Scavengers invaded our salad station today at Jonesborough Farmer’s Market in Jonesborough, TN.  Hello everyone, Debbie, Appalachia Cares/AmeriCorps, reporting in on Rural Resources in Greeneville, TN.  Our teens rose this morning with the sun to make sure to be on time for Jonesborough Farmer’s Market kids day scavenger hunt.  We took our new gardening teens to explore the market – find new vegetables/specialty crops, explore marketing strategies, and experience life at a farmers market.  What better way to do this than through a scavenger hunt!  The scavenger hunt was themed around building a salad.  The teens were split into pairs with younger kids who were visiting.  They went out with list in hand, searching for items that can be used in a salad, and to meet some unique vendors at the market.  But, the list was not simple, everything was written in riddles for them to solve and find.  Once finding the items, and solving all the riddles on the list, the groups of scavengers invaded our salad making station!!

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Some of our older teens, who have been through the cooking/culinary arts section, setup and helped make salads with produce from the farmers.  The scavengers brought a few items back from some of the vendors that the teens then showed them how to wash and cut for the salad they would create.

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The scavengers sat and ate their salads!  I was shocked with some responses from the teens we took.  One young lady, Emily, had never had a radish before!  And guess what, she liked it!!!!!  Another young man, Jesse, does not like lettuce and greens, but did try the salad and ate several bites.  Maybe we are going to change his mind!  The little scavengers enjoyed creating their own salad with a variety of toppings – strawberries, onions, radish, and sunflower micro greens.  A three-year old came through and wanted everything on her salad!  She enjoyed scavenging and eating her locally sourced salad.

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Farmer Melissa shared a recipe for a Green Garlic and Cilantro Dressing that we made for the salads.  It was very good, nice and creamy for a sweet/tangy dressing.  For those who were not venturous to try something new, we had Hidden Valley Ranch.  Here is the recipe if anyone would like to give it a try:

1 tablespoon green garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, minced

1 tablespoon mustard – a mustard with seeds in it works very nice in this recipe

2-4 tablespoons of sorghum or honey

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup whole fat plain yogurt

1/4 cup olive oil

salt

pepper

In a small to medium mixing bowl add garlic, cilantro, mustard, sorghum/honey, lemon, vinegar, and yogurt.  Whisk.  Slowly begin whisking olive oil into mixture as well as salt and pepper until you reach the desired consistency.  Taste for seasoning.  Add more sorghum/honey if you want a more sweet and tangy dressing.  Don’t be shy to generously salt to bring out flavors.

Well, off to plan on finishing putting in teen gardens next week, them moving into a pact summer program.