Watauga County Farmers' Market will be celebrating Herb and Plant Day this Saturday with live music by The Worthless Son in Laws. The band will also be at the first Wednesday market on June 2 giving you lots of opportunities to enjoy some of our favorite local music.

Visitors to the market will also have a special treat this Saturday as Fog Likely Farm will have some wood art not usually available at the market. David Sengel is recognized as one of our finer artists and has works displayed at several museums around the country including the Renwick Gallery in the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

There is also an increasing selection of spring vegetables to choose from. Springhouse Farm will have an assortment of certified naturally grown, pesticide-free greens including spinach, Swiss chard, romaine, red and green leaf lettuce and a spicy mesclin mix. They will also have Black Seeded Simpson lettuce, perfect for using in wilted lettuce recipes. Amy is crossing her fingers for our first honey harvest, but it all depends on the bees! Dale and Cory Emmons of Harmony Acres will have handmade soaps, natural lip balm, shea butter lotions, and naturally grown lettuces, onions, radishes, and sunflower shoots. Dale and Cory are taking orders for pasture raised chickens and turkeys, chickens will be ready last week in May.

Susan Wright of Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery will be bringing Lettuce Leaf basil, heirloom tomatoes including Pink Chianti, Red and Yellow Pear, Japanese Black Trifele, Italian Oxheart, and newer disease resistant Sungold. Susan will also offer Rugosa Rose and Nasturtium flower transplants along with big new Shasta Daisies and Penstemon 'Mystica'. Sunshine Cove Farm will have spinach, microgreens with sorrel, carrot, kogane, cressida, and radish, and spring mix with tatsoi, broccoli raab, red choi, mustard, and arugula.

Watauga River Farms will have plenty of sausage, hot or mild, ground pork, ham roasts, pork chops, fatback, unseasoned bacon, backbones for crockpot or grill, pork liver,spare ribs. Swiss chard, spring onions, baby green garlic, spinach, arugula, lettuce mix, baby chard, rosemary, lemon balm, chives, maybe some more chive blossoms, lambs quarter, kale, fennel, rhubarb. Nearby Alan Souther will offer all natural grass fed beef and certified organic strawberries.

Faith Mountain Farm will have a wide selection of baked goods including blueberry muffins, cranberry pecan scones, cinnamon rolls and whole grain breads from freshly ground wheat. A new offering is a high energy, healthy snack called "chewy balls". Faith Mountain Farm will also have their first produce of the season, easter egg radishes and onions. Honey is expected in the next week or so. Pasta Wench is debuting a new down home flavor of Sweet Potato Gorgonzola and Walnut, as well as four new Gluten Free Fettucini selections.

Goldenrod Gardens will have heirloom tomato plants, including Hillbilly, Pineapple, Costoluto Genovese, Black Sea Man and also some blight resistant tomato plants. A few ornamental starter plants for the edible landscape or container will also be available. Available produce will include Sweet Rainbow salad mix, dill, arugula and Bordeaux spinach. Cut flower bouquets will also be available, including gladiolus, lupine, and peonies.

Check out the new Snoozarondack Pet Beds at Laurie's Nature's Wood Designs and the single Swingerondacks for one person to swing on their porch in style! Also make sure you stop by Sweet Mountain Candles at the market. You will find great new fragrances for the spring and summer that you will just love along with new Sudz Pops, beautiful soap on a stick that looks good enough to eat. Sweet Mountain Candles are also making natural foaming hand soaps and moisturizing shower gels.

Mark Murrey will offer aesthetically pleasing hand-crafted pottery. Mark throws both porcelain and stoneware woodfired, with selections of bowls, cups, steins, vases and more. Maloo Haynes offers Maloo's Stew of handicrafts ranging in variety from cards and journals, skirts, blankets and bags, to individually handpainted shirts, bags, skirts and pants. All handcrafted items involve the use of reclaimed and recycled materials in their construction and/or making.

The Wednesday markets will be held on Wednesday afternoons for the 2010 season. The hours have been moved up to 3 - 6:30PM, starting on June 2. The market is having great success on EBT acceptance, you can call 1-828-355-4918 for more information on using EBT at the market.

Find us at the Horn in the West in Boone, turn next to First Citizens Bank on Highway 105 Extension and go to the top of the hill. Call WCFM manager Karen Bauman at 1-828-355-4918 for more information. We will be there rain or shine!