Strawberry Festival to be Held at UA Farmers Market

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Homegrown Alabama, The University of Alabama student-led farmers market, will host its first Strawberry Festival Thursday, May 3, from 3-6 p.m.

A chef will be on hand to demonstrate the preparation of various strawberry dishes and recipe cards will be provided.

The farmers market is held Thursdays from 3-6 p.m., April through October, on the lawn of Canterbury Episcopal Chapel on the UA campus.

In addition to the children’s crafts offered at each weekly Homegrown Alabama market, the Strawberry Festival will provide children with a strawberry-themed, take-home craft as well as face painting, free of charge.

A limited number of posters designed and letter-pressed by Alabama Art Kitchen members will be available for sale at the market’s Homegrown Alabama information tent.

Some 25 vendors attend the market weekly throughout the season to sell fruits, vegetables, baked goods, beef, pork, cut flowers, coffee and tea, eggs, homemade herbal teas, arts and crafts, soap and canned goods.

In the 2012 market season, there will be designated parking available for all market customers, craft vendors present every third Thursday and locally-grown, all-natural, grass-fed pork available for purchase.

Homegrown Alabama accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, formerly known as Food Stamps. They match $10 spent using SNAP with an additional $5 in tokens as part of an ongoing incentive program. On specific market dates, Homegrown will match up to $25 for customers using SNAP/EBT at the market.

For more information on the SNAP/EBT incentive program, including how to donate, please call 205/210-9621 or visit www.homegrownalabama.org/support.

Vendors at this year’s market include:

Produce Vendors

Snow’s Bend Farm

Burnett Farms

Miss Emily’s Tomatoes

B & S Farms

Druid City Garden Project

Mockingbird Farm

Todd’s Produce

La-Ren’s Farm

AA Farm Creamery

Miss Bee-Havin

Beef and Pork

Oak Hill Angus

Berkshire Pork

Miscellaneous

Cheeky Maiden Soap Company

Johnson Greenhouses

Webb Farm

The Urban Herbwife

Redbud Botanicals

Sunny Seedlings

Prepared Foods

Snap Decisions

Chloe’s Cup

Lagniappe Bread