Thursday, July 31, 2014

Re: 'Mango Mango' Preserves

A new vendor in the August market is 'Mango Mango' Preserves which is made in small, hand stirred batches that feature the mango fruit as the main ingredient. 'Mango Mango' comes from a very simple all natural/gluten free recipe with four ingredients: Mango Fruit, Pure Cane Sugar, Vanilla Extract, and Fresh Lime Juice. That means no extra or thickeners like corn syrup, pectin, gelatin, or carrageenan. Mango Mango can be used over 100 ways, 'Spread it! Mix it! Shake it! Stir it! Spread it on toast, bagels or croissants, Mix it with cream cheese for a delicious fruit dip, Shake it with red wine vinegar and olive oil for a mangolicious vinaigrette, and Stir it with our ginger spice blend to make Mango Ginger Shrimp. This season, 'Mango Mango' appeared on ABC's Shark Tank and welcomed all the Sharks to the 'Mango Mango' Party, as they loved the preserves! Mangolicious!

Monday, July 28, 2014

Guest Artist Bill Jenkins's Windsor Chairs



After a request from my wife in 2002 to make us some comfortable dining room chairs, I took a class at The Windsor Institute in Hampton in New Hampshire. Windsor chairs are made mostly from Maple, Red Oak ,and White Pine. My chairs can be found from Norway to San Francisco ,from Capital Hill to the College of William and Mary. I have made and sold over 500 Windsor chairs in the past 12 years. The John Adams miniseries used 39 Windsors which I constructed. Windsor chairs are strong, comfortable, functionable, and have an endearing beauty that lasts from one generation to the next and from one culture to another. Both young and old admire my chairs and fine them beautiful and love to sit in them.

Master Gardeners Update




The Northern Neck Master Gardeners' booth provides research based answers to all of your gardening questions each month.  As the volunteer arm of Virginia Cooperative Extension, the Master Gardeners have a variety of resource materials to provide.  Each month they have hints on what chores need to be done in your garden as well as the most water wise, ecologically sound approach to gardening.  In August they will have information on the FREE Lawn Seminar being presented on August 23rd.  Dr. Michael Goatley, Turf Grass Specialist at Virginia Cooperative Extension, Blacksburg and Professor at Virginia Tech will be the presenter.  Stop by the booth to pick up a flyer with times and locations.
Master Gardeners continue to offer preassembled rain barrels for sale as well as information on purchasing a compost barrel.  With hurricane season upon us, a rain barrel is the perfect way to collect water to use to flush toilets and other uses when the power goes off. Interested in becoming a Volunteer Master Gardener?  Stop by the booth to obtain a form to submit for the upcoming class starting in January 2015.  We will be able to share information on the classes as well as describe why we became Master Gardeners. So plan on stopping by the Master Gardeners' booth Number 68 to say hello and pick up some information. They welcome your questions and are always eager to hear your gardening experiences – what works for you and what did not.  If you do not have a question, we will give you information on how to contact us the remainder of the month when you may have a gardening question.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Saturday July 19th Market

Put Saturday July 19th Tappahannock Farmers' Market on your calendar, and you'll experience the abundance and artistic creativity of this beautiful, riverfront community under the shade trees around the courthouse. This month, you can find the Welcome Tent in front of the wine garden on Cross Street. Stop by and pick up a program to locate new and returning vendors and ask how you can get involved in supporting the market team. For full details of this month's market read the Rappahannock Times article at http://www.tappahannockmarket.com/news-rt-2014-july.htm

Monday, July 7, 2014

Photos of Old Tappahannock by Wesley Pippenger


Take a walk down memory lane and pick up a copy of Wesley E. Pippenger's latest book, "Tappahannock and Essex County, Virginia in Early Photographs." Now available from the author (for an inscribed copy) at a special Farmers' Market price on Saturday, July 19th. Check out Wesley's website for more information, at http://www.wesleypippenger.com/ Share this link with all your friends!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Magruder-Viars Play for the Market…..

Tyler Viars,18 years old, plays guitar for over 7 years and enjoys playing because music is fun and the feeling of expressing with his hands - he is joined by Andrew Magruder, 15 years old  who has been playing violin for 10 years. Only recently gotten serious with playing bluegrass music and hope to make it part of my career, whatever it might be. Plays guitar and sing as well and enjoys playing with others because he gets to collaborate with their ideas and their interpretation of a song. Andrew won second place at this year's RivahFest Idol competition.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Author Bobby Watkins Comes to Market….


Coming to the July Farmers' market, Author Bobby Watkins tells the stories he recalled from the days he spent chasing bootleggers in Northern Neck and Middle Peninsulas of Virginia.  Each story has factual information, portrayals of the characters he encountered, and many humorous incidents.  He likes to say, "All of the stories are mostly true!"  Many people think moonshining takes place primarily in mountainous regions, but Watkins dispels the common notion with his stories of the illegal business of distilling liquor is Not Necessarily in Them Thar Hills.  As a revenuer with Virginia's Alcohol Beverage Control agency for 35 years, Watkins lived in Tappahannock, Virginia. Come and meet Bobby and get a signed copy of his book!

Kathryn Murray - photographer artist July market

Kathryn Murray lives at Naylors Beach, just outside of Warsaw, Virginia. She finds her inspiration in the simple and beautiful places which surround her. A photographer for 40 years, just in the last 5 has she participated in numerous shows (local and national) and has been selling through galleries in the area. Her work has been seen extensively on covers of the Real Estate Review as well as in The House & Home magazine. Annual report covers in 2012 include Rappahannock General Hospital and River Counties Community Foundation. Known for her misty scenes with beautiful light, the photos are infused in aluminum and require no framing. This is a new process that is rarely seen but offers a crisp and archival alternative to traditional photos. Her work can be found at the Rappahannock Art League, Urban Harbor Art Gallery, Gloucester on Main as well as JarrettThor in Colonial Beach.

Susan Ramsey - Guest Artist in July

Susan Mahan Ramsey has always been interested in the creative arts. Since retiring and moving to Sharps, she has concentrated primarily on painting with watercolor, and recently she has been experimenting with other water media. Sue is an avid gardener, an award winning flower designer, and loves to travel. Her photographs, gardens, and flower arranging are often the inspiration for her paintings. 

Sue has had her work accepted into the Virginia Watercolor Society Show and the Central Virginia Watercolor Guild Show. Sue has also been awarded prizes as an exhibiting member of the Rappahannock Art League. Her paintings, as well as greeting cards featuring her paintings, are exhibited and sold at the RAL Gallery in Kilmarnock, as well as being available at her studio in Sharps.