Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Fernandina Beach Farmer's Market

I spent last week in Fernandina Beach, Florida for my family reunion.  On Saturday morning we decided to go to the Farmer's Market.  It was a bustling row of tents full of gorgeous locally grown produce and to my delight plants!!  There were 3 vendors with plants.  One had amazing large pots and hanging baskets of succulents.  Another had gorgeous blooming orchids some of which I had never seen!  And another had an assortment of large tropical plants.




 Peas!! If I had had a way to keep these frozen I would have bought all of them!! I love peas and growing up we had them at almost every meal.  But, now I have the hardest time finding field peas anywhere in Atlanta.  My Dad froze a bunch of them last year and gave me 12 bags. I rationed them out to the point that when I would have peas cooked for dinner Jody would ask me what the special occasion was!  

 Beautiful summer squash!
 Some Local flare!  I actually saw this guy all over the place.
I was impressed with how many vendors were at the market. 
 Tomatoes and Peaches.

 Peppers Cucumbers, Squash and Zucchini.
 Peas and Blackberries
 Musical entertainment.
 What is with that peach??
 A closer look - seriously what is with the stem on that peach?  LOL
 Different sizes of tomatoes.
 I loved the different bottles they had to serve.  They even had Peach Nehi!
 This vendor had different herb blends for seasoning and for dips, soups, and breading.
 More peppers.

 Yellow and Red bananas and squash.
 Sweet potatoes.
 Mangoes and Papaya! You don't see these in Atlanta's Farmers Markets.  My Aunt and Uncle brought us some fresh mango and I brought one home.  I can't wait to make Mango Salsa in a few days!  We all ate some of their fresh mango and it was delicious.  So completely different than store bought mango.  It was full of flavor and so tender!
 Cherries, Blackberries, Strawberries... and??? I don't know what the other fruit is... Do you?  I'm going to look it up.. I'll post what I find.. But it is so pretty isn't it?
 Ok.. I looked it up.. It's called Rambutan. Apparently it's a tropical tree and the fruit is very popular.  Now I wish I had bought some to try.
 Peaches and cherries.
 Kale.  
 Herb plants for sale.
 Many different types of greens were for sale.
Salsas.  Canned tomatoes and Pasta Sauces were available in this booth.

Ok.. and now on to the PLANTS!!!

The first Plant booth we found was Seven Trees Succulent Nursery.  They had succulents, bromeliads, and foliage plants like fancy leaf begonias.


Gorgeous Blooming Guzmania
Purslane in full bloom.  This is the best succulent bloomer for summer gardens and containers.  But don't expect it to bloom on a cloudy day.  This is a sun loving bloom.  Each morning as the sun comes up the flowers open and at the end of the day they close.  If the sun doesn't come out they don't bloom.
Huge Mother of Thousands Succulent.
Foxtail Fern, Fancy Leaf Begonia, Devil's Backbone.



My Mother fell in love with this  blooming Echeveria.  It has fuzzy silver grey leaves and a gorgeous, contrasting orange bloom.  We left this booth to walk the rest of the market and come back and make our selections and unfortunately this sold in the mean time.  I told her I would get another one for her and I've already picked one out at work at Pike Nurseries! :-)
I love Fancy leaf begonias and this crinkly one is a personal favorite.
More succulents.  She had most of them in hanging baskets.  This definately made it easier to carry.

My  Mother loved them all!



We moved on and found Cabbage Creek Farm.  They had gorgeous cut flowers. I particularly loved the  black sunflower! Truly beautiful!


Orchids by Del-Rei had all the ususal Orchid favorites and many very unusual varieties.  I'm not going to even try to name them now.  If you know them feel free to comment.  I'll research them and add the names when I find them.  It's not often that I get stumped by a plant.  I'm truly to get to learn new orchids! It was hard to resist buying these beauties.

Gorgeous phalaenopsis.
















Cookies and baked bread.

The last booth at the back of the market was Blooming Landscape Gardens.  They had  a mix of larger tropical plants and shrubs.


Beautiful Bird's Nest Fern
Hosta Bloom with African Mask Alocasia in the background.
Variegated Colocasia. I had never seen this one.
Beautiful Hibiscus blooms
I love perennial Hibiscus!! Such a great bloom this time of year!! 
Croton.  There are so many different varieties of croton.  This narrow leafed variety is one of my favorites!

Crocosmia

Papyrus
This Papyrus was taller than me! Okay.. I'm only 5'3 but still... it was really tall!!




Duranta
Salvia,  I'm not sure which variety this is but it looks like a Salvia coccinea.  The most popular Salvia coccinea 'Black and Blue' is a favorite of hummingbirds and I'm sure this one would be too!!







So we left the tropicals and went back to the succulents.  My Mother missed out on her favorite and I had a hard time choosing mine.  I really wanted to choose something that is hard to find.  I probably spent 20 minutes trying to choose.....










Here I am with my final selections!! I'm soo happy!! :-)

At home in the hotel for a couple of days.  
Yes.  My husband, Jody, is all too familiar with packing plants on our travels :-)



Yay!! They made it home with me.  I have plans for a couple of container gardens.  I'll post pictures when I've finished them.

If you are planning to visit the Amelia Island and Fernandina Beach, Florida area... don't miss the Farmer's Market on Saturday from 9 - 1!  You won't be dissapointed!


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