Farmers markets, berry pickin’ make for a pleasant summer
Join Sara Hebert and Chris Jay as they go on dates and share their local restaurant choices and activities.
It’s no secret that the Shreveport Farmers Market is more than a great place to shop for local produce. The Market Café area at the Shreveport Farmers Market, where hungry shoppers can stop in for authentic Mexican cuisine, locally roasted coffees and teas, fresh beignets and more has become a destination in and of itself.
When it was announced that the first Benton Farmers Market would launch this summer, Sara and I wondered if the Benton market would offer the same kind of artisan, hand-crafted food options that the Shreveport market has come to specialize in. As it turns out, the fledgling Benton Farmers Market does offer delicious, hand-crafted eats – from many of the same vendors that we’ve gotten to know from the Shreveport market – in addition to crowd-pleasing festival fare like funnel cakes, jumbo turkey legs and more.
During our visit to the Benton Farmers Market, we tasted delicious homemade ice cream from Country Family Homemade Ice Cream, spicy chicken and pork hot tamales from Alyce’s Hot Tamales and Hot Sauce and – my favorite part of the whole trip – shared a big glass of freshly squeezed lemonade from a mother and daughter team operating as Daisie’s Lemonade. The Benton Farmers Market is a Sunday-only, afternoon market that runs from 12:30-5 p.m. through July 27. With temperatures steadily rising, something tells me young Daisie is going to make quite a profit this summer!
Many other well-known local vendors were on-hand selling sweet treats and refreshments, from the deliciously difficult-to-describe “whoopee pies” offered by Woo-Hoo Whoopies to Bossier City-based gelato and Italian ice vendor Sophie’s Italian Ice. The market itself was definitely a fun Sunday afternoon activity, and Sara and I are both looking forward to our next visit.
For more information on the Benton Farmers Market, visit www.bentonlafarmersmarket.com or search for the market on Facebook.
–Chris Jay
One of my first memories of spending the day with Chris’ family was a beautiful summer day out in Springhill, picking gallons of dewberries on their family’s land. Each summer, we find ourselves returning to the same spot to pick these sweet, wild and tangy berries nestled in prickly brambles. Dewberries are smaller than blackberries, but have a similar deep purply-black color when ripe. They are also delicious – in case that wasn’t obvious.
The Jay family berry briar can sometimes be a little too thorny, not to mention the trek to the patch often attracts chiggers who love my ankles as much as I love berries. We’ve learned the hard way to make certain to wear a floppy hat, good rubber boots and a nice long-sleeve linen shirt.
This year, Chris and I are looking forward to not only visiting the Jay family berry patch but also a few of our local berry farms, known for their plump blackberries and blueberries. If you’re interested in the full berrypicking experience, there are a few local farms that offer “pick your own”
experiences.
Shuqualak Farms in Frierson will clean, size, grade and pack your bounty for free and their blueberry popsicles should not be missed. Their farm is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. If picking isn’t for you, they’ll even pick them for you. For more information, call 797-8273.
Another option for picking is Hilcrest Blueberry Farm with 148 acres of berries. After filling up on your berries, visit the farm store that sells blueberry lemonade as well as yogurt topped with fresh blueberries, blackberries and local honey. Hilcrest is open 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit hillcrestblueberryfarm.com.
–Sara Hebert
