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Mar 16
2012
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The Spring plantings have begun being harvested... Basil and other herbs, Summer squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, carrots, radish, kale, collards, lettuce, salad greens! Sooooo good!
My Blog
Description of my blog
Tags >> Worden Farm
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Nov 02
2011
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Hello Market Friends!
With the kick-off of local produce coming back to the market...Worden Farm, Honeyside Farms, Natures Partners, I Grow My Own Veggies, Browns Groves, My Mothers Garden and Kinsey Produce...this season should be a milestone for the amount of fresh vegetables available anywhere on the west coast of the State. As the weeks go on, growers are bringing more and more from their fields of dedication. The market is getting close to 80 vendors including new vendors such as Vermont Maple Syrup, Organic Baby Food and Island Spices to name a few.
A great season is ahead--come on down !
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Hello Market Friends! Here we grow again! This month's Newsletter is dedicated to our growers that give the true name of what we are...FARMERS MARKET. This time of year I am constantly asked "where is all the produce." There is a good reason - it's too HOT. When you look out your window this time of year (in Florida) tropical plants jump for joy in this weather...tomatoes, beans, lettuce, potatoes and other produce can't survive. Now for the good news; we are about 6 weeks away from a produce lovers heaven. The last 10 days I've visited our growers to give you a firsthand look of what's in store for the upcoming season. The vendor-run market has added even more growers of produce and plants the last 2 years to become one of the largest true agriculture markets in the state. Not only is the City of Sarasota blessed to have such a market, growers and vendors are blessed to have such a great city to supply local agriculture. Enjoy the field trip and look for an update on these growers in the future.
Phil Pagano Operations Managermanager@sarasotafarmersmarket.org 941-504-1077 |
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This time of year, we are planting just about everything! This week is specifically herbs...
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Travis Brown of 
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May 06
2011
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Market Recipes
Does anyone enjoy this wonderful leafy green called Escarole? Bought some at Worden Farm this Saturday and it was beautiful and delicious!!
Escarole is a very low calorie green, leafy vegetable with a hint of bitter flavor; 100g fresh leaves provide just 17 calories but contribute about 8% of RDA of fiber. However, this well known salad plant is much more than just a leafy green. Escarole is loaded with plant nutrients such as Vitamins A and C.
Health benefits of Escarole...
- Current research studiessuggest that high fiber content in escarole helps reduce high glucose and LDL cholesterol levels in diabetes and obese patients.
- Escarole is enriched with a good amount Vitamin A and beta-carotenes. Both of these compounds are known to have antioxidant properties. Carotenes convert to vitamin A in the body. Also, vitamin A is required for maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin. In addition, it is also an essential vitamin for vision. Consumption of natural vegetables/greens rich in vitamin A helps to protect from lung and oral cavity cancers.
- It contains good amounts of many essential B-complex groups of vitamins such as folic acid, pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6) and thiamin (vitamin B1), niacin (B3). These vitamins are essential in the sense that body requires them from external sources to replenish and required for fat, protein and carbohydrates metabolism.
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Escarole is also a good source of minerals like manganese, copper, iron, and potassium. Manganese is used as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Potassium is an important intracellular electrolyte helps counter the hypertension effects of sodium.
- Enjoy this simple and delicious soup...a complete meal! Saute one fresh leek, sliced thin, along with a couple of cloves of garlic in a tablespoon of olive oil, add one can of cannelini beans and 32 ounces of chicken broth or vegetable broth. Warm the seasoned broth and add washed and cut escarole. When the escarole is tender, serve the soup and top with shaved parmesan! So good and so good for you!!
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May 06
2011
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Manager's Field Trip
Did you know Worden Farm donates organic vegetables to the Salvation Army every Saturday at the Sarasota Farmers Market?
The managers Field trips sometimes has not far to go. This week I observed Gabriel of Destiny Technologies, our market social media specialist, taking a photo of Chris Worden of Worden's Organic farm for a market facebook post. Gabriel immediately posted the picture of Worden's weekly donation of fresh vegetables to the Sarasota Salvation Army and by the afternoon received more LIKES than any post before. Market vendors are very humble about their contributions to downtown organizations with people in need. Chris and Eva Worden, along with other produce vendors give thousands of pounds of locally grown fruits and vegetables each year and not ever once mentioning the help they give. The local media has reported on a lot of great local Farmer's Markets this season but seems to miss the true SPIRT of the SFMV downtown market 52 weeks a year. Great job Worden's !
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Oct 25
2010
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PUNTA GORDA - Chris and Eva Worden met over a compost heap in graduate school. A romance proved fertile. They got married on a farm with friends and family seated on a circle of hay bales.
"I went out that morning and picked my bouquet," says Eva. "Sunflowers and zinnias."
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Seven years ago, she and Chris started Worden Farm in eastern Charlotte County. Hurricane Charley flooded their fields and ripped a shed roof off in 2004, but they continued transforming an abandoned orange grove into one of the state's top organic farms.
"It didn't even faze us," says Eva, a 42-year-old Miami native. "We had a passion to get this launched."
Since then, their 85-ace farm has grown and prospered, its produce selling at farmer's markets in Sarasota, St. Petersburg and Naples. The Wordens also sell fruit and vegetable boxes weekly to several hundred farm members who share a devotion to locally grown produce.
This is the heart of what is called community supported agriculture, with the emphasis on community.
Members gather at the farm weekly to pick up colorful boxes of food. Some join vegetable chop-and-chat sessions. There are also special events and yearly Thanksgiving celebrations.
"It's almost like a cult," jokes Brendan Tuckey, who worked at Worden before starting his own farm. "I've never experienced that before. They really love their product because it's so fresh. They'd go, 'Oh, your lettuce lasts three weeks,' and we'd say, 'Yeah, we picked it yesterday.'"
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