Barbee Farms will be back again this year. These carrots were from a previous year’s crop. (David Boraks/DavidsonNews.net file photo)

Vera Samuels will give cooking demonstrations at the market’s opening day Saturday.

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Eight new vendors ranging from food trucks to poultry and vegetable farmers to a scuppernong winemaker will join the Davidson Farmer’s Market for the 2013 spring and summer season. After a winter of twice-monthly tailgate markets, sales shift back to a weekly schedule this Saturday, April 6, from 8am to noon at the market ground next to Davidson Town Hall.

Shoppers will find a slightly revised layout, with the same popular features as past years, including cooking demonstrations (with a new roster of chefs), live local music, and kids’ activities, along with new workshops on gardening and composting. Read the full story

The 10th edition of the semi-annual Queen’s Feast: Charlotte Restaurant Week returns Friday, Jan. 18, to Sunday, Jan. 27, at a record 112 restaurants in six counties in the greater Charlotte area and Lake Norman. Specials and details, along with hotel discounts, are now live on the Queen’s Feast website, www.CharlotteRestaurantWeek.com.

Participating restaurants offer special prix fixe dinners of three or more courses, for $30 per person  (plus tax and tip). Popular eateries are joining in again across Charlotte to Matthews, Concord, Belmont, Gastonia, Waxhaw, the Lake Norman area of northern Mecklenburg and Iredell counties, and Fort Mill, S.C. Read the full story

Beekeepers at Davidson College. (DavidsonNews.net file photo)

MOORESVILLE – “Beekeeping Basics” is the topic at the next free nature program sponsored by Lake Norman Wildlife Conservationists. The meeting is at 6pm Thursday, Jan. 10, in the Youth Services Room of Mooresville Public Library, 304 S. Main St.

Terry Pupp, owner of Four Oaks Honeybees in Iredell County, will discuss bees, beekeeping, and some of the challenges of the modern-day beekeeper. He will bring some of the “tools of the trade,” such as a smoker, a jacket and a hive complete with honeycombs. No bees will attend, as they are hibernating this time of year! Read the full story

Davidson Farmer’s Market’s winter tailgate market is back this Saturday morning, Dec. 15, and market organizers say they’ve also decided to add a pre-Christmas market on Saturday, Dec. 22, as well.
Read the full story

Joanne Weir

TV chef Joanne Weir will be at Davidson College on Wednesday, Feb. 8, for a talk and Mediterranean lunch. Ms. Weir is host of the public television series “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Class” and a new series titled “Joanne Weir’s Cooking Confidence.”

She’ll be here to meet fans, talk about cuisine, and offer a Mediterranean luncheon she has inspired. The event will continue from 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. in Davidson College’s Vail Commons dining hall.

The cost of the luncheon is $9.75. For information call 704-894-2600 or email crmombert@davidson.edu.

The Lake Norman Wine and Food Festival has landed a collaborator for its 2nd annual festival on Saturday, Oct. 22, at Kenton Place in Cornelius. The festival is partnering with Lake Norman Rotary Club for this year’s event, which will be cut back to one day. Read the full story

2011 market poster, image by Dione Goyette

2011 summer season begins Saturday next to Town Hall

Davidson Farmer’s Market kicks off its third summer of weekly markets this Saturday, April 9, with a lineup of more than 40 farmers, bakers, cheesemakers, chefs and other vendors from around the area.

Open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, the market has become a weekend destination for residents and visitors. The market has kept a twice-monthly schedule over the winter, and now returns to weekly markets through Thanksgiving.

“Our farmers and vendors have been working hard this winter to plan their offerings to meet the expanding customer demand at the Market,” Market Manager Mary Jane Leach said. Read the full story

Davidson Farmer’s Market will host a pre-holiday market this Saturday, Dec. 18, from 9 a.m. to noon next to Town Hall in downtown Davidson. Also below: Info on New Year’s dinners and other events coming up at area restaurants, and about the Town Board’s vote on urban chickens.
Read the full story

Tim Groody, Flatiron Kitchen + Taphouse

Davidson Farmer’s Market is open again Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon next to Town Hall, and this week’s market features Tim Groody, of Flatiron Kitchen + Taphouse as guest chef. The market also will have music and other special events.

Mr. Groody opened Flatiron Kitchen in the Stowe’s Corner building at South and South Main Streets this summer with two partners. He favors local ingredients and plans to search the market Saturday morning for something to cook at his tent. Stop by at 9:30 and 10:30 at the Town Hall end. Read the full story

The 2010 Taste of Charlotte festival comes to downtown Charlotte this weekend, with more than 30 restaurants serving everything from tiramisu and BBQ sliders to “dragon puffs” and reuben bites. Read the full story

“You Don’t Eat Grass – Grow What You Eat!” That’s the title of a free brown-bag lunchtime discussion on Thursday, March 18, at Davidson Town Hall. The event features Christy Shi (founder of Know Your Farms) and Mary Jane Leach (director of the Davidson Farmers Market). They’ll talk about growing food in the home landscape.

It’s at 1 p.m. in the Davidson Town Hall Board Room, 216 S. Main St. The event is one of a series leading up to the town’s first Arbor Day celebration Friday, March 20, on the Village Green. Read more, March 15, 2010, “Greenway tour, local food class and Arbor Day celebration.”