by Kirk Ross
A hat tip to Jackie Helvey for a pleasant surprise in the form of a photo of tilapia on ice at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market posted to her Facebook feed a few weeks ago.
The Eater recently attended a local seafood summit, where among the strategies discussed was a push to get more aquaculture in the state’s farmers’ markets. Hadn’t been back for more than a week or so when Helvey broke the news that a new vendor was selling farm-raised fish.
The tilapia come from Cates Corner Farm, a new regular this year at the Wednesday market. They’re also occasionally at the market on Saturday when there’s enough space and hold regular Saturday hours at the farmstead, which is located near the corner of Arthur Minnis and Union Grove Church roads.
The tilapia are fairly good sized – about a pound or so – and are raised in well water.
Cates Corner Farm is probably most well known for its pumpkins, but also produces vegetables, herbs and flowers, and even has some aquaponic vegetables on sale.
Farm meets fork
Mark your calendar for May 20. That’s the date for a lovely jaunt to the far northern part of Orange County – Hurdle Mills to be exact – and the annual Farm to Fork picnic sponsored by the N.C. Agricultural Foundation and organized by Orange County, the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) and Slow Food Triangle.
The annual farmingest/foodiest event of the year features more than 50 farms, restaurants and food artisans getting together for an afternoon of feasting and fun at the W.C. Breeze Family Farm.
A ticket will run you $100, with the proceeds going to farmer training, CEFS and the PLANT new-farmers program at Breeze Farm.
Core Sound offers pro-rated shares
Last month we noted the start of the spring season for Walking Fish, the community-supported fishery (CSF) out of Beaufort that makes regular deliveries to Durham and Raleigh.
The Eater reminds you that there is a regular CSF delivery to Carrboro Plaza each Thursday via the folks at Core Sound Seafood, which is based in the real Down East, in Carteret County.
Core Sound is still signing people up for shares for this season, which started in early April, and are pro-rating the cost.
Carteret County has one of the best-organized local-seafood communities, via Carteret Catch, the state’s first local Catch Group, and Core Sound Seafood devotes a dollar from every share it sells to a special-assistance fund for fishing families. Last year, the funds went to replace pound nets for three local fishermen who had nets damaged by Hurricane Irene. Pay a visit to coresoundseafood.org to learn more and get your share.