Our Little Intern

Our Little Intern 3 year old Tyson Harrah
Helps mommy roll dough to bake Whole Wheat Breads

Finally, a word from me The Founder of UTGU and a BIG THANKS!

Nissa has done a superb job with the blog. I asked Nissa to keep a journal when I hired her last year, but she came up with something better, A blog! Smart cookie!
Nissa and Ashley have been awesome! While I was pregnant all of last season and very pregnant the last half of the season, I couldn't have done it without them! Nissa, Ashley, my husband Kenny and my mom, really pulled alot of weight between them last year! Thanks to all of them for their hard work, love and support!!

Sneak Peak of "The Market Book"!

Kathryn Albright is the founder of organization called Friends of the Market. The volunteers for FotM can be seen selling Blacksburg Farmers' Market t-shirts and are the ones who set up and man our special events. One such event is coming up, a breakfast at the market (it's slated for Mid-July) . As a special project for the event, Kathryn is putting together a book telling the history and behind the scenes stories of each of the market vendors. It will include original photography from each of the vendors as well!

Of course, we are so busy with our work in the kitchen, it has taken us right to the deadline for our photos to be submitted for the book. At any rate, here is a small sampling of the photos we are going to submit, and thus a sneak peak of the book!

Canning jars are worth their weight in gold around our kitchen!

Ashley can make over 100 of our signature Oat Power Cookies out of a single batch of dough. AND she does it with a smile!

The secret ingredient in our Irish Scones? A gentle touch.


I'll end with a candid shot...so you don't think we spend all of our time standing around smiling. :o)

~Nissa

NEW AND IMPROVED!

Hello everyone! Captain Obvious here to say: It's been a while, and I'm so sorry! Last fall and winter were pretty crazy, and I had no time to blog... not even on my personal blog. So, to prevent such a long gap in communication I am learning how to delegate some of my blogging responsibilities. By that I mean, I have finally become computer savvy enough to have more than one author on this blog! From now on you won't only be hearing from me. You'll also be hearing from my fellow assistant, Ashley, the founder and owner of Under the Green Umbrella, Tracie and from a new assistant...or two!

There really is so much that goes on at Under the Green Umbrella besides what you all see at the market, and each of our experiences are so different! For instance, did any of you Blacksburg customers know that we also do business at the Grandin Farmers' Market? That's where Ashley is on Saturdays, and she always has such wonderful stories to share with us when she gets back. We plan to write about our entire experience at UtGU. That includes but is not limited to: kitchen chatter, our friends at the market, new products, recipes, even those moments when the line between work and home becomes a little hazy.

If you haven't already noticed, we are all about the chit-chat at UtGU, and this blog is no different! Please comment, subscribe, and if you have a blog of your own, leave us a link! :o) We really love to connect with our community and we want to know about you.

Cheers to new beginings!
Nissa

Delicious Developments

Yesterday we (Tracie, Ashley and I) were discussing what was going to happen during the Fall market season since Tracie had told us in the past that it was a little different from the Summer market season. Somehow I had arrived at the conclusion that savory scones sounded like a good idea. Tracie said Ben, her partner in the beginning, and his wife do make savory scones. She and Ashley both agreed with me, that it sounded pretty tasty, so we are strongly considering it in the coming months. Tracie suggested I write about that conversation in the blog, and it got me thinking about all the product development I do on my own when I'm deciding what kind of cake to make. It lead me to write this list, which I have gone back and entitled it:

Things I have learned to think about in the product development process
(Other than, "does this taste good?")

• Will this compete with any of the other products?
• Would it compete with anyone at the market?
  
• Are seasonal ingredients involved? (This is not always thought about in an obvious way. For example, while we were thinking about the savory scone idea, it came up that this would be a good way to make up for the blueberry and raspberry scones, since those berries won't be in season much longer and thus not as readily available at the price they are now.)
  
• What will the weather be like? (This sounds silly, but you would be surprised how much more chocolate cake you would sell on a cool day than a hot one. )
• How much will it cost to make?
  
• How long will it take?
  
• Is it something that is different enough that people will buy it, but not so different that they are scared to try it?
  
• How easy it is to transport?
  
• Will I be able to leave it out on the table for a couple of hours without it becoming unsafe to eat?
• Is it pretty? (This also sounds like such a weird thing to think about, but it's true...I make a chocolate cake that was pretty tasty...but it wasn't very dark and chocolate-y looking and my sales were really low that week.)
  

I would say my baking background before taking this up was pretty strong...but the business part not so much. I'm learning so much about the business aspect of baking for a farmers' market, and I love it!

Steppin' Out

Steppin' Out was great as a customer, just okay as a vendor. We (the farmers' market) were forgotten about by the city and were only able to set up on Saturday...like we normally do. Luckily we were able to have extended hours on Saturday so we were able to see the extra stuff we made for Friday. I actually ran out of cake and had to go to the kitchen to make more.

In other news, Saturday was the first day of work for our new market manager. She's was so gracious and introduced herself to all of the vendors, and even us interns. I enjoyed getting to chat with her briefly and I am glad to have her there to help us!

I'm So Excited!

Friday is Steppin' Out! I cannot wait. From what I hear about it, this event will definitely be blog worthy! I hope business is good. We have done a lot to prepare for it!