All Sorts of Tomatoes!

Tomatoes everywhere this past week! With the drier weather, tomatoes are looking better, bigger and turning ripe. Along with tomatoes the two varieties of Okra we grow are really producing; if you haven't tried the Star of David okra yet, you are missing out on a delicious experience. S.O.D. is a short fat okra, has a thicker wall than the traditional type you see at the Markets, when sliced it gives you a nice medallion when fried with a good okra flavor.

We harvested Sugar Baby Watermelons this past weekend, filled the back of the truck and will sort sizes today to take to the Markets this coming week.

Hard to believe that Schools are starting and summer is almost over, but we will still have several varieties of produce available, the new squash plants are getting ready to bloom, the Parker Half Runner Beans and Ideal Market Stringless Beans almost ready to started picking, limas beans are filling in their pods and pumpkins are turning orange! Field Peas have shoots on them and it will not be long before we have a good mess of peas....peas and cornbread..yumyum. Silver Queen Corn is about a week from harvest! We will have different types of greens later in season toward fall.

When you see us at the Markets, please let us know you read our Blog :)

Lucky Year!

It has been a great farming year, with over 8 inches of rain in the past couple weeks our farm is "growing wild". This much rain can and has damaged some crops but in contrast of being dry as in years past, we'll take the rain.

Visitors to our farm have asked "why the horseshoes on the posts?" Approximately 50 to 100 years ago our farm was part of a larger farm that used mules and horses to work the farm. As they worked the animals would loose shoes from time to time and now 50 to 100 years later we are finding the horseshoes as we work the farm with a 'John Deere Tractor'. Each Spring as we work the field we turn up horseshoes and began collecting them. We display them on post for that growing season. Last year we only found one shoe but this year we've found 7-1/2 shoes. Folklore tells you to turn them upward so our luck doesn't run out! At the end of the growing season they are put with all the others we've collected over the years.

We have been very busy since our last blog. The farm is almost at peak production. Tomatoes are ripening and Silver Queen Corn is about 2 weeks away from harvest. We've seeded more squash, cucumbers, field peas and corn for September and October harvest.

If you'd like to see more pictures of our farm and markets we attend, we are on Facebook.

We've also started a Sizzling Summer and Fall Harvest CSA, runs from July to end of October, more information for it is on our website.

Until next blog, remember to support your local farmers and farmers markets. Buy Fresh, Locally Grown Produce, there is nothing better!

Sizzling Fourth

We had a very busy week leading up to the Fourth of July. Veggie do not take holidays or vacations and we had 'a plenty' to harvest! As you can see in the Fridays' Rutherford County Farmers' Market picture, we had a full table! It was an awesome market, never seen that many folks at the Market before, had several new customers to the market.

Past Tuesday the Tennesse Department of Agriculture did a 'Photo-op' of our Domestic Kitchen and will feature us in their Annual Report about The Domestic Kitchen Rule. Last Thursday we also had our annual inspection and received a 97! Hopefully all the outside distraction are over and we can focus on pickin' and a bakin'.

Should be seeing tomatoes soon on our tables, corn will probably be ready end of July. Planted another acre over the weekend for a September harvest. Okra is beginning to bloom and is not too far away from getting on the table.

Next blog we'll tell you about some of our summer squash varieties and how to prepare them.

If there are any products you are interested in getting and can't make it to the Markets, please email us and place an order, we'll be happy to deliver them or meet you somewhere. There is no reason not to enjoy Locally Grown Farm Fresh Produce and Baked Goods, we can make it happen for you.

Busy at the Markets and Farm

Here we are at the Cannon County Farmers' Market today, June 27. We are selling at 4 Farmers Markets a week along with the Internet Market and keeping up with "the pickin's". All the Markets are going well.

It is still early in the season for tomatoes and corn but rest assured they will be here soon. We picked a handfull of White Currants and Fox Cherrys few days ago and they were so good. Ben sliced a couple Fox Cherrys and made himself a tomato sandwich, you know your craving tomatoes when you start slicing a cherry tomato!

With the pop up rain showers we've had the garden is growing fast and so are the weeds. We've been busy trying to stay ahead of the weed and grass growth and still manage the picking. As you can see in the picture squash has arrived in abundance, from left to right: Lungo Bianco (White Zucchini), Tatume (Catherines favorite), Flying Saucer (Scallop), Yellow Straightneck, Black Zucchini and on the end Golden Zucchini. The Tatume is a zucchini and popular in Texas and extremely tasty, dice with onions, sautee until tender, add fresh corn or frozen and Anaheim Green Chili's and simmer for 10-15 minutes, top with diced tomatoes and cheese, makes a delicious side dish.

Hope to see you at the Markets. Remember pre-orders are welcomed for produce and baked goods.

A 3 Market Week

Well we made it through the week. We had the East Nashville Market on Wednesday and on Friday we had the Opening of the Rutherford County Farmers' Market and today the Opening of our Cannon County Farmers' Market. With the pickin' and a bakin' and a loadin', there wasn't much time for a restin'. After arriving home from market today, we took a very much needed nap.

The Markets were all good this week. We must confess, we've been very apprehensive about the new location of the Rutherford Co. Farmers Market and Friday's opening day really surprised us. Very pleased with the turnout of customers and vendors, several new vendors with a nice array of products. Enjoyed meeting several new people and seeing past customers. Today, we opened the Cannon Co. Farmers Market and had a very good morning, met new people and caught up with previous customers and Ben really enjoyed watching the Rolling Thunder Club ride up to the Square for a Veterans Memorial Program. We was trying to barter produce for a Harley, not a ride, the bike!

This coming week we will be in full swing with all the Markets! Tuesday in Murfreesboro, Wednesday in East Nashville, Friday in Murfreesboro again and complete the week with our Market here in Woodbury.

The rain this past week has sure powered up the garden, all the varieties of summer squash are coming off in an abundance and bush beans are almost ready to start havesting. Fresh garlic will be ready in about 3 weeks, we've been cutting off the scapes and making pesto and stir-fry, we will still have some available at the market this next week. We'll have radishes, kale, cucumbers, onion, and an array of summer squash at the markets along with baked goods.

We accept pre-orders on all our produce and specialty baked items. We know there are people who can't get to the Markets early and this way you will be sure to get an item before it sells out be pre-ordering.

Look forward seeing you at the Markets.

Farmers' Market Season is Open

Welcome to Flying S Farms Blog site. We have been busy getting ready for our Market Season. The early Spring rains set us back a little but things are beginning to grow and we've begun harvesting Summer Squash and several cool season vegetables. You can find a complete listing of what we are growing this season on our website under 'Produce', http://www.bakingfarmer.com/ We are offering CSA's (Community Support Agriculture) this season, information is also available on our website. This is a great way to participate in our Farm and receive a wide variety of produce and some delicious Baked items each week.

We will blog here what will be available for the week and as in the past, pre-order are welcomed by calling or emailing us.

We have already started selling our delicious Baked Goods and few veggies at the East Nashville Farmers' Market located at 210 S 10th Avenue on Wednesday from 3:30pm to 6:30pm. If you get a chance, come see us. Find more information about the market on their website http://www.eastnashvillemarket.com/.

On Friday, June 12th, the Rutherford County Farmers' Market will open. It will be at the new location off of John Rice Boulevard, back behind the Rutherford Co. Extension Offices. Market hours are Tuesday and Friday 6am to 11am. Be sure to come early for the best "pickin's".

The following day, June 13th will be opening day for the Cannon County Farmers' Market. Located on the Square around the Courthouse in Woodbury. Hours are Saturdays, 6am to 10am or until produce runs out. We are excited about our local market this season, with the help of an advertising grant you can find out "What's Pickin at the Market" at http://www.cannonfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/ this is made available through our internet newspaper http://www.cannonwire.com/. The local radio station, WBRY, will also be making available a website for the Cannon County Farmers' Market and we'll post that information as it comes available.

You can also find Flying S Farms on the internet at http://www.stonesriverlocallygrown.net/ This is our second season selling with this group. It is a virtual market where you can choose from a list of items available from several vendors including us, place your order and pickup at one of the pickup sites available. Christiana, Murfreesboro and Nashville are some of the pickup sites. This is new to our area and it is a growing thing across the nation; when you can't make it to a Farmers' Market, you can now by way of the internet.

As you can tell, we are going to be busy this season and really looking forward to providing you with a wide variety of Farm Fresh and Locally Grown Produce and Specialty Baking that will make your mouth water for more!

Look forward seeing everyone this Market Season.

Catherine and Ben Simmons