Downtown Matthews NC--Matthews Farmers Market Opens for the Season
Saturday mornings in downtown Matthews NC are a lot of fun. 
The fun begins at 7:30 am when the Matthews Farmers Market opens and continues all morning as area chefs, families and neighbors visit the stalls and participate in the activities. Last Saturday, a beautiful and sunny day, brought many people out to enjoy the opening day of the spring-summer-fall season.
The Matthews Farmers Market is located in downtown Matthews NC beside Renfrow Hardware on North Trade Street. This is the market's eighteenth year of operation and it sells only goods produced within 50 miles of Matthews. Visiting the market is an event. A cooking demonstration by a chef of an area restaurant begins at 8:30 am. These demonstrations are usually crowded and end with free samples for everyone. This year, an Ask-A-Chef table will be staffed from 7:30am to 8:30 am. Music is provided by local musicians and a local artisan demonstrates a farm craft. Then, of course, there are the food vendors from local farms.
Saturday's market didn't have much produce as the season is too early for most vegetables. If you wandered the booths, however, you could find some interesting wares. Two booths that I enjoyed were selling artisanal goat cheese and chocolate.
Bosky Acres Goat Cheese
Bosky Acres is a family run goat farm located in Waxhaw NC. They make a fresh unripened goat cheese called Chevre. They sell the cheese at three farmers markets, to area restaurants, and whole/fine foods markets. If you visit their website, you'll see that they love their goats.
The Secret Chocolatier
Robin and Andy Ciordia manned the Secret Chocolatier booth on Saturday. They sell artisanal chocolate made by Bill Dietz, Robin's father. The booth was filled with mouthwatering delicacies for the Easter holiday. Just reading their blog makes my mouth water.
Any visit to downtown Matthews NC should include a stop at Renfrow Hardware. Where else would you be able to buy lady bugs? Renfrow Hardware opened in 1900 and still has the original hardwood flooring and pot-bellied wood stove.
I hope to include the Matthews Farmers Market in my Saturday morning plans during April. Next week, you can go on a chef's tour of the market itself where you will learn about the individual market farmers and the produce they grow. April 25th is Biscuit Day at the market. You can make your favorite biscuit to enter into the biscuit contest or sample the entries and vote for your favorites in a "People's Choice" category.
Learn more about downtown Matthews NC and living in the Matthews area.
About the author: Carol Fox of Allen Tate Realtors at 704-814-6242 has helped people find the right homes in Matthews NC for over twenty years.
Copyright 2009. Carol Fox. *Downtown Matthews NC--Matthews Farmers Market Opens for the Season*