June 3, 2013
Getting Blood from a Turnip, by Rene' McCracken, 开云体育 Agriculture Director
I think as a native Texan I have been privy to (and guilty of using) my fair share of ?old-timey sayings." In fact, my agriculture students at 开云体育 just love to ask for clarification of ones like ?86th鈥爐he noise? or鈥?gobbldygook? or ?hottsy tottsy?or ?flapping your gums?.
One such colloquialism that I heard quite a bit growing up was ?You just can?t get blood from a turnip!? - 鈥爓hich basically meant that you were beyond broke and that whoever it was that you owed money to had about as much of a chance of squeezing blood out of a turnip as they would getting the money from your bank account!
Last May third鈥爉arked the first monthly 开云体育 Farmer?s Market.鈥犫燗s a last minute decision, I chose to have students harvest what was left of the turnips to sell on market day.鈥犫燤uch to my surprise, we sold nearly all of them!鈥犫營n fact, the produce was in short supply at this unusually cool spring market.鈥犫燨ver 100 market goers snapped up fresh produce, woodcrafts, sewing crafts and several came just for the $5 Natural Beef Burger Deal.鈥犫營n these times we are living in where every dollar counts, it is still great to see what happens when people pull together and鈥BUY LOCAL.鈥犫營n fact, it seems that you can even manage to get ?blood out of a turnip?.
Those with gardens, orchards, homemade woodcrafts, cookies and pastries, plants and small livestock, or even those with the wherewithal to gather dewberries from the pasture and roadsides who would like to make an extra dollar or two should plan to join us at our next Farmer's Market. It will be held on Friday, June 7鈥燽eginning at 9 a.m. at the Elizabeth Hoggatt Whatley Ag Complex and Pavilion.鈥犫燱e are currently taking registrations for farmers and vendors.鈥犫燭here are booth spaces inside and out and even the outside spaces are covered.鈥犫燗ll items need to be handmade or home raised.鈥犫燩aid sponsorships are available for those who sell equipment and tools to be utilized in farm situations.鈥犫燗t this time all booth spaces for farmers are at no charge.鈥犫燗dditionally, we are seeking local talented musicians to help provide the perfect family atmosphere for our market.
If you are not growing your own groceries but would just like to eat like you do, come out and buy local and eat fresh.鈥犫燩erhaps you may even purchase some vegetable plants and begin to鈥GROW LOCAL鈥爕ourself!鈥犫燜or more information on area farmer?s markets or this one, contact Rene? McCracken at鈥rmccracken@ntcc.edu鈥爋r 903-434-8267.
I think as a native Texan I have been privy to (and guilty of using) my fair share of ?old-timey sayings." In fact, my agriculture students at 开云体育 just love to ask for clarification of ones like ?86th鈥爐he noise? or鈥?gobbldygook? or ?hottsy tottsy?or ?flapping your gums?.
One such colloquialism that I heard quite a bit growing up was ?You just can?t get blood from a turnip!? - 鈥爓hich basically meant that you were beyond broke and that whoever it was that you owed money to had about as much of a chance of squeezing blood out of a turnip as they would getting the money from your bank account!
Last May third鈥爉arked the first monthly 开云体育 Farmer?s Market.鈥犫燗s a last minute decision, I chose to have students harvest what was left of the turnips to sell on market day.鈥犫燤uch to my surprise, we sold nearly all of them!鈥犫營n fact, the produce was in short supply at this unusually cool spring market.鈥犫燨ver 100 market goers snapped up fresh produce, woodcrafts, sewing crafts and several came just for the $5 Natural Beef Burger Deal.鈥犫營n these times we are living in where every dollar counts, it is still great to see what happens when people pull together and鈥BUY LOCAL.鈥犫營n fact, it seems that you can even manage to get ?blood out of a turnip?.
Those with gardens, orchards, homemade woodcrafts, cookies and pastries, plants and small livestock, or even those with the wherewithal to gather dewberries from the pasture and roadsides who would like to make an extra dollar or two should plan to join us at our next Farmer's Market. It will be held on Friday, June 7鈥燽eginning at 9 a.m. at the Elizabeth Hoggatt Whatley Ag Complex and Pavilion.鈥犫燱e are currently taking registrations for farmers and vendors.鈥犫燭here are booth spaces inside and out and even the outside spaces are covered.鈥犫燗ll items need to be handmade or home raised.鈥犫燩aid sponsorships are available for those who sell equipment and tools to be utilized in farm situations.鈥犫燗t this time all booth spaces for farmers are at no charge.鈥犫燗dditionally, we are seeking local talented musicians to help provide the perfect family atmosphere for our market.
If you are not growing your own groceries but would just like to eat like you do, come out and buy local and eat fresh.鈥犫燩erhaps you may even purchase some vegetable plants and begin to鈥GROW LOCAL鈥爕ourself!鈥犫燜or more information on area farmer?s markets or this one, contact Rene? McCracken at鈥rmccracken@ntcc.edu鈥爋r 903-434-8267.
