Moss Mountain Farm

I was delighted to be invited to attend Farm2Home15 blogger event featuring Arkansas Made & Arkansas Grown products with P. Allen Smith at his lovely Moss Mountain farm. We began the morning with a farmers market set up just for us to sample some Arkansas Made & Arkansas Grown products.

Arkansas Farmer’s Market at Moss Mountain Farm

It was great fun to taste our way through the farmers market. I enjoyed meeting and talking with the local farmers. We were also able to purchase their delicious products. I came away with cheese made from Arkansas raised cows milk.

Arkansas Grown & Arkansas Made

The most delicious gift of sunflower oil from Wayne Plantation. He grows the sunflowers and processes his own oil. It taste just like a sunflower seed.  It is amazing in salad dressing.  I got fresh Arkansas grown raspberries from Cedar Rock Acres.

Big D Beef from Center Ridge, Arkansas

I was delighted to find a wonderful beef supplier located not far from my home. I enjoyed meeting Beth Desalvo of Big D Beef. She had her whole family helping with her booth, kids and all. The Desalvo’s are a past Arkansas Farm family of the year. Their pride in their product really showed.

I had the yummiest amaretto brownies from Katie Connally Confections. She specializes in desserts with spirits.

I sampled the richest dark chocolate sorbet from Loblolly Creamery. They drove the cutest little vintage looking ice cream truck.  I also picked up some wonderful rice mix from April’s Family Kitchen. I was delighted that mine cooked up just as fluffy and pretty as the samples they were serving.

This Arkansas farmers’ market was just the start of all we learned about supporting Arkansas farmers. We actually got to have a couple Q&A sessions with a panel of Arkansas farmers and Arkansas product makers. We learned about the Arkansas Grown program that helps consumers easily identify locally produced foods while providing promotional opportunities for Arkansas producers. You can find Arkansas products and your nearest farmers market by going to the Arkansas Grown website.  We also learned about Arkansas Made branding to bring more awareness to products made in Arkansas. Both these programs are part of the Arkansas Department of Agriculture. It was exciting to see how they are helping bring local consumers and local producers together to help keep more money supporting our Arkansas farmers.

It was a very educational and inspiring day. I’ll post more pictures of P. Allen’s Smith’s beautiful home and gardens.  I will also tell you about another wonderful project we were introduced to, the Arkansas Gleaning Project. Be sure to check back for more Arkansas garden inspiration.  Please remember to support your local farmer!