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​City Cast Boise chatted with Ivy Merrell from The French Tips (who is on tour with Built to Spill right now) about their new album & why Ivy thinks the Boise music scene is the best it's ever been in her 20+ years of being a part of it. Listen here!​

Did you know that September is Idaho Preferred Month? It's a whole month dedicated to finding and sourcing local produce and products. Lucky for us, Boise is quite literally surrounded by local farms, ranches, orchards & vineyards, meaning we have an incredible opportunity to eat super fresh foods, grown in the same soil that we live, work & play on. Not only does eating local directly support your local ag economy, it also tastes really damn good.

Here's five ways to support your local farms:

Build your own bouquet

U-Pick flower farms are very trendy right now but for good reason: it's very fun! Go out to the farm, snip all the flowers that catch your eye & create your very own beautiful bouquet.

I wrote about our local flower farms last year (you can read it here), but here’s a little list for ya:

​Lovely Hollow Farm; 18252 Chicken Dinner Road, Caldwell

​Blue Sky Farm; 2685 N Haven Drive, Eagle

​Mason Creek Flower Farm; 17178 Madison Road, Nampa

​Leaning Barn Farms; 25733 Stephen Lane, Parma

Pick your own produce

Have you ever picked fruit right off the tree and taken a bite? It's magical. It's how fruit is supposed to taste. Go try it.

​Cherry Hill Farms in Caldwell has u-pick peaches, apples, and pumpkins, as well as a farm stand that sells apricots, peaches, apples, and veggies grown on the farm.

​The Berry Ranch in Nampa has u-pick strawberries, mountain blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, and pumpkins. They also have a farm stand with flowers, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sweet corn, berries, green beans, beef, lamb, chicken, and honey.

​Williams Fruit Ranch in Emmett has u-pick cherries, peaches, nectarines, plums, and apples.

​Gem Orchards in Emmett has u-pick cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, berries, and apples.

​Tyler's Rocky Point Orchard in Emmett has u-pick plums, peaches, and apples.

Sponsored by Duck Club

10 days til...

...Flipside Fest! The neighborhood music and mural festival is happening in Garden City on Friday, Sept 23 - Sunday, Sept 25. It's an all-ages, outdoor, multi-venue fest with 80 local & regional bands, live murals by local artists, & lots of fun to be had. Tix are still available - snag yours today!

Shop farm stands & markets

In addition to markets, many farms have roadside stands where you can buy all of the produce they grow. A few to check out...

​The Shed at Garrett Ranches in Wilder has an amazing amount of fresh produce, including cherries, apricots, watermelon, cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches, plums, Italian prunes, sweet corn, long radish, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, apples, and pumpkins.

​Wissel Farms in Nampa has peaches, plums, sweet corn, tomatoes, watermelon, farm fresh eggs, and more.

​Red Top Market in Wilder has produce and so much more, and this weekend (Sept 16-18) is their last weekend of the season! They have fruit, veggies, dairy products, eggs, beef, and honey. On Thursdays they have beer, wine, food trucks & live music.

​Vogel Farms Country Market in Kuna has beer, chicken, pork, huckleberries, eggs, cheese, berries, and take & bake farm fresh meals. You can even shop online and go pick it up at the market!

Farmers Markets are still going strong, but for some you only have a few weeks left!

• ​Boise Farmers Market; Saturdays 9am-1pm at 1500 Shoreline Drive, Boise
• ​Boise Farmers Market Mobile Market; Monday-Thursday at different locations around the valley
• ​Capital City Public Market; Saturdays 9:30am-1:30pm at The Grove Plaza, downtown Boise
• ​Meridian Main Street Market; Saturdays 9am-2pm at 33 East Broadway Avenue, Meridian
• ​Eagle Saturday Market; Saturdays 9am-2pm at Heritage Park, 185 E State Street, Eagle
• ​Nampa Farmers Market; Saturdays 9am-1pm at Lloyd Square Park in Nampa
• ​Farm to Fork Farmers Market; Tuesdays 5-8pm at Indian Creek Plaza, Caldwell

Ask for local products at the store

Did you know that many of our local stores carry local produce? And did you know that these stores take note of how many customers buy and specifically ask for local produce?

Store you can find local produce and products at include:

• ​Lark & Larder​
• ​Boise Co-op​
• ​Walmart​
• ​Winco​
• ​Albertson’s​
• ​Fred Meyer​

Eat in season

Two cool tools to help you eat more foods when they are in season. Check out the interactive calendar at idahopreferred.com & use the calendar below (you can also print this cal at the link above).

Poke around Idaho Preferred's website for more local/seasonal resources. They have lots of fun things like recipes, market maps, calendars & more. They even have a pumpkin patch map!

Thanks for reading & happy eating🌽

With love from Boise,

Marissa

We love you. You love us. We all love free stuff. Please consider supporting our work so we can keep From Boise free!

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