Meet me at the market M.K. Moore
SOUTHERN DELIGHTS Mary Katherine Moore is an Alabama State Fair pepper jelly
champion, has butchered a wild hog in
her kitchen and grows
heirloom to-
matoes in her backyard.
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Lucky us! We have a farmer’s market every Saturday in Wetumpka in the parking lot at Trinity Episcopal Church, across the street from McDonald’s. We live in the South, so you know I have to give you landmarks. Our farmer’s market is not huge, but it is growing, and everything is grown or made locally. Really local. Like your neighbors grew it or made it right here in Elmore County. And like visiting with your neighbors, visiting at the farmer’s market is just as satisfying. So I headed out on a recent Saturday to the farmer’s market, hoping to pop in and find a few early tomatoes. I should have known that throwing on an old T-shirt and slapping my hair up in a ponytail was probably not the best idea. It never fails that the minute I skip makeup to run out, I see everyone I know. But the farmer’s market vendors, our neighbors, are so knowledgeable and friendly, it hardly mattered. There was the honey man offering taste and explaining to kids about his bees. There was a young lady who decided to teach herself how to make bread. She explained that soaking the flour in vinegar made the energy in the wheat easier for our bodies to digest. I learned something! I also brought home two loaves of her scrumptious bread. There was a lady who is this year’s Alabama State Fair overall top cooking and baking winner. In addition to some fabulous cucumbers, she had jellies and some of her prizewinning baked goods for sale. We had a nice long chat about what it takes to compete in cooking contests at the fair. I came away with a bag of cheese straws. I bought a bag of new potatoes from a young man helping out at his family’s stand. He shyly counted my
change under the gentle watchful eye of his mother. I ran into a friend’s niece. She transforms old furniture into repurposed beauties using chalk paint. She took the time to explain how it worked and how the last step involves a coating of wax. Our little market goes beyond being a great source of local produce. You’ll find a community. Our community. The Wetumpka Farmer’s Market is open from 7 a.m. until noon every Saturday all summer long. The Millbrook Farmer’s Market sets up on the Village Green from 8 a.m. until noon every Tuesday. The Tallassee Farmer’s Market at Barnett Boulevard and DeBois Avenue opens from 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. every Friday.
ELMORE COUNTY LIVING