Everything's better with PRFM

This week at PRFM...
Mother’s Day weekend is here. Don’t worry, PRFM has got you covered. Pick up some flowers and jewelry plus all the fixings (strawberries, anyone?) for a super-impressive brunch that any mama is sure to love—almost as much as she loves you.

Chef Demo
with Zach Meloy of BETTER HALF
10:00 a.m. on 5/9
Chef Demos are sponsored by
Piedmont Hospital
Chef Zach Meloy is a native Georgian who has experience in kitchens across the Southeast (with chefs like Gerry Klaskala, Jay Swift, and Frank Stitt) as well as in Latin America (including Costa Rica, where he met his "better half," Cristina). In 2011, Zach and Cristina launched their popular supper club, PushStart Kitchen, which gained such a following that the couple decided to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant (funded on Kickstarter by their many fans). At the end of 2013, they opened BETTER HALF, recently named by Garden & Gun as one of the five most exciting new restaurants in the South. Check out this week's demo and see exactly what all the buzz is about!

Master Gardeners Info Tent
Let your Central Fulton County Master Gardeners help you grow your garden! Now is a great time to plant, and the master gardeners will share their tips for getting your spring garden going. Got a garden question? They'll help you identify that mystery plant or figure out why your herbs aren't flourishing.

Food for thought...

Piedmont Healthcare's 
"Living Better"
Berries are coming into full swing now! Not only are they delicious, but they help keep you healthy! Read more about the health benefits of berries at Piedmont Healthcare's "Living Better" website. Lena Beal, a therapeutic dietitian at Piedmont's Fuqua Heart Center, shares the three biggest benefits of these super-food fruits as well as ways to incorporate them into a balanced diet.

Save the date...

3rd Annual Sunday Supper
Join us on June 14th at 5:30 p.m. for the 3rd Annual PRFM Sunday Supper! Nine Atlanta area chefs will serve up family-style dishes made with farm-fresh, local ingredients sourced from PRFM farmers and vendors. Guests will dine at a table with a farmer and enjoy drinks from Second Self Brewing Company and Brookhaven Wines.

Chefs include Terry Koval of Wrecking Bar, Adam Evans of The Optimist, Nick Leahy of Saltyard, Rusty Bowers of Pine Street Market, Jenn Robbins of Avalon Catering, Thomas McKeown of The Grand Hyatt Buckhead, Sarah O'Brien of Little Tart Bakeshop, Suzi Sheffield of Beautiful Briny Sea, and Adam Waller of Bocado. 

Tickets are $75 each, or you can buy a table of 8 for $550. The fundraising dinner will be held in Child Hall at the Cathedral of St. Philip. Tickets are available now at Brown Paper Tickets.

This event is sponsored by Country Financial and funds raised support Market programs including Wholesome Wave GA food stamp doubling, operating costs, children's programming, and healthy eating initiatives.


- Jennifer Maley

Show and Tell

This week at PRFM…

Chef Demo

with Joey Ward of Gunshow

10:00 a.m. on 5/2

Chef Demos are sponsored by

Piedmont Hospital

This Saturday under the demo tent, one of “Top Chef” Kevin Gillespie’s “hired guns,” Joey Ward, will bring his passion for local foods and farmers. He's the real deal—knowing he wanted to become a chef as a young boy looking up to his grandfather, a Navy cook. Ward worked in some of Atlanta’s favorite spots, from Woodfire Grill to H. Harper Station, before Gillespie recruited him (and his creativity) for Gunshow. He's since been named Jezebel’s “Rising Star Chef” and listed in Zagat’s “30 Under 30" of people redefining the hospitality industry. Oh, and he’s also the two-year consecutive champ of the Kevin Gillespie Super Bowl Dip Off/Snack Attack competition. Get ready to think outside the [produce] box, y’all.

Chef Pop-Up with Nick Leahy

Grab a bite from Saltyard’s Nick Leahy and support the PRFM Meals on Wheels program, where produce is bought from farmers after the market to serve local seniors in need.

Mercer University Health Screenings

Mercer University student pharmacists will be on hand to provide blood pressure screenings and discuss the results with you. They’ll also share lifestyle modifications for patients with hypertension and info about cardiovascular diseases.

- Jennifer Maley

Happy Birthday to Us!

This Saturday you're invited to Peachtree Road Farmers Market's eighth birthday party (don't worry, we'll be nice and dry inside)! Bring the whole family to visit our special guests of honor, farm animals from Fairywood Thicket Farm, and enjoy birthday cake from Sweet Auburn Bakery. After visiting with the animals, you and the kids can keep the celebration going by stopping by the Your Happy Nest tent for creative activities celebrating PRFM's birthday all morning long. And all that partying will work up an appetite, so don't miss this week's Chef Demo at 10 a.m. with Nick Leahy of Saltyard. Party on, y'all!


- Jennifer Maley

Root to Leaf to PRFM!

Chef Demo + Cookbook Signing
Saturday, April 18 at 10 am
Steven Satterfield of Miller Union
Chef demos are sponsored by Piedmont Hospital
The New York Times has called him the "Vegetable shaman," and that's just a small taste of the praise Chef Steven Satterfield has received. In 2010, the James Beard Foundation recognized his restaurant Miller Union as a semifinalist for the national award of best new restaurant. In 2013, 2014, and 2015, he was named a nominee for Best Chef: Southeast by the organization. He is clearly the real deal. And if you'd like to learn how to wield a vegetable like the best of them, you'd better consult the best. Enter Chef Satterfield and his recently debuted cookbook, Root to Leaf: A Southern Chef Cooks Through the Seasons, with easy-to-make dishes for the home cook. Your kitchen will never be the same, y'all. 

The Cathedral Book Store will be selling the book at the Market all morning, so stop by their tent to get your copy and have it signed after this special demo!

News of note...

PRFM Chef of the Year - 2014
Chef Thomas McKeown is our Peachtree Road Farmers Market Chef of the Year for 2014! PRFM wants to recognize the efforts of Chef Thomas over the past year to incorporate farm-to-table menu items at his restaurant and Hyatt Hotels nationwide, his partnership with our local farmers, and his willingness to give back to the Market through our vendor appreciation breakfast, Sunday Supper, Meals on Wheels chef pop-ups, and so much more. He has also held training sessions with farmers and other Grand Hyatt chefs to incorporate local offerings into the menus at Hyatt hotels worldwide. Thank you, Chef Thomas!


- Jennifer Maley

April 11 is Opening Day!

It just doesn't feel like spring has sprung until Peachtree Road Farmers Market opens for the season. Good thing that’s happening. This Saturday. So ready your shopping bags, y’all, cause it’s going to be a great year at the Cathedral of St. Philip. The ninth season will welcome a few new faces: 100% Artisan Foods (fresh tamales and salsas made from our farmers' produce and Georgia farm-raised animals), Boom Biscuits (biscuits and sweet and savory biscuit sandwiches), Oliver Farms (cold-pressed nut and seed oils from locally sourced ingredients and home-milled nut and seed flours), Proof Bakery (artisan breads including baguettes, country sourdough, multigrain rye, and more), White Oak Pastures (goat, lamb, leather goods, and beef tallow soap out of Bluffton, GA), and Yalla (handcrafted sodas made from local fruits, vegetables, and herbs). Check out all of our vendors here and come on by to meet them this Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Opening Day Happenings

At 9:00 a.m., COUNTRY Financial and Peachtree Road Farmers Market will announce the third annual PRFM Reusable Bag Design Contest winner. Atlanta high school students were invited to use their creativity to show what the market and this year's theme, "Live, Love, Be Green," mean to them. We'll unveil this year's design and award the winning student a $1,000 scholarship. Be sure to pick up a free 2015 bag, hot off the presses!

At 10:00 a.m., check out our first Chef Demo of the year, sponsored by Piedmont Hospital. Join frequent market shopper, Chef Thomas McKeown of Grand Hyatt Atlanta under the demo tent. If you've ever walked with Chef McKeown on one of his market tours, you know just how passionate he is about local foods. See how this European born and trained chef creates delicious dishes out of the sustainable ingredients indigenous to the South. Chef McKeown highlights local and organic as the executive chef at Grand Hyatt Atlanta’s Cassis restaurant and oversees all of the hotel’s weddings, social gatherings, and corporate shindigs. He’s also a member of Hyatt’s Sustainable and Responsible eating team—yes, that is a thing, and yes, it is very cool. Don't miss his intro to spring this Saturday! 

Coming next week!
Join us on Saturday, April 18 at 10:00 a.m. for a special Chef Demo and cookbook signing by Chef Steven Satterfield. Root to Leaf is not a vegetarian cookbook, it's a cookbook that celebrates vegetables, and a must-have for your kitchen!  

- Jennifer Maley

Reusable Bag Art Design Contest

Third Annual 

Peachtree Road Farmers Market

Reusable Bag Art Design Contest

Deadline: Friday, March 6 at 4 PM 

 

COUNTRY Financial® and Peachtree Road Farmers Market invite all Atlanta high school students to participate in the third annual Peachtree Road Farmers Market Reusable Bag Design Contest.

The winning design will be revealed April 11, 2015 at opening day of the Market. Three finalists will be invited to the unveiling.

Prizes

The student with the winning design will receive a $1,000 scholarship. His/her design will also be displayed on thousands of reusable canvas bags distributed to shoppers this season at Peachtree Road Farmers Market. Two runners-up will each receive a $500 scholarship. Their designs will be showcased at the kick-off press conference.

Themes

Students' designs should reflect this year's theme: Live, Love, Be Green." Participants are asked to include imagery inspired by the spring/summer season and corresponding regional market goods, such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, etc. We also ask students to illustrate the spirit of the city. All entries must include the phrase "2015 Peachtree Road Farmers Market."

Deadline

All participants must submit their entries by Friday, March 6, 2015, at 4 pm EDT to Peachtree Road Farmers Market office at 2744 Peachtree Rd, Atlanta, GA 30305.

Ask your principal or art teacher for more information or visit www.CountryFarmersMarkets.com for a look at last year's winner.  

Click here for more details and the contest form.

  

Join us Saturday, April 11, 8:30 am-12 pm, for our 2015 Opening Day Market! 

Words of Thanks from Manager Lauren Carey

Hard to believe that our 8th season is ending. At this time of the year, we are so grateful for all the gifts 2014 has brought us. A few words of thanks...

First and foremost, thanks to our amazing shoppers! We've watched your families grow, adding new members (on two legs & four) and sending those we knew as children off to college. You shop with us in all weather and make local food part of your family values. The Market cannot happen without your support. We appreciate being a delicious part of your weekly routine, and we can't wait to see you on opening day, April 11, 2015.

I'm thrilled that we have been able to continue to serve a broader community this year through both our Wholesome Wave Georgia SNAP program and our new partnership with Meals on Wheels. Wholesome Wave allows us to double food stamp benefits at the Market, making fresh local foods more accessible. Our partnership with Meals on Wheels has been the perfect circle of giving. Amazing chefs like Thomas McKeown at The Grand Hyatt Buckhead, Jenn Robbins of Avalon Catering, and Nick Leahy of Saltyard did Chef Popups to raise funds for Meals on Wheels to buy veggies remaining at the end of Market. These purchases provide seniors with additional fresh vegetable servings.

The Market could not happen without the incredible hospitality of The Cathedral of St. Philip. While the Market is self-sustaining, the Cathedral offers a home to us indoors and out during the week and on Saturdays. The values of grace, hospitality and excellence are inherent in all we do. As Dean Sam Candler always says "we don't need a big Sunday coffee hour. We have one each Saturday!"

Our generous sponsor Country Financial has done so much more than provide a donation to the Market. They have become a part of our community through the high school bag contest, support of our Sunday Supper, and as a regular part of our Market. Whole Foods Market Buckhead has supported us for years by supplying staples for the chef demos unavailable at the Market as well as drinks at our information tent.

Huge thanks to all our chef demo chefs, who not only teach us how to cook each week, but support the farmers at their restaurants. I especially want to thank two chefs, who have personally and professionally gone above and beyond for the Market this year: Chef Thomas McKeown of The Grand Hyatt Buckhead and Chef Jenn Robbins of Avalon Catering. They've served at the Sunday Supper, done Chef Popups, served our vendor appreciation breakfast, and most of all bought out the occasional bumper crops from our farmers. Our gratitude to these chefs is measured in grit bowls served and veggies bought.

Your Market is special and unique because of the committed farmers, growers, food creators and artists that come rain or shine each week. All these incredible and talented small business owners fill our plates not just with food but with love. 

 
Appreciation goes to our volunteers that make the market shine. The weekly newsletter, blog, website, chef demo sound/videos and food assistance, tent and table setup, receipt-taking, garbage cleanup, and the friendly information tent services are all compliments of an incredible team that volunteers an estimated 100 hours a week. Bo, Sara, and I are so lucky to serve not just the vendors, but you our shoppers and the local food community!

I hope you count the Market among the things for which you are grateful as well. Please consider PRFM in your year-end giving. Donations can be made securely online through the Cathedral's website at https://stphilipscathedral.securegive.com. You need to create a quick account, select Donations, and then choose Farmers Market.

Eat local,
Your Market Manager
Lauren Carey