If it looks like a cow…

Looks like one. Sounds like one and acts just like one too. But of course, appearances can be deceiving. For these are not your ordinary, average, everyday cattle. These are Beefalo, a specialty of the Crabtree Family Farm in Woodbury Tennessee. Beefalo come from the cross breeding of domestic beef cattle and Bison, the great American buffalo you remember from all the old Western movies and literature. With Beefalo, you get the best of both breeds and with just one taste, you’ll know it! Though Beefalo has all the delicious flavor of premium beef, it’s lower in fat, cholesterol & calories. Plus, the Beefalo born & raised on the Crabtree Farm are fed only grass, hay & natural grains. The Crabtree family does not treat their beefalo with antibiotics or hormones and the meat is USDA inspected and approved. Charles & Nora Crabtree and their family work hard to raise the best in Beefalo, which you can find at the Franklin Farmers’ Market. Along with the Beefalo, you’ll also find heirloom vegetables and farm fresh eggs from the Crabtree’s free-range chickens.

Discover “The Better Red Meat”...Beefalo!

Sowing Seeds of Friendship

Ronda Friend grew up on a family farm with two older brothers & a younger sister. A lot has changed since that time. Ronda, her sister & brothers had no malls to hang out in or cell phones to yack on. There were no computers & video games to play with either. But they did have to deal with something that never changes throughout the years and that is learning how to get along with each other. Those are life lessons that Ronda Friend has never forgotten and as a professional storyteller & children’s author, she now passes those lessons along to kids everyday. Her series of children’s books called “Down On Friendly Acres” teach kids to plant “seeds of a different kind” such as forgiveness, patience, respect, honesty, teamwork and more. Using true-to-life farm tales along with songs, recipes, poems & even hidden sunflowers, the books work to teach kids to develop good character in an amusing stories. The books are published by Sunflower Seeds Press. Each book published by Sunflower Seeds Press represents a seed of character sown in a child’s life. For more information, visit the Down On Friendly Acres website or the Sunflower Seeds Press site.

Plants with Personalities

Sometimes planted as flowers. Frequently used in cooking or to make you feel & look better. Herbs are plants with multiple identities and nobody knows this better than The Herb Farm in Maury County community of Theta. It started as just a hobby but The Herb Farm quickly grew into a business for the Aube family. Dawn, Dave & Tina Aube own the farm, offering customers a wide variety of herbs and herbal products and teaching about the multiple benefits and qualities of fresh herbs. This year, the Herb Farm has grown a bit, adding some perennial flowers into the farm crops. Eventual plans call for turning The Herb Farm into a destination; a place for you to visit in person with friends or family & pick your own fresh bouquets and fresh herb plants. Soon, The Herb Farm will offer classes & workshop and this fall, Dawn’s herbal products, created from the farm goods, will be available at the Market. Look for herbal jellies, dried herb blends, herbal skin, bath products & more. Make sure to talk with Tina at The Herb Farm booth and find out how to plant your own herb garden or learn about new and different ways to use a variety of herbs in your cooking!

For That Romantic Dinner...

The lights are low and a wonderful meal is ready to serve. You light the beautiful handcrafted candles upon the dining room table and softly, their fresh scent wafts across the room. Ah…that wonderful aroma. The candles smell just like…..Tomatoes?? It’s true! Because when it comes to scented candles, Lorrell Holtz-Oxley of A Little Splurge has no lack of imagination. For 10 years, Lorrell has crafted beautifully colored and richly scented handmade candles and this weekend, she’s adding two more to her Market booth…Heirloom Tomato Garden & Tomato Leaf scented candles! Learning her craft as a member of the International Guild of Candle Artisans, Lorrell’s skills are definitely appreciated by market customers. Her infamous Cranberry Orange candles are so popular, that she’s joked about changing the name of her company to the Cranberry Orange Company! Lorrell’s candles, along with soaps, sachets & other indulgences are handmade. Her sweet-smelling cold process soaps are made from all natural ingredients and Lorrell’s lavender chamomile eye pillows are just the thing for when you have a headache or just want to relax. Lorrell's A Little Splurge booth are usually at the market every other week. To check on her schedule or the availability of different products, you can email Lorrell at info@alittlesplurge.com .

Fresh Pickin of Another Kind

Each week at the Franklin Farmers’ Market, you’ll find the farmers are not the only ones with fresh pickins’. Every Saturday, the unmistakable notes of bluegrass music drift through out the market shed, as the Franklin Square Pickers entertain. Together for 9 years, the band is a familiar and welcomed at the market. There’s Russell Jackson on guitar and Lizzy Jackson on bass & vocal. Gerald Pollock also strums the guitar and sings, while Tracy Hackney plays the mandolin & sings. Loran Conklin does the fiddlin’, while Red Marbut picks the banjo and sings along. And quite often, guest players drop in to play along with the band. From market regulars, to the youngest toe-tapper, all will tell you that the market would not be the same without the Franklin Square Pickers! For information on booking, call 615-646-6102.

Remember, when you buy Tennessee-grown fresh produce or fruit, you are helping Middle Tennessee family farms stay productive. And farmland that is productive is less likely to disappear into a development project or urban growth. The Franklin Farmers' Market was created to help local farmers. The market believes that farming can remain profitable for family farms with responsible farming practices and the careful planning and management of urban growth. The non-profit Franklin Farmers' Market organization gives farmers a reliable venue to sell what they grow. At the market, you'll find wide variety of fresh, locally grown seasonal fruits, vegetables, flowers and goods.

Real Farmers. Real Food. Real Good.