Saturday, August 19, 2023 | Country Acres • Page 1
Country Acres re u t
Volume olume 10, Edition 11
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
s in s e llin
fresh field g
Adven
Saturday, August 19, 2023
from the
Peppa and Poppy’s Market grows just right BY JAN LEFEBVRE STAFF WRITER
ALEXANDRIA – Peppa and Poppy’s market is known for its sweet corn but offers a variety of produce as well as a medley of fresh from the farm foods whipped into creative dishes and served out of their own food truck. When Emily Louwagie decided to grow and sell sweet corn in 2018, she also grew ideas that quickly turned into a thriving business. “We started with maybe an acre of sweet corn and thought, ‘Wow, we’re going to make some money,’” Louwagie said. “We were picking in laundry baskets. Now, we have a onerow picker and we have 60 acres of just sweet corn.” Peppa and Poppy’s market also has a large variety of produce available at two staffed stands and four self-serve stands across Alexandria and surrounding towns. They have plans to add three more food stands and have also begun offering goods in-store for Miller’s Fresh Foods sites in several nearby towns. The food truck operates at various events in the area from Memorial Day through fall, offering dishes Louwagie creates herself with foods that come fresh from her very own farm. “I switch it up, depending on what I have available or have
lots of,” she said. Her most popular dish is a Mexican Street Corn Cup, which is layered with fresh-offthe-cob corn cooked with mayo and seasonings, smoky carnitas pork, beans, homemade salsa, cheese, pickled onions, cilantro and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos on top for crunch. Louwagie also sells burgers topped with a bleu cheese cream sauce she created. Caprese paninis, brats and other entrees are also available. For side dishes, Louwagie whips up salads with fresh ingredients, and for desserts, she makes custards, pies and other treats using garden goodies such as rhubarb and raspberries. Depending on the event and crowd size, she will sometimes make her own Italian cream sodas. There are also items for kids such as grilled cheese paninis and hot dogs. Although the food truck becomes more popular every year, it is only a small part of Louwagie’s main business, which is growing produce. Besides the fields of sweet corn, Louwagie farms another 25 acres to grow tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, cantaloupe, watermelon, cabbage, green
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Emily Louwagie stands with her children – Gabby (from left), Isaac and Hannah – in 2022 in front of the food truck for Peppa and Poppy’s Market. Louwagie said her children help in all aspects of her business, including growing and harvesting produce, taking care of their farm animals and working in the food truck.
PHOTO BY JAN LEFEBVRE
Emily Louwagie checks one of her pumpkin patches July 27 in a field near Alexandria. Pumpkins are one of the most important fall crops for Louwagie’s business, Peppa and Poppy’s Market.
Peppa & Poppy page 2
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