Shirts, Sprouts, Sun, etc

Sorry about the hiatus - I've been working hard, I swear.

First - we got our Market shirts in last week. AWESOME, because I was running out of cool shirts to wear on Saturday mornings. Smartly designed by Slanky Designs and patiently hand-screened (and ironed, I found out) by those fine folks at VineRipe Tees, these shirts are American Apparel 100% organic natural cotton, screened in non-toxic ink (green for the girls, brown for the boys), and fit like a dream. All this for $13! Here's what they look like, modeled by a young, safety-minded Market patron:

The back says, "Something fresh in every corner" and has a little chick on it. Aw!

Then I worked with a SuperVolunteer (tm)/U of I dietetics student named Jen Hewitt to develop Sprouts at the Market - Market programming geared toward kids. The first session is this Saturday, August 9. There's a little nutrition lesson involved, and a little meet-your-farmer exercise, and a tour of the Market, and some produce sampling at the end. It's a great way to make trying fruits and vegetables fun for the sprouts among us. If you're interested in bringing your 5-12 year-old to the Market to participate, please come to the City tent at either 9 AM or 10:30 AM to catch one of the tours. After each tour, every participating child will receive a sample pack of donated yummies from participating vendors. Come early to make sure you get a spot! If you have any questions, please call 217-384-2319, or email me.

Here's another cool happening at the Market this weekend - the guys at the southeast corner of the Market - Papa George (prepared Greek and other foods), Pasta Alley (handmade pastas and sauces) and Roth Countryside Produce (fresh produce from Morton, IL) have combined forces for their own sample event - George is making food from Roth's produce and Pasta Alley for people to try at the Market. YUM. These guys are at one end of Row Five - living proof that it pays to shop all five rows!

The weather looks splendid, according to those wonderful meteorologists over at WILL-AM. I really, really love them when a) they forecast scrumptious weather and b) they're right about it.

See you at the Market!