…

But, then I am snapped back into reality, realize that people depend on me, in so many different venues, and so it goes. My wanderlust remains in my heart, in my soul, and I set about getting ready for the next day, the next market, the next venue. And, you know what helps?? Each and every one of you and your kindness and your spirit! The love that this market feels from each of you is explosive and dynamic!! You all make this hippie girl with the wanderlust in her soul happy to just stay grounded. You give this market the energy and vibe that makes it all so great!!

Hugs to all of us as we begin these summer months with busy markets, busy venues, and this market. Our love and our commitment doesn’t fade and it’s all because of you!

Tonight, as I open the market, I would like to remind you of the fun filled day that End Of The Road Farm has in store for all of us on Sunday!! They are excited to welcome us, it will be like a mini trip for this wanderlust girl, and it will be such fun to gather with all of you to enjoy all that they want to share with us!!

I am asking that if you know for sure that you are going, to please email me so I can give them a head count!! Thank you so much!! I know I am excited!!

Also, we welcome and new lettuce, greens, produce provider! Say hello to Kevin of Davidson Farms!!! Super great products, super excited guy, super nice guy!! Let’s all give him a huge round of market love!

We will also welcome a new vendor, tomorrow…Grace Grows Green!! Carrie comes out of Springfield via the Springfield Farmer’s Market! Granola bars, chia bars, and more!!

It seems we are now adding new vendors, weekly! Get to know the new vendors, hug the vendors who you know and trust and love!!

Get out, go down the road, show some love and start the market, again, with us!!

We look forward to your orders!! Don’t forget…each week is a chance to become a winner of the Market Love playlist cd!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Summer Nights


Summer loving had me a blast ohh yeah
Summer loving happened so fast
I met a girl crazy for me
Met a boy cute as can be

(Grease – Summer Nights)

So, it’s that time, again…the time to announce this week’s Market Love playlist winner of the customer drawing!!

Summer Nights is just the most perfect summer song to announce the winner, to make you want to sing, to dance, to twirl all around!!

The summer, for me, was right before my freshman year in high school. I had taken a job as a summer nanny, to a family of four children, at their summer house up at Lake Erie.

It was the perfect summer solution. Cool house, on the sandy dune of the lake, I only had to watch the kids during the daytime hours, I was free to roam with the other nanny/baby sitters, that summer, in the evenings and nights.

The movie, Grease, had just come out. We spent our money on the movie, the album, and spent many evenings listening to the whole soundtrack.

We each had our own hopes of summer loves and this movie fed into the hopes and fun. We all wanted a Danny to our Sandy. We built summer friendships, bid each other goodbye once the end of August hit, and we went back to begin our lives in the fall. But, the fun of that summer remains a fun memory.

So fun, so innocent, and so perfect to usher in the next playlist winner!

This week’s winner is….JoAnn Staten!!

Thank you, everyone, for all of the positive feedback on the fun of the Market Love playlist. Another winner will happen, next week!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Thank You!!


Thank you for ordering with our market, this week!!

We appreciate your business, we love that you keep it local, and we look forward to seeing you, on Thursday!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Last Call!


You have 10 minutes to finish out your orders!!

I will be closing the market, soon, and you won’t want to feel sad that you missed out…

Go, race, run, don’t wait…

All You Need Is Love


All you need is love, all together now
All you need is love, everybody
All you need is love, love
Love is all you need
(Beatles – All You Need Is Love)

Such a simple thought, requiring such simple actions…love really is all that is needed to make it all better, turn it all around, put a smile on someone’s face.

Kindness, a hug, a hand, a thoughtful word…it makes the day a bit brighter and people a bit happier.

I am all about showing the love, making everyone happy, working my magic…I love to see the smile on people’s faces, I love to know that perhaps I spread a bit of sunshine, in someone’s day, to make it just a bit better…

And, all the market needs is just a little more love in this last hour that we are open! It’s a strong market and we are staying open just so you can feel the weekly love!

We look forward to your orders, we look forward to sharing the market love fest!

You have an hour…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

This Must Be The Place


Home, is where I want to be
But I guess I’m already there…
(Talking Heads – This Must Be The Place)

There was a summer where all I listened to was, The Talking Heads, and their off shoot, The Tom-Tom club. Talking Heads always remind me of that carefree summer during college. Not a worry, not a care, just summer jobs with a big dose of fun. We all went to concerts, we hung out at local parks, were getting ready to enter our junior years in college bringing big changes, big plans. Half of that summer had me living in my hometown, half down in my college town. Summers had a magical feel down in that town. A bunch of us lived in a house, worked, and since I was the VP of my sorority, at that time, I was in charge of getting things ready for fall rush, getting the sorority floor all spruced up for the sisters who would be moving back, for rush parties, for the beginning of our year.

I remember, one day, as a bunch of us were decorating the floor, we had a stereo blaring Talking Heads, we had a cooler of illegal beer, we were all laughing and talking. This song came on and I remember stopping, looking at the sun coming through the windows, listening to the lyrics and looking at my beloved sorority sisters. I had never known such a feeling of home. Of peace. Of sisterhood and love. I am still so close to so many of those girls even after so many years.

Home…it’s where your heart pulls you. It’s where the people welcome you, love you, laugh with you. It can be anywhere, at any time, with any people. There have been a few places, a few times, that have totally engulfed me and it felt like home.

This market feels like a little piece of home to me. The little local family that we have built. The goodness that we all are centering around. The visions, the goals, the respect. When I think of this market, it warms my heart and my soul. Just like a welcome home. This must be the place…our little local place called home.

We are open until 10pm, tonight! It is shaping up to be another great market!! I would love to see it climb to beat even our best record to date!

Take a bit of time, look at the market offerings, look at the seasonal items that are about to leave us, get to know our new producers, get your orders in so we can get it all ready for you when we see you on Thursday!

It’s always our pleasure to welcome you back…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam