The Oxford Farmer’s Market takes place from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through Sept. 8 in Uptown Oxford.
The 5 new vendors are:
1. AMISH CHEESE SHOP
Amish Cheese Shop owners Jan Strain and Nancy Cannon, from just over the state line near Boston, Ind., are veteran producers and retailers of cheese.
They are offering interesting cheese-related products new to Oxford. Especially intriguing to me was quark, a cream cheese more intense in flavor than the familiar foil-wrapped store brands.
They also sell feta, ricotta, quiches and cheesecakes.
2. BOLSER FARM
Bolser Farm is a multi-generation family farm in Okeana. I am especially happy when we are able to welcome a younger generation of grower to a career of growing high-quality food for us.
They have been starting with annual plants, and as the summer unfolds they expect to have a wide variety of produce. Sweet corn, melons, cucumbers, tomatoes, and a wide variety of family produce are on the horizon from the Bolser family this summer.
3. KATIE’S CLASSIC COOKIES
These cookies are baked by mother and daughter Lynne and Katie Toensmeyer, based in Hamilton. They offer 10 “classic” types of cookies.
The intensity of their chocolate flavors is especially bracing, thanks to the use of Ghirardelli chocolate chips. They accurately proclaim that “generosity is the rule” when it comes to the amount of chocolate chips, nuts and other ingredients they bake into the cookies.
4. LAMPLIGHT FARM
Located just outside Oxford, Lamplight Farm is run by Leslie and Tom Lampl, who grow microgreens.
Microgreens have a single central stem barely 1 inch long, with one pair of tiny leaves. They are harvested two to four weeks after germination.
Microgreens have a more intense flavor than mature plants or sprouts. They are also nutritional powerhouses, packing five times more nutritional value than mature versions of the same plants.
5. RAMBLIN’ ROASTIS
Oxford Farmers Market’s new coffee vendor this year is Ramblin’ Roastis.
Coffee drinkers among the other vendors at the market have been singing the praises of the coffee.
Jim Rubenstein is a professor of geography at Miami University.