Hello, everyone! There’s only one more week to go in February, and then we will be into March! Today is going to be a chilly one, but it looks like the rest of the week will be in the 50s and one day in the 60s next week. Maybe winter weather is behind us for good….only time will tell!

Leap Year is on Thursday! Historically, Irish monks passed a law in 1288 that Leap Year would be the only day when it was acceptable for a woman to propose marriage to a suitor. Women were tired of men taking too long to pop the question. If a woman proposed on Leap Year to a suitor, he must say yes or he was fined as much as 12 gloves or enough silk to make a new dress.

Both locations will have the latest edition of Marietta High School’s newspaper The Original this week. The students really do a great job of highlighting what is going on around the school, as well as national news. Please pick up a free copy, plus, two of our very own employees…Izzy Becker and Cam Goeller both write for the school newspaper.

Here’s the update for the outside of the market….

Spring is almost here! We are down to less than a month! It’s now to really start planning our gardens and what we want to do this year.

One of my very favorite vegetables to roast is asparagus! I like to just use a little olive oil, sea salt, and course black pepper. MMMM! Asparagus is an easy perennial to grow and can give you delicious stalks for up to 30 years. It comes in three colors…..white, purple, and green. White is very rare, and mainly found in northern Europe. White asparagus is actually just green asparagus that does not have enough light, so it can’t produce chlorophyll, so it does not change to green. It has a nuttier, milder flavor than the traditional green. Now, purple asparagus is its own variety, but is planted and harvested the same was as the green. The purple means it is full of antioxidants which are so good for us! The main thing to know about planting asparagus……you must be patient! You cannot harvest any until the third year.

Here’s the update for inside the market…..

Guess what’s back!! Julie’s Spicy Ketchup and Julie’s Spicy Mustard is back at the market!

In honor of today being National Tortilla Chip Day, stop by Huck’s for a delicious variety of tortilla chips as well as lots of different types of salsas! Walnut Creek has yellow corn and white corn tortilla chips. Conn’s sells yellow corn tortilla chips as well. As far as salsas go, do you like sweet, traditional or spicy? We have Old Fashioned Peach Salsa, Corn Salsa, Hot Salsa, and Medium Salsa from Amish Wedding. We carry Cherry Salsa, Pineapple Salsa, Peach Salsa, Chunky Hot Salsa, and Chunky Mild Salsa from Walnut Creek. We also carry Jose Madrid’s line of salsa which includes: Garden Cilantro Salsa Mild, Peach Mild, Spanish Verde XX Hot, Hot, and Pineapple Hot. I think I know what we will all be snacking on this week!

Looking for a delicious way to use Walnut Creek Hot Pepper Jelly? Poor it over a block of Walnut Creek cream cheese and pair it with some cut up veggies, crackers, or pretzels! Yum!

This week is also National Chocolate Covered Nut Day (Sunday) and National Strawberry Day (Tuesday)! Stop in for some Dark Chocolate Covered Almonds, Strawberry ice cream, Strawberry milk from Florence Creamery, or my favorite….strawberries!