Clayton Farm and Community Market Newsletter for May 2

by Amber Polk, CFCM Chair

From the Board: We are very pleased with the diverse vendors at the Clayton Market, but the board is always on the lookout for a few more. Our wish list includes additional produce growers and a local meat producer as well as a wider range of artisans: potters, basket weavers, vegetable canners, jelly makers, quilters, knitters, woodworkers, painters, and cheese makers, etc. If you are interested in becoming a vendor, please email claytonmarket@earthlink.net for vendor and other information.

Vendor Spotlight: I had a whoopee pie from The Cleveland Cake and Coffee Co. last week and it was DELICIOUS! A whoopee pie is a portable cake with icing in the middle so you can eat it and run a farmers market at the same time, or whatever else you happen to be doing that day. Rich and Jen Girard opened up The Cleveland Cake and Coffee Co. at 40/42 in 2005 and opened their second location at Southern Village of Clayton on Hwy 70 about a year ago.

Even though they may seem like newcomers, the Girards have been baking for most of their lives. Jen has a degree in baking and pastry from the Baltimore Culinary Institute, and Rich learned how to bake by picking it up from the old timers at an early age. Rich says, “If you do it well, people appreciate it and thank you.” The Cleveland Cake and Coffee Co.’s best selling item at the Clayton Market is crusty bread. “Crust is the outer shell of the bread,” Rich explains. Once they bake the bread, it slides into special perforated bags that help it breath. The outside will firm up, but the inside will still be fresh and springy. You can also put his fresh bread in the oven at 375 for 10-15 minutes to bring out the crust. Rich says he loves it when people plan their meals around his bread.

Cleveland Cake and Coffee Co has 9 employees, and Rich describes it as a family business that is “about family.” Jen and Rich love what they do and want others to love it too. The Cleveland Cake and Coffee Co. will be at the Clayton Market every Saturday, so come on out and experience a whoopee pie yourself.

Look What I Bought at the Clayton Market! People love the quality local products they buy at the Clayton Market. After buying one “Macintosh Apple” scented candle a week from Nancy’s Candles, Gail Southerland decided to buy an entire case of them last Saturday. Gail explains, “About Thursday my candle burned out. I didn’t want that to happen again…ever. All the apple candles in the grocery store have cinnamon in them, and I don’t like cinnamon in my apples. Nancy knows how to make them just the way I like them.”

Are you impressed by something you have bought at the Clayton Market? Send an email to claytonmarket@earthlink.net and let me know about it. I’ll feature you and your favorite product in an upcoming newsletter.

Call for Musicians: The market is looking for local musicians to play from around 10 or 11am to 1pm. Music must be “family friendly,” and we will allow a tip jar and a table of your cd/materials for sale. (An electrical hook-up is available, if needed.) If you are interested, please email claytonmarket@earthlink.net for more details.

Volunteers needed: 2 volunteers slots are open on May 2, 9 and 16. Volunteers are needed from 6am until 2pm, or you can work either the morning (6am-10am) or day (10-2pm) shift. Please send an email to claytonmarket@earthlink.net for a list of common duties or to sign up. Even if you only have an hour to give from 6-7am or 1-2pm that would be a tremendous help for set up and tear down. Special thanks to Melinda Taylor who worked all day last Saturday and Kent Southerland who volunteered for set up and tear down.

Economy Builder: When you buy local, it has a multiplier effect on the whole community. Instead of giving your money away to a large corporation in another state or country, give it to local vendors who will turn around and spend a lot of the money right here our community. The Hildreth’s of Shamrock’s Buzzy Bees have spent some of their money at Medlin’s Office Supply in Clayton, Ming Moon Chinese Restaurant and Papa’s Pizza both of Four Oaks. Now doesn’t that make that jar of local honey you bought from Shamrock’s Buzzy Bees taste even better?

Vendors on 5-2-09:
Crafts:
· Beva Turpin
· Nancy’s Candles

Baked Goods
· The Cleveland Cake & Coffee Co., Inc.
· Flying Fork Bakehouse

Produce, Plants, etc.
· Riverman’s Mushrooms
· Toad Song Farm
· Seasonal Selections
· Smith’s Nursery