Bloomington, IL -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/12/2013 --Farm Fresh Now, a new series of 26 weekly vegetable articles, has been launched by The Land Connection, a central-Illinois-based educational nonprofit, just as hundreds of farmers markets are opening across Illinois.

Each article profiles a new vegetable as it comes into season;these profiles are available to any farmer, market manager, food blogger, gardener, cook, or consumer for free, thanks to a USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant that The Land Connection received through the Illinois Department of Agriculture. To see the articles, visit www.thelandconnection.org/blog. Anyone can receive the articles by email each week by signing up at www.thelandconnection.org/veggies.“From May to November you can get Illinois-grown produce items ranging from bok choy to Brussels sprouts, herbs to hops, and currants to quince,” says Land Connection Executive Director Terra Brockman. “And since they are picked at their peak of ripeness, you get great taste and nutrition, while also supporting your local farmers.”

Because many people are unaware of what to do with many local specialty crops, each Farm Fresh Now! article provides background, nutritional information, a simple recipe, and a photo-montage showing an in-season vegetable going from the soil to the supper table.

“The Farm Fresh Now! series is a lively, fun way to increase consumer awareness of the huge variety of Illinois fruits and vegetables,” says Land Connection Associate Director Cara Cummings, who is taking the photographs for the series. “At the same time, it helps busy fruit and vegetable farmers communicate with their customers by simply cutting and pasting the photo or recipe or excerpts from our articles on to their blogs or Facebook pages.”

The Illinois Department of Agriculture awarded funding to The Land Connection to produce the Farm Fresh Now! series in order to raise awareness of Illinois specialty crops among consumers. In addition, the series will raise specialty crop farmers’ ability to share specific vegetable information with their customers, thereby enhancing the overall competitiveness of lllinois specialty crops.

About The Land Connection
The Land Connection is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting farmland, training sustainable and organic farmers, and promoting a vibrant local food system.

For more information on the Farm Fresh Now! series, please contact Cara Cummings at cara@thelandconnection.org or visit our website: www.thelandconnection.org/veggies

PHOTO & ARTWORK AVAILABLE: For a digital copy of a photo or artwork related to Farm Fresh Now!, contact Cara Cummings at cara@thelandconnection.org.