If you have relatives coming in for Thanksgiving, the Fernandina Beach Market Place farmers market is a great place to bring them - before or after the holiday.
Saturday, November 17, 2018, is also the last Saturday before Thanksgiving to pick up groceries for your traditional holiday dinner. Fresh breads, seasonal vegetables, and amazing desserts are all hand crafted and available at the Market Place. You will find fresh rolls, pastries, and breads from Rudy at Maria’s Bakery as well as Erald with Great Harvest Bread Company. If you are looking for gluten-free breads, Dee with Something Good will have sweet breads, white breads, and homemade biscuits. Fresh lima beans, peas, corn, and yard eggs are available at Boatright Farms booth, and strawberries, blackberries and fresh Georgia peaches can be found at Kings Kountry Produce. Both of these farmers will have sweet potatoes, white potatoes and pumpkins. Cabbage Creek Farms will be bringing radish, cut flowers, and a variety of squash, and Bacons Select Produce will have hydroponically grown lettuce, kale, and European seedless cucumbers. In addition to our farmers, you will find an amazing selection of sweets like Topsy’s Toffee, baby cakes and brownies from Bite Sized Confections, and flavor packs from Simply Savory where you can make your own sweet or savory dips, appetizers and desserts. If you want to make your own pies, check out Lady Bug Gourmet Foods and her pie fillings before they sell out. Michael and Michelle will have cherry, caramel apple, strawberry, peach, blueberry, blackberry, and strawberry rhubarb.
The Fernandina Beach Arts Market will also be open this Saturday with about 30 booths of arts and crafts. There are no imported or resale items in this market. One of our newest artists is J. Thompson Knives. This is a custom knife maker from Yulee, Florida. For 15 years he has been crafting one of a kind knives using stainless steel. He grinds and finishes the blades and installs handles using an assortment of stabilized woods, Micarta, bone, horn, and resins. Hardware is usually nickel silver, stainless or naval brass. It takes John about 25 hours to make a basic knife. He also does his own leather work and makes a personalized sheath for each of his knives. While completely functional, these knives are works of art to be used and enjoyed, and they make an exceptional gift.
Both markets are located in downtown Fernandina Beach, between Eighth, Alachua, and Centre Streets. These outdoor markets are open from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., rain or shine, and your well-behaved, leashed pets are welcome to join you. The farmers market is a huge fan of “shop local” movements and this week’s Booth With a Cause will be the Chamber of Commerce promoting next week’s Small Business Saturday, a nationwide American Express promotion that supports and encourages shopping your small and local businesses. Music will be provided by Tallahassee musician, Lucas Merren, and on the lawn the Shrimp Festival will be selling discounted T-shirts, and Relay For Life will have Crawl for a Cure tickets available.
