This year was my first year going to a farmer's market.. and I went with high hopes of finding fresh, organic produce.
I went blindly during my first visit. I walked aimlessly around in search of some good stuff, scanning each booth and looking for something to say organic, or something of that nature. It was busy and overwhelming, due to my lack of planning, but I happened to spot some raw cheese samples and that caught my eye. I walked over and tried a sample of the Grassfield's chili cheese (gouda with red chili flakes), liked it, and bought a block.

It had been months before I went back. Again, I went without some kind of guide to help me find what I was in search for. I walked around, overwhelmed. On my way out there was a stand for Greener Pastures' market in South Lyon. I had visited the store once, so I kind of knew what he was about and that he sells some pretty good stuff. I bought raw cheese, again. What can I say... I enjoy some good cheese. The kind I bought this time was garlic and dill. I really wish I could remember what farm that cheese comes from. I always have good intentions of remembering the name, but my brain doesn't usually cooperate. At least I can go to Greener Pastures and ask for it by flavor. ;)

Anyway.. I made a 3rd attempt to go to the farmer's market. THIS time, I had a plan. I actually took 2 minutes to look at the vendor list and find an organic produce stand. I excitedly awaited for Saturday to come. I was finally going to get my hands on some fresh, local, organic goodness... or so I thought.

Saturday comes and I head to market. I know what I'm looking for this time.. The Garden Gate Farm. I walked up and down every aisle, looking for Garden Gate. After my first time around I thought to myself, "You must have missed it, pay more attention!" I do a second walk-through. No stand with such name. I approached the information booth and asked her to point me in the direction of this mysterious stand. Man, was I disappointed to find out they weren't there anymore. I was relieved to know I wasn't crazy, either.. hahaha. She told me 2 other booths had organic produce, so I got excited again. More disappointment came after going to the booths, asking if their produce was organic, and being told no. I asked one vendor if their corn was organic and he told me.. "No we have to spray it with something or the bugs would get it." Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't GMO. Those bugs wouldn't stand a chance.

So here's a short summary of my opinion on the Farmington Farmer's Market..

Cons: NO ORGANIC PRODUCE. Bummer.
Pros: Grassfield's Cheese has a booth with their raw cheese. Yummm. And Greener Pastures is there.. selling some tasty raw cheeses, meat and eggs. One of the owners of the store is there and he is very friendly. He even told me if I wanted to call the store and make a special order, he'd bring it right to the farmer's market. How awesome, especially because the market is closer to me than the store.

And lastly, the thing that has me coming back the most is the live music.

Please excuse my cell phone's horrible sound/picture quality. I promise, the guy was really good. His name is Paul J. Miles.

I'm so excited to finally have Mi Real Food up and running. Please bear with me while I make changes and adjustments to the site. It's still in the beginning stages and I'm constantly changing my mind on things. Managing a website is kind of a new thing to me. I've started small projects here and there, but nothing this big or with long term plans.

So, let me tell you a little about what you will find on this site. Chances are you arrived at the main page before you made it to the blog. Then perhaps you clicked around the site a bit.. maybe checked out some of the real food sources. Maybe you tried clicking around and have absolutely no idea what's going on. Let's break it down.

Real Food Sources - This was what made me create this site in the first place.. to help people in Michigan find real food near them. I've made it my mission to hunt down as many real food sources I can find in our beautiful state. Listings are categorized by county, and I've also listed bordering counties to help you find even more places. If you have a hidden gem I haven't come across, please email me (MiRealFood@gmail.com) so that I can get it added to the list. If you own a real food shop and can't find yourself on the list.. email me, too. I want everyone on here. :)

Find Raw Milk - This is an external page from RealMilk.com. This is a great resource for finding raw milk in your area.

Online Shop - This page is a collection of all my favorite food related products. I'm not paid to tell you how much I love my things.. I just want you to have great things, too. :)

Clothing & Accessories (coming soon) - Official gear for fans of the site. Purchases made from the shop will help me to cover costs. I've got some pretty neat stuff coming out. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter to be updated when the shop is open.

Last but not least.. the blog. There will be a lot of different things going on in here. I'll share recipes that I've tried and love and recipes I've invented. I'll talk about shops or farms I visit. I might even thrill you with random pictures and stories about my life. We're going to have lots of fun.. stay tuned. ;)