Join us at the Spring Farmers’ Market in Exeter,  our final indoor market of the season!

On Saturday, April 23rd, 40+ farmers and food producers will be in the cafeteria of the Exeter High School in Exeter, NH, from 10am to 2pm selling their meats, cheeses, milk, eggs, vegetables, baked goods and maple syrup! You can find a full list of participating vendors and the products they will be selling at [1] www.seacoasteatlocal.org.

[2] Exeter High School is located at 315 Epping Road in Exeter. Take Route 101 to exit 9, follow route 27 west 1.8 miles. School is on the right after the United Methodist Church. [3] Here’s a map!

Look forward to: Fresh green vegetables

Early spring brings healthy fresh greens of a wide variety. Greens are packed with vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, fiber, and folic acid. They can be eaten raw, wilted, blanched, sautéed, braised, or even puréed into sauces. You’ll find spinach, lettuce, Swiss chard, bok choy, kale, salad and mesclun mixes, arugula and beet greens, alongside radishes, scallions, fresh herbs, carrots, potatoes, turnips and spring dug parsnips.

Get started with greens: [4] A Visual Guide to Cooking Greens.

Farmers will have milk, cheese and maple syrup. Baked goods and prepared foods will be available, often made from locally grown ingredients. Area food producers have pledged to a high standard of localism this year and will be offering ready-to-eat meals, soups and stews, jams and jellies that contain locally grown ingredients.

[5] Beef, pork, chicken, lamb, and goat will be available from local farmers at the market, providing a delicious, local and more sustainable meat supply for you and your family. Fourteen area farmers will be selling meats, offering amazing choices. Participating chicken, lamb, and goat producers include [6] Coppal House Farm, [7] Harrison’s Poultry Farm, [8] Illneva Farm, [9] Jenness Farm, [10] Kellie Brook Farm, [11] Lasting Legacy Farm, [12] New Roots Farm, [13] Patridge Farm, and [14] Riverslea Farm.

You can find a full list of participating vendors and the products they will be selling at [15] www.seacoasteatlocal.org

Featured food: Eggs

[16] As spring arrived, so did egg season! Chickens respond naturally to the increase in daylight, making eggs just as much a seasonal food as our other farm fresh foods. At the “Eggsetah” Farmers’ Market this Saturday, there will be 12 farmers selling fresh eggs; perfect timing for the egg decorating holiday. Fresh eggs keep up to five weeks in the refrigerator, making it easy to stock up and never be out of local eggs. Many farmers sell eggs in mixes of colors; buy a few dozen and keep the already colored ones for eating in the coming weeks. Purchasing local eggs makes a significant positive impact on our environment, while providing you and your family with a more nutritionally sound, safer food compared to the supermarket variety.

The diverse diet that chickens eat when provided real access to the outdoors means the eggs are high in folic acid, vitamins B6 and B12, calcium, zinc, sulfur, magnesium, carotenoids and protein. According to [17] Sustainable Table, “Egg protein is the most nutritious readily-available, complete protein known-it is the standard of comparison for other proteins.” And the flavor of eggs from local farms is amazing! There is simply no comparing the extraordinary taste of eggs from the farmers’ market to the mass produced ones. Stop by the Seacoast Eat Local table for simple and easy recipes for eggs.

Learn more:

• [18] 5 Reasons To Buy Eggs At Farmers’ Markets

• [19] Worried about bad eggs? How to buy the healthiest ones

[20] Get your garden started 

In addition to fresh foods, farmers will have early season seedlings for gardeners. Spring flowers, herbs, and fresh vegetable starts will be for sale from farmers with experience growing the varieties they are offering. There will also be seeds for sale from High Mowing Organic Seeds of Vermont at the Seacoast Eat Local table.

You can find a full list of participating vendors and the products they will be selling at [21] www.seacoasteatlocal.org.