The Great Falls Farmers Market has a campaign going to celebrate the winter harvest with a “Veggie Pack” and accompanying recipe – offered at a substantial discount to encourage local families to get to know the local winter crop offerings. The Pack includes all the certified organic veggies from local farms that you will need to make a home-cooked meal from the recipe provided.

According to Farmers Market Manager, Kathleen Murphy, “A visit to the farmers market can be intimidating if you don’t know how to prepare winter vegetables. No matter how beautiful their colors and shapes, if you don’t know some easy ways to transform your vegetables into a tasty meal, it can be really frustrating. We hope to make it easy for people to cook vegetables in new ways each week, building their confidence.”

This week’s recipe was “Dutch Stamppot,“ a classic dish from the Netherlands that is easy to prepare. Ingredients in the bag included organic russet potatoes, carrots, collard greens (in place of kale), and a large onion as well as a recipe. Stamppot can be prepared as a vegan dish with vegetable broth, as a vegetarian dish with milk, and as a “meat and potato dish” it combines well with sausage, which can also be found each week at the Farmers Market’s Liberty Hill Farms and/or High View Farms.

The “Veggie Pack” offers outstanding value. This week’s bag of organic vegetables cost only $6. “Not only are our ‘Veggie Packs’ convenient, they are also a tremendous bargain,” says Murphy. “We are offering a discount on our already low prices for organic vegetables. If you were to purchase these ingredients at any grocery store or online meal service, you would easily pay at least double that or more. We offer these discounts to encourage people to learn how much better it is to eat fresh and local.”

This Saturday, the community welcomed TD Bank at the farmers market. Each shopper received a free grocery tote bag. Thanks to TD Bank’s sponsorship, the farmers market will be opening spaces for fledgling artisans and crafts people to come share their talents and show their abilities at the Grange. Visit www.GreatFallsFarmersMarket.org for more details.

The winter Great Falls Farmers Market takes place indoors through March 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Great Falls Grange, located at 9818 Georgetown Pike.