2008 Kickoff Celebration!
May 10, 8:30am - 2:30pm

It's finally here! On May 10 we will be celebrating the start of the third Tower Grove Farmers' Market season!

We have some great music lined up for the day to kickoff the return of the Harvest Sessions Music Series:

• 9:30 – 10:45 Swing DeVille
• 11:30 – 12:45 PIK’n LIK’n
• 1:30 – 2:30 Bernie and Barbara McDonald

Free Yoga! Please note the new start time this year! The yoga classes will start at 9am instead of 8:30. The first class is Saturday, May 10.

We will be welcoming back our 2007 vendors and introducing a few more, as well. We are expecting around 40 vendors to attend the kickoff, the list includes:

• Companion Baking - bagels, pastries, breads, rolls
• Live Springs Farm - in-season produce including strawberries, asparagus, blackberries, and raspberries
• Centennial Farms - in-season produce, veggie and herb plants, flowers, preserves, honey
• 4 Seasons Baked Goods - from scratch baked goods, cookies, tarts, breads, biscotti, muffins, scones, granola
• Three Rivers Community Farm - in-season produce, including many heirloom varieties
• Prairie Grass Farms - naturally raised lamb, eggs, in-season produce
• Hinkebein Hills Farm - naturally raised beef and pork
• Show Me Fresh Farm - hydroponic gourmet lettuce, specialty greens, cut herbs, home grown vegetables, gourmet doggie biscuits, specialty jams, jellies, and butters
• Our Garden - in-season produce, goat and cow cheeses, plants, jams, pickles, goat soaps and salves, goat meat
• Kimker Hills Farm - in-season produce, including heirloom varieties, eggs, organic grains, flours and mixes, salsas, preserves, pickles, soaps
• Biver Farms - in-season produce including heirloom varieties
• City Seeds Urban Farm - in-season produce grown in mid-town
• New Roots Urban Farm - in-season produce grown in north city
• Kuva Coffe Company - locally roasted fair-trade and organic coffee
• Oh! Crepes - sweet and savory crepes
• Sunflower Savannah - cut flowers, in-season produce, herbs, potted plants, granola, jams, salsas
• Eilerman Brothers Orchards - in-season produce
• Greenwood Farms - all natural chicken, beef, pork, lamb, & raw-milk
• Salume Bedu - handmade salames, sausages
• And All Things Nice - Cookies and candies
• Ozark Forest Mushrooms - locally raised mushrooms, fresh and dried
• Chameleon Arts - handmade natural soaps, skincare, handwoven scarves, hats, placemats, belts, original notecards
• Ten - bags, purses, baby items, furniture, all handmade using re-purposed materials
• Haley's Handmades - handmade greeting cards, postcards, prints, beaded bookmarks
• Morgan's Naked Soaps - handmade artisan herbal organic soaps, soy candles
• Irie Star - candles, soap, lipbalm, massage oil, natural anti-bug spray, perfume oils
• R.Evolution - handcrafted aromatherapeutic products for body, butters, powders, sprays, bath teas, sachets, seeds
• Jazz's Homemade Dog Biscuits - homemade all natural dog biscuits
• Earth Tribe Collective - art prints, wood cut designs, stationery sets, aprons, cloth grocery bags, pottery, purses, clothing, jewelry, herbal products, children's toys, bug boxes, bird houses
• Scarlett Garnet Jewelry Designs - handcrafted jewelry using semi-precious stones, found and vintage materials, handmade beads, and other natural materials
• Peter's Card Shop - handmade cards
• Orient Express - handmade Chinese crafts, shoes, purses
• Stellar Batik - one of a kind handmade batiks using local beeswax
• St Louis Craft Mafia - handmade, locally made jewelry, clothing, baby items, accessories, recycled fabric housewares
• Beqi Clothing/Jane Linders/Houseshoe Mamas/Kelly Hoags Bags- women's and infant clothing, jewelry, accessories, purses, photography, visual art, diaper bags, hand bags, all handmade in St Louis
• Elemental Pet Care - homemade, natural pet treats

Don't miss this first market, it's always a great time. We hope to see you there.

Sauce Magazine Readers Choice Poll

We are encouraging all of our favorite shoppers to take a minute and fill out the 2008 Sauce Food Poll. If we happen to be your favorite farmers' market, we will be very honored! The poll is available here:

http://www.saucemagazine.com/readerschoice.php

Dear Local Food Supporters,

This May we will kick off our third season of the farmers’ market! Our second season was a success on many levels. In 2007 an average of 1,800 people passed through the market each week. Our vendor count almost doubled, the Harvest Sessions music series drew large crowds, over 20 students attended the free yoga class each week, rescued dogs found good homes at our Dog Day event, and hundreds of people learned about sustainability issues at our Green Living series.

In 2008 we will have even more vendors, the music series will be back, as will the free yoga classes, the Green Living series and the Dog Day. There will be new events, as well, including a Green Business Day, a 5K Walk/Run and some fun cooking contests. The market will continue to be a destination for you and your family where you can shop for high quality foods, enjoy top-notch music and wade and play. Don’t forget your dogs are welcome to enjoy the market, too!

There are some important projects we will be starting in 2008:

• The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market Kitchen Incubator
  Using a commercial kitchen space near Tower Grove Park, we plan to sponsor two start-up food businesses this year, giving them free kitchen time to develop their product, consulting with them to develop a business and marketing plan and then, ultimately, we will help them introduce their product at the farmers’ market. We will enable entrepreneurs to realize their dreams while bringing more local foods into the region and creating good jobs in the city.
• Farm to Table Program
  We will coordinate the regular delivery of healthy, farm-fresh food to the school for use in their cafeteria. Working with volunteers, we will prepare the food and educate the students on the importance of making healthy food choices. Parents of the students will receive vouchers for redemption at the farmers’ market on Saturdays.
• EBT Cards (Food Stamps)
  Using our new EBT machine, we will reach out to more area residents and make healthy food a viable option for their budgets. We are working on a promotional campaign to get the word out on this important addition to the market.

Looking forward, we have more projects we will add to our list, and we will continue to reach out to the community to improve the health and well being of all residents. We need your help to do this, and we hope you will consider making a donation to support our work. We are the only farmers’ market in the area that operates independently and we rely on donations and business sponsorships for 100% of our funding.

Though 2007 was a success on almost every level, we fell short of our fundraising goal and the market managers were paid well below the minimum wage level for their hours. We are optimistic about 2008, though, and are confident that the market shoppers will answer our call and help us ensure the market’s continued operation and growth.

In January 2008 the IRS recognized the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market as a federal 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Thus, all donations to the market are tax-deductible on federal & Missouri tax returns, including donations to the market since its inception in 2006.

Please consider giving to the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market. Your gift will support local foods, the local economy, and our rural environment. There are many ways you can do this:

• A financial contribution
• Host a party to raise funds for the market
• If you're a business owner, become a market sponsor
• Encourage your place of work to become a market sponsor
• Organize an event to raise funds for the market

We are looking forward to seeing you in May!

Best Regards,
Patrick Horine & Jenny Ryan, Market Founders