- Worthington Farmers Market
Some Like It Hot! Ajumama Returns. Mushroom Stress Relief. Asparagus Season! Stand for the Silent.
May 14, 2022, 8am - Noon
Downtown Historic Worthington
The 35th summer market is underway! Summer market hours are 8:00am to Noon through the end of October! Find us on High Street, south of 161 down to South Street.
This Week's Vendor Participation
Please Note: This vendor list is based on currently available information. Vendor participation may change without notice due to emergency, weather, staffing, or other unforeseen circumstances.
2022 Outdoor Market Map
New Producer Preview Day!
Just a couple pepper people doing pepper things. We have 60 varieties and more than 3,000 hot pepper plants on our small farm in Zanesville. Pepper plants in the spring, fresh peppers in the summer, powders, salts, and rubs we can't wait to share our passion of all things spicy with you.
Grab some heat at Booth #4 on the Southwest Village Green!
Plants for Market:
Yellow Reaper - 1,200,000 to 2,200,000 SHU - This pepper is a cross between the famous Carolina Reaper and a Yellow Trinidad Moruga Scorpion. It's fruity and sweet with a roaring heat!
Jay's Peach Ghost Scorpion - 800,000 to 1,100,000 SHU - This peach pepper looks like a ghost and stings like a scorpion! An immediate heat with fruity and slightly floral notes.
Carolina Reaper - 1,600,000 to 2,200,000 SHU - The current Guinness Book of World Records Hottest Pepper. With a surprisingly fruity and sweet profile this pepper provides an extremely scorching heat!
Jalmundo - 17,000 SHU - Bigger and better! This jalapeno is larger and spicier than its counterpart making it perfect for poppers and salsa.
Chocolate Scotch Bonnet - 125,000 to 275,000 SHU - This large slightly bonnet shaped pepper brings the heat with a fruity and smoky flavor.
Sugar Rush Peach - 50,000 to 100,000 SHU -
Looking and tasting like a snack! This "gateway" pepper is quickly becoming popular with its super sweet and tropical flavor with complex heat.
Big Jim Green Chile - 2,000 to 4,000 SHU - Growing 7" to 12" this pepper brings that authentic green chile flavor a a hint of heat. This is one you just have to roast!
NuMex Jalapeno Lemon Spice - 30,000 SHU - A sunshiny yellow jalapeno bursting with fruity heat!
Trinidad Butch T Scorpion - 800,000 to 1,460,000 SHU - With its wicked looks this pepper brings a deadly sweet-heat. The tender fruit-like flavor doesn't last long because the spiciness hits quick and hard!
Thai Hot - 50,000 to 100,000 SHU - Perfect for container gardens and heating up Asian cuisine with its fiery zing!
Dragon's Breath - 2,000,000+ SHU - Is it rivalry week? With its mind-blowing heat, floral aroma and bumpy red skin this pepper oozes with capsaicin oil as it tries to knock out the Carolina Reaper to win the World's Hottest Pepper title.
Shishito - 50 to 200 SHU - What these peppers lack in heat they make up in flavor! They are citrusy, sweet, and slightly smoky peppers and best known for their blistering making a great appetizer or addition to stir-fry.
We will also have our pepper powders, infused salts, and dry rubs.
Food Truck at the Market
Hailed as “The Best Fried Chicken In Flavortown” on Guy’s Grocery Games, the Ajumama food truck and chef/owner Laura Lee are excited to return to the Worthington Farmer’s Market for 2022 with our Korean Fried Chicken (KFC) biscuit sandwich and other Korean/ Midwest comfort food delight. Drizzled with Ohio maple syrup from Pleiades Maple Products atop a biscuit from Matija Breads, this is the best way to start a Saturday morning.
Veggie Spy & Versatile Vegan
It’s Asparagus Time!
Asparagus at the Market is a sure sign that Spring has sprung! Many folks eagerly await the brief asparagus season because it is delicious, full of nutrients, and easy to prepare. Asparagus is thought to have originated in the eastern Mediterranean and has been cultivated for over 2,000 years. In addition to being flavorful, asparagus was also prized for its medicinal qualities, especially as an aphrodisiac.
Asparagus plants start slowly and cannot be harvested until their third year. But then they can grow very fast – up to 10 inches a day under ideal conditions. Asparagus is one of those vegetables that tastes much better (i.e., tender and sweet!) when purchased from a local grower shortly after harvesting rather than the supermarket. Look for asparagus at Cottage Garden, Franklinton Farms, Gillogly , Toad Hill, and Tilley Farmstead.
The Versatile Vegan suggests you enjoy this rich and creamy Vegan Risotto with Asparagus and Peas. Another yummy option is these Oven Baked Asparagus Fries. You can also grab some green garlic from Nine 9 Farm or Cottage Garden and make this Asparagus, Green Garlic and Pea Tendrils dish. You can replace the pea tendrils with spinach, which most Market veggie growers have.
Other Finds
Tilley Farmstead has strawberries! Nine 9 Farm has kohlrabi. Franklinton Farms has rhubarb, two kinds of radish, and loads of greens and herbs. Check out Toad Hill for radishes and Choi Sum, an Asian green with a sweet, mild taste. Mayapple Farms has multiple mushroom varieties. We are also in Spring flower season. Beautify your weekend with flowers from Mohican Flower Farm, Somerset Herbs, and From My Garden.
***** Be sure to visit new producer Raber Family Organics, a certified organic Amish grower from Wayne County. Check out their lettuce baskets!*****
Producers have the following available this week. In some cases, items may sell out before the Market ends:
Apples, Arugula, Asparagus, Beets-purple top, Bok Choy, Cabbage Raab, Choi Sum, Collards, Garlic greens, Herbs - various, Kale & baby kale, Kohlrabi, Lettuce-various types and mixes, Microgreens & shoots, Mushrooms-shiitake, Mustard Greens, Rhubarb, Rutabaga, Spinach, Strawberries, Turnips, Yakina Savoy.
Community Table
Stand for the Silent, started in 2010 when Kirk and Laura faced the tragic loss of their 11-year old son Ty, who was bullied for many years. Our mission is to educate the youth and the community about the negative effects of bullying and suicide. We do this by partnering up with local retailers or events and setting up small community outreach and fundraising events outside. By doing so, we have been able to provide over 4 million students in 4,000 schools with free education and mental health resources.
Our mission:
To educate youth about the negative and truly devastating effects of bullying and suicide. We are currently working with retail locations across the United States in support of SFTS educating our young people. https://standforthesilent.org/
Visit them on the Southwest Village Green in Booth #10.
Music at the Market
Eric Spain is a 2021 graduate of Thomas Worthington High School.He will be attending the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music next fall to pursue a double major in cello performance and music education. Eric has been playing at the Worthington Farmers Market to raise money as a college fund. Eric will be playing in front of Olde Village Barershop, 9am to Noon.
Violinist Lucia Cassell-Ramirez will be playing this Saturday in front of Jet's Pizza, 9am to Noon. Lucia is a sixteen year old violinist who's been playing at the farmers market since the age of seven. She's been learning violin for the past eleven years and loves sharing her passion for the instrument with the farmer's market community.
Paul Graham is a resident of old Worthington. He is a singer/songwriter/guitarist/composer in the Americana Music genre, who has been playing and performing for over 40 years. He plays solo and in various combinations with other musicians (in duo, trio, and quartet). He writes original songs and original instrumental compositions. He covers a wide range of rock, folk, country, blues and bluegrass songs. He is an old friend of the Worthington Farm Market and often plays with Chip Woods as a duo. Paul will be playing in front of the United Methodist Church, 9am to Noon.
KaTayna Brewer identifies not as a singer or vocalist but as a street performer – “it’s unique, eclectic." She sings songs that frequently get people moving and shaking along to the music, putting smiles on faces and creating a joyful atmosphere, her performances inspire a different reaction and sometimes elicit stories from strangers who feel a connection with Brewer’s renditions. Hear KaTayna on the Southeast Village Green, 9:00-10:30am.
Learn more or see her Sidewalk Serenades here https://www.instagram.com/sidewalk_serenades/
The Worthington Squares is a group made up from Columbus folk Music Society people that have been involved with the Worthington market for over 10 years providing Folk music at the outside market and the Mall. They'll be playing on the Southeast Village Green, 10:30am to Noon.
Acoustic guitarist Chigozie Ezenagu will be playing on the Post Office lawn near the corner of High & South Streets, 9am to Noon.
May Nutrition Corner
Excess stress is bad but it’s unavoidable. Not only does stress feel bad to experience but it also does damage to our bodies. Stress is stress is stress, and our bodies respond the same to emotional stress as to stress from an injury or virus. Chronic stress, stress that lasts over a long period of time, can negatively affect our gut health which has a negative affect on our overall health.
If you have ever heard that your immune system is in your gut, what that really means is that in our large intestine there is a host of good and bad bacteria called the microbiome. In order for our bodies to function properly we want a variety of good bacteria and a balanced microbiome.
Chronic stress wreaks havoc on our bodies. Blood flow is directed away from our gut which prevents the proper breakdown of nutrients and digestion. Hello gas and bloating! Stress hormones are released which causes changes in the environment of our gut. This affects motility, damages the gut lining, changes the ratio of good to bad bacteria, and influences our food choices negatively.
Enter mushrooms. Mushrooms are considered a nutrient-dense food, which means they are packed with the most nutrients per calorie. Even the most common button mushrooms pack a nutritional punch! For even greater nutrient density consider medicinal mushrooms; reishi, shitake, chaga, lions made, turkey tail and cordyceps. These have been used in traditional medicine for centuries. These mushrooms offer a variety of B vitamins, copper, selenium, phosphorus, potassium, vit C and D, iron, magnesium, manganese and zinc.
Medicinal mushrooms improve immune health, they have been shown to modulate the immune system, which means they help immune cells act correctly. This is significant for those with autoimmune disease. These mushrooms have been shown to improve blood sugar, which reduces stress on the body, as well as help maintain cardiovascular health, and offer sustained energy.
Mushrooms have three unique fibers that can not be found in other foods. These unique fibers bring balance and health to our gut. Studies have shown that our microbiome can dramatically be influenced by these fibers in as little as 2-3 days. Eating mushrooms on a regular basis will ensure our gut is getting the vitamin, nutrients and fiber needed for a healthy microbiome. Find local mushrooms at Mayapple Farms. A healthy microbiome is critical for stress management!
Hello, Im Erin Hivner. I am a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. I work one-on-one with clients to reach their health goals. Using a combination of diet, lifestyle and movement to reach those goals. Common goals are blood sugar regulation, healthy hormones and proper digestion. You can find me and my family at the Market selling soap at Spotted Salamander Soap.
Calling All Paper Bags!
New market vendor Christy Elena of Wild Hare Prairie Native Nursery asks for your help in collecting and recycling paper bags:
"Hello friends! I need your paper bags. Paper bags of any size are great! I need small paper gift bags, brown paper grocery bags and any of these fabulous bags from Amazon Prime shoppers that have cardboard and added paper insulation. I can definitely reuse them all! Don’t let those paper bags sit around and go to waste. Drop them off at my booth on Saturday, Booth #74 in the Graeter's parking lot -- I promise they will go to good use! Thank you!"
Save the Date!
Saturday, May 14, 10am - Noon, Native Plant Sale
Worthington Garden Club Native Plant Sale Saturday, May 14, 10am-Noon, in front of the Griswold Center at 777 High Street. Native plants grown and supplied by Natives in Harmony. nativesinharmony.com
Sunday, May 15
The Worthington Partnership Green Team has partnered with Seeds of Caring to bring families in person service events! Sunday, May 15th, register to join us, learn about what can go in your trash, recycle, and compost, and help clean up an elementary school playground. Trash grabbers and bags provided, bring your own reusable gloves if you have them! https://www.facebook.com/worthingtongreenteam
Saturday, May 21, 7-8am
https://www.facebook.com/events/291409426521873?ref=newsfeed
May 27 - July 29th
Monday, June 13, 12-6pm, Rainbow Love
Saturday, June 18, Worthington Arts Festival
The Annual Worthington Arts Festival is one of Central Ohio’s premier, community Fine Art/Fine Craft shows. The show is held on the lawn in front of the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center of Worthington, and has been ranked in sales of fine art and craft in the US by Art Fair Source Book, along with the top 200 shows in Sunshine Artist. The location draws approx. 28,000 visitors over the two-day festival. Celebrating it’s 28th year, the Worthington Arts Festival is in the sixth year of of production and coordination by the Peggy R. McConnell Arts Center, a dynamic professional community arts center serving more than 85,000 visitors annually.
Saturday, June 25, 6-10pm, Picnic with the Partnership
Saturday, June 25 High Street will be closed but Old Worthington will be open! Tickets and sponsorships are available now (link in bio). Early bird pricing till June 1. Don’t miss this community favorite!
https://www.facebook.com/events/325717039692994?ref=newsfeed
Masks Are Optional
Effective Thursday, March 10, the Worthington city ordinance that required masks in indoor public places has been lifted. Facial coverings are now optional throughout the City of Worthington.
We will have a limited supply of masks available at the Market information desk (located at the corner of S. High Street & New England Avenue in front of the Graeter's Ice Cream and House Wine parking lot), should you wish to wear one while visiting the Market.
We will continue with our other proactive measures to help reduce the spread of illness including having hand sanitizer available throughout the Market and increased spacing between producer booths.
If you have a fever or are feeling ill, we ask that you please stay home.
Invest in Your Community
Do you love our farmers market? We are powered by a non-profit organization that largely relies on donations to fund our operations. Please consider donating to help us reach our goal. You can do a one-time donation or even set up a monthly donation to help us keep our market going strong. Click here for the link to donate: experienceworthington.com/donate
The Worthington Farmers Market is an event of The Worthington Partnership.