After celebrating the 4th of July holiday it is time to get back to healthy eating by enjoying the natural and home-produced delicacies of the Fernandina Beach Market Place farmers market. Open every Saturday of the year, July 7th brings some summer specialties to the market. In addition to squash, tomatoes, onions, cabbage and potatoes, some of farmers grow non-edibles through the hottest months of the year. Cabbage Creek Farms, located in Nassau County, Florida, is bringing beautiful bouquets of fresh cut flowers. Choose from a variety of sunflower species as well as mixed bouquets of marigolds, zinnias, celosia and ageratum.
Joy’s Gourmet Garlic is bringing 100% natural garlic spreads with over 20 cloves of fresh garlic in each jar. These are gluten-free, low sodium, low carb, and have no transfat. Flavors are original, sun-dried tomato, olive tapenade, and chipotle. Good Dough, our new full-sized donut vendor rotates their menu each month, and on July 7th you can expect several new flavors.
Laura Lannen has moved from selling handbags at the arts market, to joining us weekly in the farmers market with her Bite Sized Confections. Chocolate bites, wedding cookies, lemon dainties and more are available and oh, so good! What better to wash it down than with a fresh sqeezed, 32 ounce blueberry, strawberry, or a traditional lemonade from the Lee family’s booth, Lemon Sensations.
Music this week is provided by Michele “Shell” Anders. Shell started singing and playing bass in cover bands while in college and when her family moved to Florida, Shell wasn’t far behind. You may have heard her raspy voice rocking the airwaves as Michele Michaels on Jacksonville’s Rock 105 and 96.9 The Eagle radio stations. Michelle found time to get back into music and as fate would have it, she met guitarist Dan Voll and a musical partnership was born. Dan and Shell played and sang together for over six years and put out a beach themed CD entitled, “Kiss Me Salty” in the fall of 2016. Since the tragic passing of Dan in January, Shell has picked up the guitar and is starting to play again. This is her first return to the farmers market since Dan’s passing. Be sure to stop by, say, “Hello,” and make her feel welcomed.
We are introducing our “Talented Youth” series and this Saturday we are welcoming Penny Carr. Penny is a young artist who will be inking out sketch drawings during the farmers market to share her talent with our community. Our artists and musicians work only for tips, so if you enjoy them, please let them know.
The Market Place farmers market is open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., rain or shine. Located on North Seventh Street between Alachua and Centre Streets, public parking can be found on side streets or at the public library on 4th Street. There are two additional public lots on North Second Streets. We invite you to join us in fabulous, historic Fernandina Beach where you can stroll through our outdoor market, then visit the shops, galleries, and restraunts found on Amelia Island.
