WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE — Summer Musings…

1) Passage of time – it’s the second week of August, about three months into the Fayette County Farmers Market season, with a bit more than two more months for the Saturday market. Not quite two months have elapsed since the summer solstice, and just a bit more than a month until the official end of summer. Already the days are noticeably shorter, with noticeably less light in the mornings.

2) The power of summer vegetables –despite the drought, the green beans continue to produce many pounds of beans weekly. This Masai bean, a favorite of my friend Mary Lou Shaw, is prolific, tender and stringless. I have enough for the winter, canned and frozen, with plenty to eat each week fresh. This past week a friend came by and picked her own, and still I’m “rolling” in beans!

3) The power of companion planting – for years I fought Mexican bean beetles, trying hot pepper/garlic spray, always rotating my crops, or just plain giving up on planting beans. Marigolds turned out to be the answer; for multiple years now, I’ve had great beans and few bean beetles. Not a marigold planted here and there with the beans, but a solid row of marigolds beside or between every bean row.

4) The power of experimentation – because I avoid watering the garden routinely, I have in past years heavily mulched my tomato plants as soon as they were transplanted out into the garden. This helped keep the ground moist. But every year septoria leaf spot or other fungal disease took hold of the plants early. Last year, and repeated this year, I did not mulch between the tomatoes and the plants have done better. It stands to reason that the plants, a native of South America, would like dry and hot. We’ve had plenty of both of those this summer, even with many weeks of the typical high humidity. Wishing everyone a happy summer!

Fayette County Public Health will join us this Saturday as our Community Guest. Staff will have games to play, Farmers Market recipe booklets to hand out, and they will also promote the Community Health Assessment survey.

An Ohio Produce Perks representative will be at the info booth this Saturday to help with sign up for the TANF Fruit and Vegetable Voucher Program (Value: $140). Applicants must meet all four eligibility criteria: 1) have minor children in the household or be pregnant; 2) be a US citizen or qualified alien; 3) have income at or below 200% federal poverty level; 4) have not received a fruit and vegetable coupon booklet in the last six months.

The Market is open Saturday morning from 8:30 to noon. It is located in the municipal parking lot on the corner of South Main and East East streets. SNAP EBT food benefit cards and credit/debit cards are accepted. Those using the SNAP EBT card for food purchases receive matching dollar “Produce Perks” tokens ($1 for $1) good only for fruits, vegetables, and food producing plants. So,”buy one, get one” for up to $25 every market day. Five dollar coupons will be available again for Fayette County Farm Bureau members at each Saturday market; these can be spent at both the Wednesday and Saturday markets.

The following list contains the names and products of the vendors that expect to set up this Saturday. Other vendors may participate as well.

Bridge View Gardens (Hunter & Lorelle Rohrer): Fresh produce including slicing and cherry tomatoes, candy onions, zucchini, yellow summer squash, green beans, green bell peppers, hot peppers, potatoes, eggplant and cucumbers. Watermelons.

Cozy Baby Blessings (Nancy Cutter): Baby essentials including hand crocheted blankets and hats, flannel burp cloths, muslin swaddle blankets, beaded and macrame pacifier clips, crinkle squares and other baby teethers. Also crocheted kitchen dish cloths, pot scrubbers, essential oil car diffusers and hand poured wax melts in over 50 scents.

Engeti (Alana Walters & Janet Bick): dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls, cakes, brownies, pies, cookies, and other baked goods.

Edlynns Attic (Robin Dement): Dog biscuits, wax melts, fingerless mitts and baking mixes.

Jim’s Premium Ground Beef (Jim Hobbs): Premium ground beef in assorted packages (patties, bulk tubes).

Julie G’s Cookies (Julie Greenslade): Chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, ginger, sugar, pineapple, macadamia nut, peanut butter, peanut butter jumbos, peanut butter fudge and lemon bars.

PPCF/ The Jam Man (David Persinger): Jams/Jellies/Fruit Butters: New- plum butter, pear butter, peach habanero & no added sugar triple berry. Texas chocolate sheet cakes with or without pecans. Produce: blackberries, greasy beans (shucking beans, a Kentucky heirloom). Jasper Twp raw honey.

PPCF/The Pie Lady and S. Plymouth Raw Honey (Julie & Dennis Mosny): local raw honey and beeswax. Baked goods include assorted fruit pies, cinni minis, Buns bars, banana cake and oatmeal raisin cookies.

Red Maple Goats and Soaps (Cindy Grover): Goat milk soaps as well as soothing bath soaks, foot cream, lotions, and 100% handmade goat milk products.

Teter Farm (Owen and Kate Teter): Fresh and dried cut flowers, cucumbers and tomatoes.

The Casual Gourmet (Jason Gilmore): Assorted baked goods.

Wood Designs by DW (Debbie Welch): One of a kind handcrafted wood items— signs, tables, gnomes, as well as bird feeders (freestanding and hanging) and hanging bird houses. Wooden solar mushrooms and sunflowers. Crocheted items including a variety of stuffed animals, kitchen towels, pot scrubs, pot holders, baby booties, and afghans. Will take custom and special orders.

Your Other Mother’s Kitchen (Don & Sara Creamer): Bread and other baked goods. Sewing crafts.

Katrina Bush is a vendor at the Fayette County Farmers Market.