09/17/18 - At the Market Tonight

I'd like to start by thanking all of our amazing and supportive shoppers who braved a classic Florida thunderstorm last week while attending the market.  We always have a hard time with the summer, but we stick it out for our small businesses and our shoppers - so thank you for making it worthwhile!  

Tonight we are welcoming some new vendors to the market family.  You may have seen Oxx Beekeeping there last week, but we didn't get a chance to introduce this awesome business.  They are committed to preserving the bee population through pesticide-free hive management.  They use the raw honey their bees produce to make healthy skin and self-care products.  

You'll also see new faces on the baked goods front.  Cay Cakes Bakery is joining the market with vegan cupcakes and other desserts.  They also cater to food allergies, so it's nice to have even more options for every diet.  And last but certainly not least, The Butchershop Baker is starting at the market tonight.  Chef Lydia makes amazing bread the old-fashioned way, including sourdoughs, baguettes, and other baked goods.  I, for one, cannot wait to stock up!

All that, and you get to shop from our other amazing vendors, all in one neighborhood.

Cheers,

Gabby Lothrop 
Market Director

Here's our vendor lineup for tonight:

Aller-Friendly Eats *NEW
Handcrafted allergen-conscious foods made without wheat, gluten, or soy.  Vegan and nut-free options available.  

Avenue A Eatery 
Handmade, Colombian Vegan Eats. (Website/Instagram)

Butchershop Baker *NEW
Hand crafted, small batch, artisan breads and treats. (Facebook)

Caycakes Bakery *NEW
Specializing in vegan cupcakes and desserts. They also offer regular, gluten free, dye free and other dietary options. (Website/Facebook)

Crispy Farms
A family farm offering organically grown non-gmo plants, seeds, and fruiting plants. All heirloom varieties selected and grown with the Central Florida climate in mind. (Website/Facebook)

Enamored with Nature
Wholesome Body Care and Wellness Support. Handmade small batch well sourced non-toxic and effective products.  (Facebook/Instagram)

Farm Fresh Raw Foods
Specializing in Florida-grown fruits and nuts, primarily from Certified Organic Health & Happiness Farm

Fleet Farming 
A hyper-local, bike-powered urban farming program + A small-scale distributed agriculture system. (Facebook/Instagram)

Gaia Granola 
Gourmet granola in various flavors, made with all-organic, high quality, unrefined ingredients for the best nutrition and taste. Packaged minimally for on-the-go, travel-sized snacking. (Facebook/Instagram)

Heart of Christmas Farm
Hydroponic veggies, raw milk and raw milk cheeses, local honey, and more. (Facebook)

Heart Song Naturals
Handmade soaps, body care products, and candles boasting natural ingredients and wonderful fragrances.(Facebook/Instagram)

JJ Juice
Locally- and Freshly-made aloe vitality drink, aloe plants, and more.  (Website/Instagram)

Noo Cow 
Dairy-free ice cream and other vegan-friendly goods, including Jamaican patties.

Orlando City Kombucha 
Locally-brewed, high quality kombucha available by the glass and in refillable bottles & growlers. (Website/Facebook/Instagram)

Oxx Beekeeping *NEW
Honey-touched skincare and self-care products, raw honey, and hive management. (Website/Facebook)

Peanut Butter Palace
A sustainable cooperative in East Orlando sharing its permaculture bounty. (Website/Facebook)

Second Breakfast 
Gltuen free foods, local rare fruit, smoothies, baked goods, brunch, sandwiches, salads, snacks (Facebook)

Semilla Nativa 
Artisan producers of pesto, muffins, pancake mixes, and other products; focused on natural ingredients, vegan- and gluten-free options.  (Facebook)

Swell Milk Company
Organic, handcrafted almond milk and more. (Facebook)

Standard Pickles 
Raw, vegan, kosher pickles made without heat, using an old Czech family recipe. (Website/Facebook/Instagram)

Tamale Co. 
Handmade, gluten-free tamales made with fresh ingredients, along with signature salsas & sauces. Available fresh-frozen to take home. (Website/Facebook/Instagram)

Wild Ocean Seafood
Wild-caught seafood, fresh from Florida's waters. Pre-orders only; check in with their booth to get in the loop. (Facebook/Instagram)

Happy Goats at Slow Turtle Farm

 
Earlier this month, Assistant Market Manager Ivy and I paid a visit to Slow Turtle Farm in Eustis.  Farmer Carol Peters and her husband own this little slice of paradise just a short drive from downtown Orlando, where they raise and breed a variety of dairy goats, Gulf Coast Native Sheep, chickens, ducks, and the occasional hog.  Carol loves her livestock, and they love her too.  During our visit, the goats followed her around the property, looking for treats, pats on the head, and ear scratches.  Carol raises Saanen, Nubian, and La Mancha Goats, all carefully selected and bred for the best quality milk production.  As her breeding program has grown, so have the prizes at agricultural shows.  This helps her sell extra bucks and does for top dollar, contributing to the farm’s business model. On our visit, we learned a lot about the work involved with raising and breeding goats, from pasture management to daily milking, hoof-trimming to birthing. As we walked through the pasture, Carol identified each goat by name, and could tell us his or her entire family tree.

Carol and her husband are hard at work to build out the facilities to make their farm a USDA Grade A dairy, where they’ll be able to produce a variety of fresh and aged goat milk cheeses for sale to consumers, retailers and restaurants.  This sort of achievement requires a major investment of time and money, especially for a small farmer, but Slow Turtle Farm is in it for the long haul.  For now, they are perfecting their recipes and developing a following, so that their signature products will be ready for success.  Carol currently produces a variety of raw milk cheeses,* including fresh and flavored chevres*, fetas*, and her signature Purple Turtle; a bloomy cheese aged in an ash rind.  These, along with fresh goat milk* and kefir* are available for direct sales at the market each week.  In addition to making cheese, Carol often spins yarn made from her own sheep’s wool, makes farmstead products such as preserves

This time of year, you’re likely to meet one of Carol’s future employees at her market booth.  With kidding season well under way, the Slow Turtle Booth at the market usually includes one of the newest baby goats.  These goats are raised to work with and be around people, so visits are encouraged!

You can follow Slow Turtle Farm on Facebook for the latest news, and stop by the market to meet the farmer in person!

*As required by the Federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and Florida Statute 502.091, which forbid the sale of unpasturized milk products for human consumption, this farm’s products are labeled: “Not for Human Consumption” and sold as “Feed for Animals.” 

Fleet Farming Featured on NPR

The Audubon Park Community Market is very much a neighborhood event, and we’re really proud to be a part of a vibrant community food hub.  This neighborhood is a hot spot for locally-grown food, inventive culinary destinations, exciting new foodpreneurs and more.  Fleet Farming is definitely one of the highlights, and their concept is gaining national attention and accolades.  We love that we get hyper-local veggies whenever they’re in season, and it’s especially great to know that they were grown in partnership with our wonderful neighbors.
Here’s a link to the article and newscast, which were featured on All Things Considered.

And here’s a neat video profile that features some scenes of our lovely little market!

Fleet Farming is fairly regular vendor at the market, offering up their freshest goods whenever they’re in season.

Raw, Pastoral Bliss on Keely’s Dairy Farm

By Jimmy Sherfey

When we think about a dairy cow, we might picture the classic black and white Holstein as well as what they promise to bring – a cool glass of milk, maybe at a sun-washed breakfast nook. However, we don’t always think of the distance between these two images. For instance: the cow’s habitat, quality of life, diet, and its general drain on time and resources. All of these can vary from breed to breed, farm to farm. In the case of the famous Holsteins, it can take quite a lot of imported, processed feed to produce a gallon. By contrast, the Jersey Cows at Keely Exum’s Dairy Farm in New Smyrna Beach do not require the endless amounts grain forked into the maw of a typical heavy breed. In fact, the cows at Keely’s don’t eat grain, feeding primarily on the grass growing in the farm’s ample pasture with a just a little help from non-gmo Alfalfa (a forage crop beneficial to livestock for millennia). Add to this grazing philosophy, the freedom for cows to grow naturally, free of hormones and antibiotics, and you’ve got pure happy, healthy dairy.

“On unlimited pasture they choose what they want,” Keely says holding her infant son Arthur. Her farm offers one hundred acres of grassland to seventy head of cattle and the general public is welcome to witness the milk being drawn from udders every evening from 5-7pm, as they pump out around 60 gallons of raw dairy a day.

While in attendance visitors won’t have to look hard to spot happy livestock elsewhere on Keely’s idyllic property. A team of charcoal-colored Berkshire hogs, when not wallowing in the nearby spring, can be found at the fence of their 20 acre pig pen waiting for the day’s ration of dairy. This rare heritage breed of pig yields a well-marbled pork with chops bearing a close resemblance to steak.

Adding to the farm’s riches, and more or less there for good company, are chickens, ducks, alpaca, and horses all enjoying their own section of the farm.

The farm doesn’t stop at raw, grass-fed milk*. Keely also makes fresh cream*, yogurt* (greek, icelandic, and drinkable), cottage cheese*, kefir*, buttermilk* and even milk-based soap.

In addition to being able to live on the grass based diet that the farm provides, Jersey cows also produce superior milk. Jersey cows produce a more digestible milk protein (a2) than other breeds and richer, creamier milk with a higher fat content than Holsteins. Fresh, raw milk has a rich cream layer on top, an attractive attribute given the preponderance of thin homogenized, pasteurized milk.

Though she may be a little biased, you’ll never be able to accuse her of not caring about the farm and the animals that populate it. Exum treats her cows more like trusted employees, rather than expendable resources to be sapped. While large scale farms obsessed with the bottom line might turn less-productive cows into ground beef, each of Keely’s enjoy the range life long after prime output, free to raise their calves.

“How can you eat them when they’ve given you everything?” Exum says.

Keely Farms Dairy delivers to homes and businesses in Brevard, Volusia, and Seminole Counties as well as the greater Orlando area, free of charge.

In addition to raw dairy products, you can order $20 farm boxes overflowing with delicious assorted veggies from their neighbors at Tomazin farms. Order online here: http://www.keelyfarmsdairy.com/order-here.html

*As required by the Federal Pasteurized Milk Ordinance and Florida Statute 502.091, which forbid the sale of unpasturized milk products for human consumption, this farm’s products are labeled: “Not for Human Consumption” and sold as “Feed for Calves.“ 

Authentic Empanadas Brings A-Game Every Time

Last week we gave props to Nicole O. for being a superstar customer showing up in spite of the heavy winds, lightning, and downpour. This week, we’ll look at a vendor that set up shop amidst the torrential downpour with zero gripes given. All summer, Maury & Tanya, have been showing up week in, week out – rain or shine – quietly making some of the most delectable empanadas we’ve had. Branding is no-nonsense and neither is the food. The savory, deep flavor of the rice and beans matched with the cooked-to-perfection, crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside empanadas make for some clean plates. We caught up with the Authentic Empanadas crew on their drive to tonight’s market to get a little backstory on the magic behind their recipes, their business and their stellar attitudes, all of which make them such market troopers on the weekly.

Where do you and Maury hail from, how did you two meet?

Maury hails from the deep south, a small town called Hallsboro, NC, and I am from New Jersey. We both met in the heart of Manhattan, New York City. We met at work, while working for a large international marketing firm. That’s where the magic between us began.

When did you guys first get into the empanada business, and where do the recipes come from?

The empanada business began for us around 3 years ago. We have been making them for about 16 years. The education and love for making them stemmed from a family member from Venezuela that moved in with us for 10 years and taught us to cook every Latin dish you can imagine!  Empanadas was her specialty! We made lots of empanadas every day for the Latin community, for many many years. The recipe was handed to us under lock & key and is only known by 3 people. This recipe is from a woman who is half Puerto Rican and half Venezuelan, originally from Caracas, Venezuela.

You drive to a lot of different markets. What do you normally do on the ride over? What’s your go-to driving music?

Business plans, we have a 2 1/2 hour drive to the market, so it makes for some good quality husband and wife time. We talk a lot, mainly about different business strategies and new marketing plans. We coast along the highway listening to smooth jazz and old school R&B.

Your hot sauce recipe is pretty much bangin. Could you give us some backstory on it?

One of my Puerto Rican friends asked if we had a Guava and beef empanada. I told her no, but that got me thinking. I wanted to develop a sauce with guava and the recipe just came to me. We have been very blessed with how well our sauce is received within the community and the local markets. Our sauce is called GUA.P.O  y caliente.  The name of our sauce is an acronym for “Guava,  Peach, Orange juice, and habanero pepper. Our sauce is all natural, and gluten free. We are currently selling our sauce at local markets, festivals and online.

What do you like Audubon Park and the Monday night market?

It has a cool, eclectic vibe. It is a small but mighty market that people genuinely love to visit! The market management is very laid back and treats its vendors as partners and that really appeals to us. We love how the community really supports the market, and that’s really awesome. We so enjoy being able to see some of the same faces week after week. We have developed a very strong customer base there, and for that we are very grateful.

Thanks, Tanya & Maury, We’ll take one of everything!

How Market All-Star Nicole Weathered The Storm

 
A lot of folks thought setting up Farmers’ Market with the remnants of a hurricane just over the horizon was foolhardy. Even more folks decided to stay in last Monday when the storm surges brought an inordinate amount of rain to Central Florida. As you may have noticed, Audubon is a rain or shine kind of market, so major props to the vendors that show up despite the conditions. Even greater praise to the local food warriors, who brave the elements to get their groceries week in, week out.

Last Monday, well into the second hour of punching fast growing water pockets from tent tops, we were only a little surprised to see regular market customer, Nicole show up with her tote bag and perpetual smile. It reminded us why we put on the market , even in the face of impending tent destruction, so this week we decided to ask Nicole what brings her out to the market every week, hell or highwater.

Asking this in the nicest way possible: What were you thinking coming to the market last Monday?

I don’t usually check the weather forecasts [Our kind of gal!] so I had no idea of the imminent torrential downpour. When I left for the market it was just sprinkling, but there was no turning back since I must keep my little kefir grains alive. Richard [Heart of Christmas] is always there, rain or shine, and has some awesome raw dairy, cheese, and eggs! [For the uninitiated, kefir grains are used to make a fermented milk full of beneficial bacteria and yeast, providing a lot of good probiotics similar to kombucha.]

Was the trip worth it? It must have been a treacherous pass.

I’m always pleasantly surprised. My kefir grains aren’t the only ones that have to eat so it wouldn’t be too big of stretch to say going to the market is a matter of life and death [chuckles]...I do most of my grocery shopping at the market and Fresh 24.

What are your favorite items to pick up each week?

I love Enamored With Nature by Amanda Dumas, especially her fire cider, homemade vanilla extract, natural toothpaste, and deodorant…Love Lori’s local honey from St. Johns River Honey and of course Andrei’s coconuts at Natural Goodness. Michelle from Orenda Herbals is a relatively new, lovely face, and Dan always has amazing produce, but I haven’t seen him in a while.

Tonight, Labor Day! Come see what Nicole sees in our little collection of local food producers and artisanal makers. Market takes place from 6-10pm. We can all but assure you that it won’t be as wet as last week ;)

Ice Cream Sandwiches Made From Scratch

 

Our discovery of Midnight Sun Ice Cream Truck has us flying pretty high, above all the steamy temps and in the cool clouds of hand-made, quality treats. They are at the market tonight with Vanilla Bean ice cream in between double chocolate chip cookies, Rose pistachio ice cream with WA cherries on cardamom shortbread cookies, Lavender lemonade ice cream on shortbread cookies. The list goes on, and yes, it’s all just as breathtaking.

Here’s what you should know about Midnight Sun: 

They Do it Right: All of their ingredients are handmade with the exclusion of the flour (because they’re not trying to mill all day. They’ve quite a bit on their plate as it is).

They do use organic flour, local eggs and seasonal ingredients – currently they’re working with Heart of Christmas Organic Blueberries the results of which you will see tonight!

Crazy Fraiche: All baked goods are done just hours before service, ice cream is scooped and sandwiched to order.

Science Says: Their Monday Sundae is exclusive to the Audubon Park Farmers’ Market and intrinsically superior to a sundae consumed on a Sunday.

Running Down a Dream: Owners Levi & Jocelyn met in Gainesville, moved to San Diego working as the chef and manager of a Restaurant. Levi is a seasoned Chef/Pastry Chef from Alaska. Jocelyn’s a local gal hailing from Melbourne.

The Brand: It’s a reference to Levi’s birth state of Alaska which is known as the Land of the Midnight Sun (Days can be both exceptionally long and short over there, depending on the time of year). Alaska also boasts the highest per capita Ice Cream consumption in the U.S., who knew? The anvil on their logo represents the old-fashioned way of doing things. Given their efforts to make all-ingredients by hand from praline to vanilla extract to butterscotch to marshmallows and fudge, I think we can safely call them “iced-cream-smiths.”

In Their Own Words: “Ice cream has always been a
big part of our lives, both professionally and personally,” says Jocelyn.

“We are really proud of Orlando’s push for locally owned businesses and locally-produced food in particular…The Audubon Park Market is the
perfect representation of the great products and services produced locally and
it has been a favorite of ours for a while now. It feels great to be a part of it,
to be contributing to it.”

Don’t miss out on the Monday Night Magic in front of Stardust from 6-10pm!

Bamapana Vintage: Quality Threads Stand the Test of Time

 
Pickles and Blazers. That’s about it when it comes to old items for sale at Audubon Market. Everything else is as fresh as you can find – usually harvested days prior and/or made the day of. But hey –  don’t sweep those pickles and blazers beneath the rug. Just because they weren’t put to full use in their heyday, doesn’t mean they can’t be born anew under the watch of a careful, discerning eye.

Pickles, after all, are just vintage vegetables you bring to potlucks to one-up your friend who simply brought a cucumber salad with fresh tomatoes, salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar – okay that sounds rad, too.

At any rate, the folks at Ozark Dreams have you covered in the pickle department – delicious local produce brined and aged to sweet, spicy perfection.

That’s taken care of – Now, who is curating the coolest old-school threads?

Peter Von Taborsky brings us Bamapana Vintage…

Where did the name come from?

It’s an Australian Demi-God of mischief. He was kicked out of his tribe for doing a bunch of horrible things, but he would just sneak back into the camp, wreak havoc and blame it on everyone else. In retrospect I probably should’ve thought of something else. But it was my email address since the 90’s so I just decided to keep it.

How did you get into clothing resale?

As far as selling. I had sold clothes since the 90’s, I would sell band T-shirts, stuff like that. It was a fun way to supplement income and then it kind of fell to the side. A couple years ago, my wife told me I need to get rid of some of the stuff. It was all super cool stuff. I started putting it up online, making semi-decent money. At the time I had a cleaning business that was starting to go south, because of the economy. So in the last year, I made more money with Bamapana than I ever did with my cleaning business. It’s something I love to do, even though I’m not getting rich.

What does wearing vintage clothing do for one’s confidence?

If you’re getting married tomorrow and you said you needed a suit. I would say go vintage. It’s close to fitting, and it doesn’t look like you bought it at the mall. You can bring it to a tailor and it’s going to fit you like a glove. You’re going to be bulletproof.

What has been your proudest moment as owner of Bamapana Vintage?

I picked up this suit that was green corduroy; It was from the 1970’s based on the research I did. It has a 5” lapel which was super huge. I sold it to a guy who was from Ireland and he moved to Sweden to get married. He wrote me an email, he was like, “I love this suit. My fiance loves it. It’s going to fit great. I’m getting married in it is there anyway you can sell me the tie that’s in the picture?” – The tie wasn’t for sale yet. I paid a quarter for the tie. So I wrote him back, ‘Tell you what: I’m going to give you the tie, it’s a wedding present and he wrote me the nicest letter back about how this is the suit he dreamed of getting married it in. [The tie was purchased around the corner at men’s store that was in the Fashion Square plaza. The original owner retired and sold it before he passed in ‘98] It hung there until I purchased it. Now it’s going to be in this guy’s wedding in Sweden. I LOVE that! It’s going to get a second life you know.

Is it being a vintage clothing aficionado, finding steals and letting them go?

I wanted to keep this Run DMC shirt. It’s shirt that I picked up recently; it was apart of a limited series, each included a lyric from, I wanna say, Run’s House? I would’ve definitely kept that, but this person in California really wanted it. A lot of the times I’ll see something and it just needs to be rescued… I love the fact that I can walk into a thrift store and drop a couple hundred bucks knowing that we’re going to get the money back. And I like the fact that something my wife was kind of leery of, she now thinks is fun. We love going out thrifting.

Audubon’s Hottest Give Us The Dish on Monday Night Magic

 
Sure there is a lot of glitz and glam surrounding local food systems, but we decided to move past that, dig a little deeper to learn about the nitty gritty that makes a good farmers’ market.  We thought, “Who better than the Celebs of Audubon to school us on local produce and authentic value-added product?” Read on to discover what gems bring these Audu-hotties out of the limelight and into the market huddle every Monday night from 6-10 pm in front of Stardust Video & Coffee.

Jason Seifer, Motivational Speaker/Social Media Rockstar.

What Does the Market Offer That Keeps You Coming Back Each Week?
Milk, cheese, fish tacos, companionship [editor’s note: Fish Tacos are happening tonight, companionship every night.]
Using the Audubon Park Garden District acronym (APGD), four words that best describe the Monday market?
Audubon People (are) Generally Delightful ; Or All Puns Garner Discontent

Ivy Assiter, Audubon’s Food Wunderkind, works on the weekends, a fact which more or less explains a propensity for having the club goin up on a Tuesday.

What are your go-to items at the market?

Order of Tanta-lizing fish tacos to split with my main squeeze.
Star Juice’s watermelon and mint juice.

The delicious sorcery that is Buttermilk Bakery – ESPECIALLY POP TARTS. (They know their way around some baked goods).

What is the first food you ate in your life?

I want to say carrots, but it was probably Bananas. Or Taco Bell.

Sarah Robinson, Pastor of Audubon Park Covenant Church
Favorite things about the Monday Market, which takes place from 6-10 pm?

Fresh veggies, the Heartsong Natural Soap, St. John River Honey, Isle of Salsa chimichurri sauce, Smiling Bison when they come out [monthly]... and the atmosphere!

Erica Abalos-Hernandez, (A new Mom!) First Lady of Redlight Redlight Craft Beer Parlour

[editor’s note: the following was delivered via text message while Erica fed the baby, meaning she is a multi-tasking boss. And she listens to Tupac, FTW.]

We’re big fans of the fresh fish of Wild Ocean. Also, we always make sure to have royal reds or rock shrimp on hand to spice up any weeknite meal. We’ll grab whatever greens are available for juicing or salads from any of the great growers. Everything always looks so appealing and fresh.

I love the bagels from Orlando Bread, and because I cannot resist sweets, Buttermilk Bakery’s berry pop tarts and the brownies from Flour Life are wondrous.

Yuri Gama, Academic, Urban Studies.

Why Are Farmers’ Markets Important to the community?

First of all, farmers markets are important because it empowers local commerce and neighborhoods due to its visibility. Secondly, they function as public hubs that strengthen a network among dwellers of the region. And third, they have the power of providing healthy food and products that generally we don’t find in corporate markets.

Which grocery items do you like to check off your list at the Audubon Community Market?

I like the diversity of products, and the music attractions. I like that Buttermilk Bakery, the coconut water, and the Orlando compost company.

Check out Yuri’s presentation on the Mid-20th century construction of I-4 and the subsequent relegation of Orlando’s African-American community to the Parramore District. Tuesday, July 28th, Juice Bike HQ. 6:30 pm

Farm-haus Meals are Going Fast!

 

We’ve enjoyed watching Farm-Haus blossom over the past few months and we’re lucky to have them at the Audubon Community Market. They’ve created such a demand for their quality meal delivery service, spearheading the Fast-Slow Food model, they’ve expanded to 6 Districts in the Orlando area, now including Winter Park and Downtown.

While the Audubon Market is their Monday pre-order, pick-up location, you can also purchase Farm-Haus meals on the spot while shopping with us for your weekly groceries.
Their Meatless Mondays are a hit and a much-needed respite from the carnivorous weekends we sometime indulge in. Not to say these veggie meals aren’t delicious. Chefs Julian De Garden and Mike Garcia, both with a great culinary pedigree in the Orlando Restaurant scene, take quality – often local – ingredients to the next level.

Tonight they’ll have Double Portabello Mushroom Burger topped with havarti cheese, garlic aioli and a side of herbed potato salad.

Good food all around, ready to eat or ready to prep. Come Market with us tonight! Check the Farm-Haus menu for the rest of the week above.