Sierra Vista Farmers Markets Update For 10-10-19

Mesquite Milling on the 17th
Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture (BASA) will be having their annual mesquite milling at the Sierra Vista Farmers Market on Thursday the 17^th of October. For those of you who have been harvesting and drying your mesquite beans, this will be your chance to have BASA hammer mill your beans into baking flour.

For those who don’t know, Mesquite bean flour is gluten-free and low on the glycemic index. It’s great for those with Type 2 diabetes because it can help keep blood sugar regulated. Mesquite flour is also very nutritious with generous amounts of lysine, manganese, potassium, zinc, and iron.

Please note that BASA will not grind your beans if they don’t meet very specific criteria. Please see Christie Brown’s article below for more fascinating details about mesquite beans and pertinent milling criteria.

Making the Sierra Vista Farmers Market More Accessible
We have been listening to your suggestions and next week we will be announcing some exciting changes to the Sierra Vista Farmers Market that we believe will solve some of the traffic congestion and accessibility issues that we are experiencing due to the growth of the market. Be sure to see next week’s article for all the details.

Mesquite Milling Details
(Courtesy of Christie Brown)

Mesquite Beans are a Super Food!
Mesquite beans are a legume that is gluten free with nearly 40% protein. They also contain calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron and amino acid lysine. Two tablespoons of mesquite flour has 30 calories, 6 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram protein, and with a low glycemic index of 25- the flour is easy on your blood sugar levels.

BASA Annual Mesquite Milling Open to the Public
If you are looking to harvest the nutritious Mesquite pods to make your own highly nutritious flour, Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture ( BASA) has an upcoming mesquite milling at the Sierra Vista Farmers Market on October 17.

Right now is the harvest season for mesquite bean pods from the high to low desert! They are ready to harvest when they are dry, rattle and pull easily off the trees. Pods can be harvested through October. Warning – don’t pick pods off the ground or they will likely have black mold on them. Be sure to sample the pods before you pick to ensure sweet flavor and no bitter taste.

Before you bring them to BASA’s annual milling, place them in a shallow tray and lay in the sun to finish drying. After drying your pods, be sure to place them in an oven at 200 degrees for an hour to kill the bruchi dbeetles found in many pods. A solar oven will also work for drying the pods.

In preparation for BASA’s October milling make sure you store them in a clean and dry food safe bucket or container after you have dried them. Pods will be inspected before milling to be sure they are free of dirt, stems, stones and mold. Please clean your pods before you bring them to the milling.

BASA Promotes Sustainable Agriculture
BASA operates a hammer mill to process the pods into Mesquite flour and sells the Eat Mesquite and More Cookbook from Desert Harvesters(Tucson, AZ) and offers many recipes at the local farmer’s markets. Cookies, Pancakes, breads, waffle and much more can be made using the Mesquite Flour along with other flours. Sugar can be reduced or removed from many recipes because of the natural sweet flavor from the pods.

Baja Arizona Sustainable Agriculture, BASA volunteer training is scheduled for Sept 21, 2019, the Sierra Vista Farmer’s Market Milling is scheduled for Thursday October 17^th and the Bisbee Farmer’s Market Milling is scheduled for Saturday October 19^th. High humidity or rain interferes with the milling dates and they will be rescheduled if inclement weather occurs on these days. Our Facebook page, search BASA or webpage, http://basamesquite.org/ or weblog: http://bajaaz.blogspot.com/ can offer contact information, harvesting guides and schedule changes. BASA always welcomes new board members, helpers and education at our monthly Farmer’s market visits.

Vendors Spotlight

Special Holiday Breads from Celestial Breads:
In honor of the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) Celestial Breads will be offering Sukkot themed flavored items for you this week. Stop by their booth and pick up some of their Pumpkin Pecan loaves made with sweet pumpkin, nutmeg, pecan loaves sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Lemon and blueberry poppy mini bars made with soft sweet and tart lemon, blueberry loaves with poppy and lemon glaze. They will also have traditional Challah: Braided loaves with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame and poppy.

Horton Farms 
This week Cochise County’s own Horton Farms will be bringing Peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, and green pumpkins. Be sure to stop by, say hi to Jessica and Mark.

Beatty’s Orchard
Beatty’s Orchard is back this week. This week Edith will have  Rhubarb. If anyone would like a large quantity you can order it before hand by calling her at 520-378-2728.  Edith will also have Fuji, Ida Red, Querian, Freedom, and several other varieties of apples.

Incredible Snacks
Looking for a healthy snack, something a bit sweet, or just some dried fruit to munch on? David with Incredible snacks has dozens of delicious snacks for you to try. This week he has dark chocolate pecans, peanut brittle, cinnamon apples chips, and so much more. 

Simmons Honey Ranchito
The Simmons Honey Ranchito will have Prickly Pear Jelly, Pickled Dill Cucumber Spears, and their popular Chow Chow Relish.

If you are looking for honey be sure to check out their many wonderful varieties of local honey like desert wildflower and mesquite.    They also have a limited supply of Michael’s Cluck-Cluck Farm chicken eggs.

Special Announcements and Events This Week

BASA – Promoting Sustainable Agriculture
BASA representatives will be on hand this week to answer any mesquite milling questions you might have in preparation for next week’s milling. BASA will also have their sun-oven on display for you to see how you can harness the power of the sun to cook and bake.

This week the U of A Cooperative Extension will be back at the market with their AZ Health Zone cooking demonstrations. For more information about the AZ Health Zone check out their website at: https://www.azhealthzone.org/resources

Be Healthy! Sierra Vista will also have a booth set up at the market and they will be showcasing various healthy programs/agencies. Be sure to stop by their booth and check out their free resources and community information.

SNAP – Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program
The Sierra Vista Farmers Market now accepts SNAP and Double Up benefits. Just visit our information booth near the center of the market to swipe your cards. Remember you can use them for all produce, dairy products, meats, spices, baked goods, and frozen ready-to eat meals (such as lasagna), plants that produce edibles like tomato plants and herbs. Double Up is only redeemable for Arizona grown fruits and vegetables, though.

Ride Vista Transit to the Market for FREE
Did you know that you can ride Vista Transit from their Coronado/Wilcox station to the farmers market for free each Thursday? That’s right, it’s free. If the traffic is a bit much for you at the market each week you can park your car at the Coronado/Wilcox station and Vista Transit will deliver you safe and sound to the market. With pick up and drop off every half hour, you can do your shopping and get a ride back to your car without any inconvenience. Pick up at the station is on the hour and half hour. At the market pick up is at 15 and 45 after.  Give it a try and be sure to thank your driver and the City of Sierra Vista for their great service.

Musical Entertainment This Week:

Music this week will be provided by Pat Panther.

We hope to see you all at the Market on Thursday 10 am to 2 pm.

This Week’s Weather Forecast

This Weeks Vendors
(Vendors are Alphabetized – attendance at Thursdays market subject to change without notice)

– – Vendor Grown – – Agricultural and Produce Vendors with the – – Vendor Grown – – seal are known to grow at least 85% of the products they sell.
– – Vendor Brokered – – Agricultural and Produce Vendors with the – – Vendor Brokered – – seal do not grow a majority of the produce they sell and are known to purchase a majority of their products from third parties.

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This section is under construction – thank you for your patience.

Ancestral Herbals
Ancestral Herbals returns her lotion refill station and all the other soap and body care products you have come to love.

Arevalos Farms – – Vendor Grown – –
Aaron Cardona with Arevalos Farms has a wide variety of seasonal vegetables such as kale, carrots, onions, beets, and canned vegetables.

Backyard Gardening & Growing – – Vendor Grown – –
Zane and Noah Struse will bring onions, eggplant, cucumbers, okra, peppers, apples (Grannie Smith, Gala, and Pixie Crunch as well as Golden Delicious). Garlic grown by the Garden of Eat’in.

Beatty’s Orchard – – Vendor Grown – –
Edith has the newest apples and rhubarb.

Big Skye Baker
Bodie with Big Skye Bakers always has tasty baked goods for you to try.

Big Woody’s

Hot lunch at the market with hotdogs, pulled pork, or nachos.

Café Cultiva
Jesse and Jessica will have fresh brewed coffee by the cup. They will also have fresh roasted whole beans from Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, and India. If you need your beans ground they’ll be happy to do so while you wait. If you have a sweet tooth ask them about their been to bar chocolate.

Celestial Breads
See vendor spot light above!

Desert Oasis Soap
Greg brings a wide variety of soaps to the market every week. Ask him for his favorite scent.

Designs by Copper Canyon
Nancy with Copper Canyon has a great selection of hand made bags, pillows, skirts and tops as well as a wide assortment of hand made home décor items to brighten your home.

Dolce Amore
Teresa with Dolce Amore is back! She bakes Italian specialties for you. Try her gluten free cookies, vegan cakes, Italian cakes, puff pastries, and regular cakes and cookies.

Echoing Hope Ranch – – Vendor Grown – –
Echoing Hope Ranch will be bring a variety of produce and greens grown down on the beautiful San Pedro River. If you want to help support a great cause, stop by Echoing Hope’s booth and ask them about how they are changing the lives of children and adults with autism. While you are there pick up one of the their t-shirts and help them get the word out about their mighty efforts to fight autism.

Emu Enterprise – – Vendor Grown – –
Roger Taber will NOT be at the market this week.

Four King’s Kitchen
April brings 3 flavors of April’s Granola to the market each week. Their granola is grain-free, sugar-free, and low-carb. It suits a variety of eating styles: Keto, paleo, vegan, diabetic, low-carb, anti-inflammatory and more. Stop by the purple tent and try a free sample.

Ginny’s Eclectic Kitchen
Ginny makes fresh sourdough bread for you every week. But it is not only her baking that makes this sourdough so delicious. She has to “feed” her sourdough leavening starter every day to keep it “alive” and healthy. Ginny only uses unbleached, unbromated, unenriched wheat flour, so come and sample her bread or some of her scrumptious sweet treats.

Golden Rule Dairy – – Vendor Grown – –
Remember to pick up your raw milk and cream at Golden Rule Dairy. For those of you who like granola the Stride family makes their own healthy granola. They also offer kefir grains. Oh, and not to leave out Fido, the Stride’s also have a variety of deer antlers which make great dog chews. Must be an acquired taste…

Gracewater Farm
Trudy brings seedlings and other plants each week. You’ll find her in Ginny’s booth at Eclectic Kitchen.

Gray’s Garden of Eat’N – – Vendor Grown – –
Clinton will Not be at the market this week, but you can find his garlic at the BGG booth.

Greenstone Pottery & Crafts
Charlatta and Eric will NOT be at the market this week.

Hilltop Hydroponics – – Vendor Grown – –
For some of the most beautiful lettuce and greens around be sure to stop by Tom Hanson’s booth. Tom has living lettuce and spring mix, arugula, kale, basil plants and cut basil, large and cherry tomatoes.

Hone Ranger
Scott the Hone Ranger will sharpen just about anything you bring to the market.

Horton Farms –– – Vendor Grown – –
See vendor spotlight above.

Incredible Snacks
Each week David brings an incredible assortment of dried fruit and nuts.

Just-A-Pinch – – Vendor Grown – –
Michael Burgess with Just-A-Pinch will have his culinary herbs. Treat yourself this week to fresh mint, and basil. Buy it by the ounce freshly cut at the market or take home a healthy plant. Still available are his Egyptian walking onions.

K-1 Kreations
K-1 owner Kris will NOT be at the market this week.

Ketoluscious Bakery
Janet will NOT be at the market this week.

Krazy Koyote Kettle Corn & Smoothies

La Pina Raw Juice
If you haven’t been to the market recently, come on by and try Alexa’s incredible raw juices. With only the best ingredients Alexa uses a vertical “slow” juicer which helps keep all of the goodness (enzymes, phytonutrients) alive in her raw juices. The result is the best tasting raw juice available. Did I say it tastes delicious? My favorite is the Apple – Ginger – Turmeric – Lemon blend. It’s refreshing with a nice tangy bite at the end.

Alexa also has Kangen Water, a filtered/ionized water produced by Enagic – a Japan-based company who has been a leading manufacturer of alkaline ionizers/water filtration for over 40 years. Alexa is happy to give you samples of her juice and water. So make sure you stop by and give it a try.

Lazy KJ Ranch
Stuart with the Lazy KJ Ranch which specializes in “Farm to Table” all natural grass-fed pork. Stop by their booth and try their outstanding smoked pork ribs, BBQ pork sandwich, white truffle fries with parmesan~romano, double stacked nachos, burritos, and air fried quesadillas. All prepared fresh table side. This week Stuart is offering ribs by the bone along with amazing BBQ pork any way you like it.

Lasagna and More
Chef Scotty will NOT be at the market this week.

Lettuce Man – – Vendor Grown – –

Donna will NOT be at the market.

Maggie’s Dog Treats & Accessories
Zia specializes in all natural treats for your pets that do not contain any chemicals or artificial flavors. Treat your pets right and stop by Zia’s booth.

McDonald Farm
Scrumptious baked goods are brought to you by Donna. Try lemon bars, cinnamon rolls, scones, hand pies, and the ever favorite seven nut caramel bar. She also brings chicken and duck eggs.

Mistik Valley Farms – – Vendor Grown – –
Mistik Valley Farms will NOT be at the market this week.

Papa Mike‘s Jerky
Papa Mike and his much loved beef jerky will be at the market this week. Papa Mike has a flavor for everybody so come and find your favorite. His best selling jerky is mesquite flavored and the chili lemon.

Pappardelles Pasta
Erin has dozens of artisan pastas made with organic wheat. She also has gluten-free and vegan pasta as well.

Peace, Love, & Smoked Cheese

Mickey is back this week with a new assortment of smoked cheeses.

Queen Ceviche
This week Feliz has more of her spicy red salsa (with oregano) as well as red chipotle salsa. The chipotle has a slight smoky flavor after your first bite. Don’t forget to try her guacamole or of course her royally delicious ceviche- all are available with a bag of fresh tortilla chips. Feliz will quench your thirst this week with her ice cold hibiscus lemonade. If spicing up your life is more your speed then try Feliz’s salsa or guacamole.

Ruth’s Garden – – Vendor Grown – –
 Ruth will not be at the market this week.

San Pedro River Valley Salsa
Gary will NOT be at the market this week.

San Ysidro Farms – – Vendor Grown – –
If you are looking for quality grass fed beef or lamb for your next meal or special occasion, Nathan Watkins of San Ysidro Farms will be at the market this week. Nathan has a 100% grass fed beef and lamb. Their heritage cross pigs provide their fine pork If that’s not on your menu tonight then you might try their alfalfa fed and non-GMO grain supplemented pork from their heritage cross pigs. Make sure to ask him about their other fine meat products as well. If a quick bite to eat is more your speed try one of Nathan’s warm (or take home frozen) pasties (pictured).

SAS-Z Nuts – – Vendor Grown – –
If you’d like to spice up your pistachios a bit, Steve has garlic onion, green chili garlic, chili lime and hot chili in addition to premium salted pistachios.

Sky Island/47 Ranch – – Vendor Grown – –
Ranch owner Dennis Moroney tells us that he will bring their grass fed beef and lamb as well as wild Salmon from Alaska. He and his wife Deb make their own peanut butter from certified organic peanuts. Also, they bring all natural churro sheep wool in a variety of colors (no dye added at all).

Simmons Honey Ranchito
Their local mesquite honey is now in season and its the largest crop of the year, its light amber color is beautiful reminder of the wild desert mesquite from which it originates.

Fun Honey Fact: Did you know: Honey is a natural sweetener (sweeter than table sugar) mostly composed of fructose and glucose and about 18% water (the lesser water content the better the quality of the honey). It is rich in antioxidants, fat free, and cholesterol free. Honey is an excellent energy food, so make sure you stash a few honey stix in your hiking backpack, it might just give you that extra edge to make it there and back.

Sivonn’s Garden – – Vendor Grown – –
Fresh backyard garden produce by Sivonn. Seasonal greens and other produce.

Super Natural Organics – – Vendor Brokered – –

Sweet Arizona
Roger and Debra will be back with their scrumptious treats like milk chocolate fudge and brittle.

Tawin’s Gardens and Crafts
Tawin’s Garden not only brings potted plants and succulents, but she is a whiz with her crochet needle, come check out her cute little cacti and Yodas. They make great souvenirs or gifts for the grandchildren.

Thunder Mountain Alpaca Ranch

Tortilla Arevaloes aka Esperanza

Hot lunch at the market or take home her much-sought after tortillas, also available gluten free.

Toy’s Eggrolls

Tigerlily Boba Tea

White Cane Salmon
Not here this week.