Pepper Place Farmers Market

This is the Shiitake Guy I was telling you about. He has a real passion for mushrooms. 

We are getting ready for the farmers market in Birmingham, Alabama. Our crop for this market was massive.  We really didn't expect to have such a large crop of mushrooms. We were both amazed. Our son Cian was very encouraging. He said, "I really think you guys will sell them all." We will see.

Pepper Place Farmers market

When we arrived at Pepper Place it was pouring down rain. We had a ton of mushrooms to sell and had never been to this market before. We were both a little skeptical, because it was raining and who wants to go out and shop in the rain. Several people where walking around with umbrellas. After a while the rain slowed down and more people came. There were several times we were crowded with eager mushroom lovers. Charles' Mother and her friend came by just in time to help us out. We had her filling up the baskets while I cooked and gave out samples and Charles bagged up the mushrooms for customers.

Shiitake Mushrooms 

This is how we grow our mushrooms using oak and sweet gum logs. We used this particular log as a display because it was unique. People are astounded by the way they grow. We have a lot of fun watching them walk by. We can see them processing what they are looking at and then hear them say,"Mushrooms! Wow, that is so cool."

I usually make samples for our customers to try. One of my favorites is shiitake fries.They are always a hit and everyone loves to try them. I had one little girl tell me she didn't like mushrooms. So I convinced her try a shiitake fry. She reluctantly did and after a couple of bites she smiled real big and said, "Oh my goodness, that does taste like a french fry."  As the rain continued through out the day people came out anyway. We had fun meeting new people and sold out of our mushrooms by 11:20. Yes, I would say, "It was a good day."

Shiitake Fries

Ingredients:

Olive oil 

sliced shiitake mushrooms

garlic powder

natures seasonings

Method:

Put your olive oil in a skillet. Let it get it pretty hot. Add your sliced shiitake mushrooms. Sprinkle more olive oil on the mushrooms. Season them with garlic powder and Nature's Seasonings. Don't hold back. Season those fries. Let them cook on one side till golden brown, then flip them over and let them brown on the other side. When they start to crisp up they are done. Tastes just like a french fry, but they are so much better for your health. No ketchup needed for these guys. Yummy!

Markets we will be at for the month of July:

Montevallo     July 1

Pepper place  July 6

Valleydale      July 13

Montevallo     July 15

Pepper place  July 27

Montevallo     July 29