GRAND FORKS – Three Farm Daughters will demonstrate the making of a cold pasta salad when the Fourth Street Farmers Market returns Thursday, July 17, to the east sidewalk of the Grand Forks County Office Building, 151 S. Fourth St.
The market, hosted by Grand Forks Public Health, will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 14. Cooking and other demonstrations are planned.
The cooking demonstration by Three Farm Daughters is planned for roughly 3 and 4 p.m., depending on when the crowd of customers swells, said McKenna Marek, dietitian with Grand Forks Public Health.
Three Farm Daughters, a Grand Forks company, was founded by sisters – Mollie Ficocello, Grace Lunski and Annie Gorder – who were raised in a local farm family. The company produces and distributes its pasta products to all 50 states. One or more of the sisters are expected to give the demonstration. Taste-testing will follow.
Mollie Ficocello (from left), Annie Gorder and Grace Lunski, the daughters of Paul and Susie Sproule, developed and operate the Three Farm Daughters pasta business in Grand Forks.
Photo by Shawna Noel Schill
Grand Forks Public Health has aimed at hosting a featured guest at least once during each of the Farmers Market seasons, Marek said.
Next week, the July 24 market will feature a salsa-making demonstration using a bike-powered blender. Borrowed from the Grand Forks Blue Zones organization, the stationery bike has a blender attached, Marek said. The blender operates when people pedal the “smoothie bike.”
“If people want to hop on the blender, they sure can,” Marek said.
On Aug. 7, Three Sisters Flower Farm, a local enterprise, will bring buckets of fresh-cut flowers from which customers can pick to create a bouquet for purchase.
The Aug. 14 market will feature a demonstration on overwintering tomato cutting. The presentation will be given by Katy Cavanaugh, horticulturist and landscape supervisor with the Grand Forks Park District.
Over the next several weeks, Allard’s Market and Greenhouse, the sole vendor for this market, will be selling beets, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, peppers, onions, potatoes,tomatoes and corn. Toward the end of the season, “they typically bring melons,” Marek said.
The taste-testing will incorporate produce that’s available at the market.
“It’s another good opportunity – in addition to the Town Square Farmers market – for people to come out and purchase fresh produce,” Marek said, “especially those who are not here on weekends.”
Examples of some of the produce Allard’s Market and Greenhouse sells at the Fourth Street Farmers Market which, this year, is set for Thursdays through Aug. 14
Contributed / Grand Forks Public Health
“My goal every year is for Allard’s to sell out,” said Mandy Burbank, dietitian with Grand Forks Public Health.
Each week the market will offer a new recipe, Burbank said. “There’s a new tasting for people to try. It’s a great time to talk about cooking and try something new. We encourage the public to come out. It’s a fun event.”
This marks the 14th year the market has been organized, according to Shaylee Miller, communications strategist with Grand Forks Public Health.
Allard’s Market and Greenhouse offers a wide variety of produce for sale at the weekly Fourth Street Farmers Market, which opens Thursday, July 17, and continues through Aug. 14 on the east sidewalk of the Grand Forks County Office Building downtown.
Contributed / Grand Forks Herald
The market offers “an opportunity for folks to shop for fresh produce, support local farmers and promote social well-being,” according to the Grand Forks Public Health event announcement. “(This) market has become a location for connection, networking and healthy movement among those working in the downtown area.”
Pamela Knudson is a features and arts/entertainment writer for the Grand Forks Herald.
She has worked for the Herald since 2011 and has covered a wide variety of topics, including the latest performances in the region and health topics.
Pamela can be reached at pknudson@gfherald.com or (701) 780-1107.