It’s Labor Day Weekend and Florida’s friendliest farmers market will be open on Saturday, September 2, 2017, in historic Fernandina Beach. Open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., you will find about 50 tents of fresh baked goods, seasonal produce, catered specialties and other locally sourced products.

All your weekly favorites will be set up like ice cream sandwiches from Sugar Flour Pastries, and dips and spreads from Simply Savory, Lulu’s at the Thompson House, and smoked salmon dip from Upstream Seafood. In addition, returning semi-monthly exhibitors include chopped olive salad from Jay’s Marketplace, organic snacks and nut butters from Gaia’s Garden, gluten-free baked goods at Something Good, soy candles by Ally at Scents Amelia, Lizzie’s Cheese Straws, and Rose’s An Un-believable Egg Rolls.

With the beginning of a new month, September is a wonderful time to spruce up around your home with fresh plants, blooming flower baskets, and landscape plants. Robert and Ever Blooming Gardens will be bringing hundreds of popular and colorful tropical and landscaping plants that thrive in our NE Florida climate. Lydia, who owns Succulent Designs of Ponte Vedra, displays her unique flower pots with a variety of traditional and hearty succulents; and Ina and Jan (a/k/a The Dutchman), of Seven Trees Nursery, have expanded their exhibit to include two booth spaces that hold a wonderful selection of patio plants, container gardens, and hanging baskets. Plants also make fabulous gifts.

Weekly vendor, Lady Bug Gourmet, is a jam, jelly, pie filling, and preserve vendor and some of Michelle’s most popular flavors include fig jam, strawberry rhubarb pie filling, lemon curd, and Black Forest caramel sauce. For a nice taste bud surprise, be sure to sample her brand-new lavender-lemonade jelly.

Cabbage Creek Farm, located in Nassau County, Florida, rotates their crops seasonally and this week they have their specialty eggplants including the purple globe, a heartier flavored Rosa Bianca Italian heirloom eggplant, and a Japanese variety that is delicious cut lengthwise and then grilled outdoors. The eggplants should continue to be in abundance until our first frost.