Local food fans: Smile and say cheese

There's great food all over this state -- but who can do the driving to gather it all?

LynnErin Tyler of Charlotte has a new idea to take care of it, Simply Local at the Atherton Market in SouthEnd, 2104 South Blvd. The idea is that she'll get locally made foods from around the state and sell them at the market.

She's starting off with cheeses because there is such a demand for dairy products, including Ashe County cheeses, cow's milk cheeses from Holton Hollow Dairy near Statesville (that's a wedge of their cheese above), Bosky Acres and several others. She's also got a few products such as Imladris jams and jellies (fans of Walter, rejoice). She's hoping to add more products and she'll eventually expand from a table near the front to a larger space that the market is building for her.

She also hopes that her stand will enable farmers who can't be at the market for all three days to leave some of their goods with her to handle the sales. She's doing some of the driving to get food herself, and she's also teaming up with services like Leading Green.

"It's like a small retail grocery outlet," she says. "Each day, I learn something new about what's available." Prices for the cheeses range from $5 to $8; a 1/2 pound block of Holton Hollow is $8.

Look for LynnErin and Simply Local at the market, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, 3-7 p.m. Tuesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays. Elsewhere in farmers market world, this is the last weekend for winter markets at the Matthews Community Farmer's Market, off N.C. 51 in downtown Matthews. Next Saturday, April 9, marks the return of regular hours -- and another step in the market's evolution. There was such a good turnout for the off-weeks this winter that the market is now going to stay open year-round, even in winter. If you stop by tomorrow, you can celebrate by helping Pauline Wood and her crew put up the tents and get spiffed up for next week's return to a full market.