Market Ready!!!

I love the mini angel food cakes!

Getting ready for this week's Old Homestead Farm Market takes a little bit of this, and a little of that, and VOILA! Magic in the kitchen. No, it's not that simple. I make some weird mistakes sometimes. I should collect my bloopers for a video display!

Besides the angel food cakes, apple pies, cinnamon rolls, chocolate walnut fudge you see here, I also cooked up an assortment of breads, jellies, and cookies! You'd think I'm really into sweets, but not so much. I do love the magic of the ingredients though!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Chris spent a full day of planting potatoes. Onions and garlic are already planted, and the cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower plants are just about ready to go into the ground. The tomato plants are still tiny but strong. Before long, we'll have well-chosen garden plants including some great heirlooms to offer at a savings for the locals. Within a month, we'll have some produce to add to the market.

We're certainly working up an appetite!

And isn't there always room for movie theater popcorn? There's magic in that, too! I love watching it pop, and all this smells SO DELICIOUS!!!



Old Homestead Farm Market
     Saturdays 12 to 6


                    2189 Blain Highway
                    Waverly OH 45690

A Week of Getting Ready for Farm Market

Someone recently said, "It must smell great at your house!" 

Oh, I wish I could just show you! Thanks, dr momi! (You can catch her blog, Homesteading at Redtail Ridge, for more interesting accounts of adventures in homesteading. Check out my sidebar for a quick look.)

The aromas of cinnamon, freshly baked bread and spices fill the air all day on Fridays at our house since we started this little adventure called a farm market. I save Friday for the bread-making and baking so that the items I offer on Saturday are as fresh and tasty as possible.

On Mondays I plan the offerings and make sure I have all necessary ingredients. Then I spread out my work for the week. For example, I plan jams and jellies for mid-week.

Next market day is Saturday, March 17 *St. Patrick's Day*, so I'll be offering a few special treats: "Irish Pub Pickled Eggs", Irish soda bread (Thanks for that suggestion, Jenny!), and some green popcorn balls. In addition to fresh unbleached white bread, whole wheat bread, and cinnamon rolls and/or cinnamon bread, we'll also have banana nut bread, angel food cake, apple and blueberry pies, and strawberry jam.

Before long, we'll have seasonal vegetables, fruits and some flowers. Later Chris has plans for expanding with gardening and farming supplies, and eventually Christmas trees, but we're taking baby steps for now.

Our farm market is open every Saturday. We are located at 2589 Blain Highway, Waverly OH 45601. "LIKE us" (Old Homestead Farm Market) on Facebook for all the latest photos and comments. When you come out to our farm, watch for a vintage Airstream camper and a flying cow.

Yes, the aroma is wonderful at our house on Fridays! Even better, it's followed on Saturday by a fun and relaxed atmosphere at our farm market where we share samples of fresh and delicious foods and enjoy the company of great folks! Come and join the good times and the conversations if you're in the area!


We're inventing our own little farm market, as opposed to a farmers' market, so if you have some ideas to pass onto us, we would love to hear them! Ours is a very small operation of homesteading and producing cottage foods. Chris and I provide fresh home-grown produce and freshly baked goods made with only the best ingredients we can find, something that's good for us and for the community. We work hard so that others will benefit, and a share of what we produce goes to charitable causes. Why do we do it? Because we can? It's not easy but fun and real!

First Day at Old Homestead Farm Market

Three days before we opened we knew we had a problem. Chris somehow had twisted his back. OUCH! The pain was not going away, so would-be tasks went unattended. Things that didn't get done: (1) the topsoil that someone wanted didn't get hauled away; (2) the firewood did not get split and stacked; and (3) the great big 12-foot-high wooden sign that is barely more than a drawing on paper did not get made. Instead, Chris got resourceful. He took permanent markers, an old shower curtain, a piece of used plywood, and fence posts to fabricate a quick sign. This will be just fine for awhile. We're jumping the season anyway! As a landmark, I told people to just watch for a flying cow in front of a barn. Kids seemed to love that idea. When the wind gusted just so, it looked like the cow was on the barn.

Roosti guards the flock.

Kids also loved going out to see the ducks and the chickens. Roosti-roo crowed incessantly! I guess he was a little excited, but he didn't try to get mean so he hasn't ended up in the pot yet!

Friends Tracy and Caitlyn came just in time to get the last of the bread.

I am so grateful to Pam Pauley for making this sign!

Sales were amazing! We sold out of most things fast but, oddly, after so many people had told me in informal polling that they thought no-bake cookies were a MUST, no-bakes that day didn't sell well. Still, I was incredibly pleased with what did sell! Bread sold out in less than 2 hours! Eggs sold well. The jellies and jams sold well. The pepper jelly was a hot item and has to be replenished. Brownies and chocolate chip/walnut cookies went fast. Cakes, I didn't make. I wanted to but ran out of time because of making ALL THOSE NO-BAKE COOKIES!

Here's the story on the ONE cake. I made a huge angel food cake. 14 medium sized egg whites! I didn't have packaging for such a large cake, but it looked so GOO-O-OD that I didn't want to part with it anyway. On the other hand, eating it all was out of the question. So Chris thought, let's give out samples and see if people like it. Great idea! They loved it!!! So I will be making angel food cakes in the future, smaller than that one, with proper packaging.

Our first day was windy, too windy for the awning, and cold. But  no tornado!!!

My son Josh wants a lifetime supply of the pepper jelly.  He says he's gotta have it!

The farm market's first day was like a party atmosphere! Several people took the farm tour, and I think we all had a ball! Chris and I deeply appreciate the friends, family and newcomers who came out to it, some from Cincinnati, Gallipolis, and north of Columbus. We had a drawing for a free item. Danita Milliron won that!!! YAY for Danita!

What I learned:  (1) It's easy to run out of breads and (2) Preparing for this was hard work but fun, but not as much fun as actually seeing all the people enjoying their outing!!!

I will be making more artisan and gluten free bakery items in the future as well as some different novelty items that we will announce each week on our FB page. For example, St. Patrick's Day just begs green popcorn balls, don't ya think? And we're doing this every Saturday through September, so there will be different items as the seasons change. We'll have fresh veggies on the table as soon as the crops come on!

Even with Chris being out of commission on our first day of the farm market, he set up the camper and table, came out and visited, showed children and adults around the farm, and saw that everyone had a great time! For that I am so very grateful and ever amazed! I want to thank Pam for the egg sign. Thank you, thank you, Pam! And thanks to the elusive but lovely Jessi for putting the Facebook page together and clean-up! And of course, a big big THANK YOU to all the people who came and liked the food I have to offer!  Thanks! I had a wonderful first day!!!  It was like, like, like...
 a PARTY!!!Follow us (click LIKE on Facebook at Old Homestead Farm Market) for more photos, a video, and upcoming offerings. We'll have a drawing each week.