Collierville Farmers Market has enjoyed having Teresa Gregory of Daily Blessings Farm as a vendor since the Market's beginning.  We asked her to share her story with us and, in her own words, here it is!

Daily Blessings Farm is a small family farm in Hernando, MS. We have 5 children, twin grandbabies, and the world's cutest Grandpuppy, Preston, an English Mastiff.  Raising Dairy goats, a few meat goats,  pastured free-range chickens, & chemical-free heirloom (no hybrids allowed)  veggies and herbs is a passion for us. We have been a “green” & sustainable farm before it became a buzz word.  It has just been a way of life for us for over 30 years.

It is difficult to tell our current story without telling a little history of how we got where we are now.

            I was diagnosed with food allergies and chemical sensitivities which changed the way we lived life. At the time, I was unaware of the additives that were in our foods and/or packaging.  Labeling laws back then were not as strict as they are now, but even now, certain chemicals/additives don’t have to be listed if it is part of the processing. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, & herbicides, things that come in contact with your skin, and things in the air can cause problems to someone who is sensitive.  So, it was back to the home garden that I had sworn away as a child, and I have been raising & preserving most of our food since then.

            Over time I developed allergies to medicines & eventually cow milk. This lead me down the path of Alternative Medicine and I became a self-taught Herbalist. With a degree as a Medical Laboratory Technician, I had a little understanding of how the body works and it made sense to me how herbs, supplements, diet, etc. can work symbiotically to treat a lot of illnesses. Of course, the cow milk allergy required a little different approach, and after realizing I could tolerate goat milk, we got our first goat in 1999.  I learned to make goat cheese and  goat milk soap shortly thereafter.

            We homeschooled our three youngest children which totaled about 16-17 years and did a variety of Unit Studies around what we did in life.  It was a great learning experience for all of us, me included.  We began a little cottage business as a way for our children to learn about money. Our first adventure was selling bulk whole grains for making healthy breads, selling grain mills and mixers, raising & processing pastured-poultry, doing a monthly bulk health food order, and then, I know this will be a surprise, we started making & selling soap.

            Our children are grown now and have their careers, but the health food orders, gardening, and soap business are still with me today. I completed the Master Gardener's Course this year and look forward to using that knowledge to improve our garden. We have been blessed to receive awards for our soap the last 3 years through the ADGA Bath & Body products contest. In May of this year, I was finally able to take exams and passed, to become a Certified Handcrafted Soapmaker in both Cold-process/Hot-process and Melt & Pour at the Basic and Advanced levels. Currently, I am the only Certified Soapmaker in North Mississippi, Tennessee, and surrounding states. I plan to begin teaching Soapmaking workshops this fall which will be unlike any others and will prepare others to become certified if they choose to.

Future plans are to increase our garden size to offer our chemical-free produce to our customers, obtaining our Organic Certification (although we are better than organic because organic standards allow the use of some chemicals),  add more hens to increase egg-production, teaching soapmaking workshops, and mini soapmaking classes to small groups/clubs, and changing our labels & packaging by this fall (hopefully).

Thanks to our loyal customers who visit us at local Farmer’s Markets, we are growing each year and look forward to serving you for many years to come. If you need additional information about classes, ordering healthfoods,  or just have a question about our products,  you can reach me by email or by phone at  901-489-9111 or 662-233-0112.  Thank you and we'll see you at the next market.

And thanks to you, Teresa, for being such a rich part of the Market every week!

Many weeks our market shoppers purchase all natural meat and dairy products from two of our small, family-owned farms, Westwind Farms and Top of the World Farm. Both were mentioned this week in a Commercial Appeal column by Collierville's Deanna Caswell! 

Read about them and the benefits of hormone-free, artificial-preservative-free animal products here in Practically Green.

Collierville Farmers Market is so fortunate to have David and Tom Connor owners of "Fresh From the Farm" bring their delicious heirloom vegetables to our market.  David and Tom are featured in the summer 2011 issue of Edible Memphis where you can read about the heirloom varieties they grow and why they taste so good.  Or you can stop by their booth at the market any Thursday, and they will be happy to answer your questions about heirloom vegetables.  

Locally grown tomatoes are delicious, heirloom tomatoes are exquisite.

-Kathleen Bradley, CFM Vendor Liason

 

We are sorry some CFM customers were unable to find Cindy's Chicken Salad last Thursday.  Her booth occupied a different spot and was "manned" by her son instead of Cindy.  Vendors do come and go, and they move around to accommodate both their needs and our available spots, so if you don't see the vendor you are looking for, a market volunteer will be happy to help you!

-CFM

Calling all market enthusiasts! Collierville Farmer Market wants YOU!

An amazingly small group of wonderful, dedicated folks just like you pull off a successful market each week. If you love shopping at CFM and enjoy knowing that Collierville is better for offering a farmers market to the community, please consider lending your time and talents (we take money too) to keep it alive!

CFM currently seeks Board members, webmaster, photographer, printing services, entertainment, marketing and fundraising specialists, weekly market volunteers, kids activities and more. Do you have farm animals or equipment that can travel with you to the market for community education? Or a market-related skill that you want to demonstrate to the public? We are open to hearing your exciting ideas! Or help by just filling in the gaps!

Come on, roll up your sleeves and get to work on the Collierville Farmers Market!

Email colliervillefm@gmail.com for more information.

Simply put,we cannot run the market without your help.

As a non-profit organization, the Collierville Farmers Market relies on your generosity to pay for our insurance, advertisement, signage, and even our application for non-profit status.

 For your $10 donation, you may choose a beautiful "Julia" T- shirt (youth and adult sizes),"Julia" smart shopping bag or a set of hand designed greeting cards.  Visit our table at the market any Thursday, next to Daily Blessings, to see the truly charming shirts and bags with environmental themes that are our gift to you for your generosity.  

 We sincerely appreciate your support.

 The Collierville Farmers Market would especially like to thank Don Willadsen from Paradise Seafood and Joyce McKenzie from Crye-Leike Realty for their generous donations to the Collierville Farmers Market.

 

 

After much anticipation, Paradise Seafood will officially join the Collierville Farmers Market tomorrow, June 23rd!

Find out more about them and their adventures to the Alabama Gulf shore each week here, and read below so you can start thinking about what you will seek out from them at the market tomorrow.

FRESH PRODUCTS 

Grouper, Red Fish,  Red Snapper,  Caribbean Sea Bass, Chilean Sea Bass, Whole Flounder, Ahi Yellow Fin Tuna, AmberJack, Halibut, Sockeye Salmon, Pompano, Scallops,  Head off shrimp, Oysters, Jumbo Lump Crab, Claw Meat, Crab Claw Fingers, Tuna Dip, and Cooked Shrimp. 

 FROZEN PRODUCTS 

SNOW CRAB LEGS (large), shrimp & corn soup, shrimp and okra gumbo, crawfish julie sauce, stevie sauce, alligator tail meat, frog legs, softshell crabs, lobster tails, royal red shrimp head off and head on  

Their new products this week are: Cobia, Swordfish, and Trigger !

How can I choose when it all sounds so good?

-Lisa Enderle

CFM vendor Cathy Stauffer sells thousands of her Felted Dryer Balls handmade from fibers of her beloved alpacas at Coldwater Alpaca Ranch. Read more about them in this blog at the Commercial Appeal by Lisa Enderle, Special to the CA Going Green and CFM volunteer.

 We enjoy Cathy's company as well as all of her fiber arts and other products on Thursdays 8 to 1 at CFM! Come check them out!

 

Twenty year veteran of farmer's markets, John Freeman joined the CFM market last week selling sweet and tart blackberries and blueberries grown at the Green Frog Berry Farm.  Just 14 miles west of Jackson, TN, Green Frog is much more than a berry farm.  As a retired doctor and missionary, John began Green Frog Village in 1991 with a donated country store and an 1840-era log house. Green Frog now has all the elements of a rural southern village in a pastoral setting.  Check out the village at http://greenfrogtn.org/

-Kathleen Bradley, CFM Vendor Liason