Farmer's Market Spotlight: Elliott's Farm

    This is Ryan Elliott and his wonderful family.  Uh, excuse me...you didn't wave.  That's it.  Thank you for that friendly wave back to them.  Always nice to be neighborly, even if you're not close by I always say.
    Ryan's family has been part of the Chillicothe Farmer's Market for oh, I'd say three years now.  Could be four, though, but I'm thinking it's three.  You are probably thinking that last name sounds familiar and it should.  He's related to Charlie, my market neighbor that sells that awesome maple syrup.  In fact, Charlie is in the middle of both me and Ryan.  I think it's a good place to be because he keeps Ryan in line.  Nothing like 'ole grandpa giving him the hairy eyeball if necessary.  Ok, so it's never been necessary...but he's there just in case.
    Ryan started selling produce on occasion at Charlie's table and then the Market bug hit him and he decided to get his own space.  Let me tell you, they need all that space!  The Elliott's are one of the first on the scene every season with fresh vegetables.  I don't know if it's one of those hoop houses or a greenhouse, but it's one of those totally cool garden buildings that get the fresh goodies to the Market a tad bit earlier, giving customers their first taste of the bounty to come.  Just this past weekend they had mondo sized green peppers, uber big tomatoes, little tomatoes, red potatoes, onions...and the icing on the cake...ok, so it's the meat that comes before the icing on the cake...goat meat!
    Now you're wondering if I've bought meat and produce from the Elliott's.  The answer is a big resounding YES -of course I have!  Just this weekend I bought some ground goat meat.  In fact, that's what we had for dinner tonight - goat burgers on the grill.  No, the kid's don't know that's what they ate.  Yes, they ate it and thought it was delicious.  No, I'm still not going to tell them because they wouldn't believe me anyway, thinking I was yanking their chain yet again about something.  If you haven't given goat meat a go, I highly recommend it.  This past weekend they also had roasts and shanks, too.
    Now I have to tell you, Ryan and his wife has been an absolute blessing to me when I roll in and start setting up for the market.  I have struggled with putting up my canopy every Saturday since I bought it four years ago.  They have spent many Saturday mornings helping me raise that canopy up where it needs to be.  For that I truly do thank them.  And while I'm thinking on it, their daughter had her own goodie table set up there a few weeks back and I want to thank her for the wonderful treats she sold.  I'm always one to do what I can to help kids out and I couldn't pass her's up, especially since they were sweets.  Then again, she could have been selling pet rocks and I'd have been first in line for a new one.  No idea where I put that last one...
    If you haven't taken the time to get to know the folks from Elliott's Farm, make sure you do.  How about this coming Saturday?  Trust me, you'll be glad you did!  Smiling & Waving, Sharon     

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