Shop our Mother’s Day Gift Guide for the Market at Pepper Place

Partnered Content

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 13. If that sentence just sent a wave of panic down your spine because you haven’t bought a gift yet, do not fret. Bham Now presents the 2018 Mother’s Day Gift Guide for the Market at Pepper Place. Open from 7 a.m. to noon this Saturday, the market has  gift options for every taste and budget.

1. Farm-Fresh Goodies

Sometimes simple is best, and prime strawberry season is fleeting. Why not make it a Mother’s Day gift? Or, perhaps, fill a bowl with a variety of locally sourced heirloom tomatoes or peaches (in Alabama, peaches are hitting their stride early this year).

More than forty farmers will be selling in-season, local and stunningly beautiful fruits and veggies, as well as eggs, local honey and other yummies on Saturday.

Even eggs are gift-worthy when they are farm fresh, locally sourced and donning shells in natural shades of pale blue and tan.

2. Bath And Beauty

Locally sourced, all-natural bath and beauty products abound at the Market at Pepper Place. They’re a great way to pamper moms, grandmothers or anyone you’ve ever described as “like a mother to me.”

Out of Prattville, Alabama, Cottage Industry Soap Company’s shea butter whips ($9.99) are “beloved by nurses, teachers, hairstylists and many other people with chronically dry hands.” The company also offers bath bombs, goat milk soaps and facial-care products.

Birmingham-based Freedom Soap Company offers small-batch, all-natural soap and skin-care products created from therapeutic-grade essential oils, natural plant materials and clays. Their soaps ($7.95 per bar) come in delicious-smelling varieties such as coffee-peppermint, eucalyptus-mint and oatmeal, which is scented with lavender and grapefruit and contains ground oatmeal for exfoliating.

Bring the spa experience home with locally sourced Freedom Soap Company’s Palmarosa and Ginger Bath Salts ($17.95) with Himalayan pink salt, or Rose and Cedarwood Toning Water ($15.95).

3. Classic Southern Treats

Among the many scrumptious offerings baked by Pie Lab, of Greensboro, Alabama, Brown Sugar Buttermilk Pie is a particular customer favorite.

Candies, cakes, pies, pickled veggies, jams and jellies – Pepper Place vendors offer a veritable smorgasbord of authentic, locally sourced Southern favorites.

The ladies at Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes sell scratch-made cakes based on a recipe by “Big Mama,” Mrs. Emily Magnolia McClung. Based in Hoover, this local bakery offers a variety of classic pound cakes, including original, lemon-blueberry, key lime and chocolate.

4. Gourmet Goods For The Foodie

With options like lemon-fig, basil-peppercorn and Italian black truffle, it’s hard to choose a flavor of Feta Fresca at Dayspring Dairy’s booth. Made from fresh, local sheep milk at the farmstead in Gallant, Alabama, the tubs are $8 each, but only $7 apiece when you buy four or more. (See the photo at the top of this post.) Dayspring Dairy also makes to-die-for sheep milk caramel spreads ($14), perfect for spooning over ice cream or dipping apple slices.

For the home chef, pick up a bag of Habersham Farms’ polenta (think fancy-pants grits). Local to Mentone, Alabama, the farm stone-grinds heirloom Floriani Red Flint corn to create this whole-grain, super-special polenta. Both creamy and coarse in texture, it will inspire all sorts of Alabama-Italian fusion dishes.

And, of course, there is honey – lots and lots of local honey, sold by the Alabama farmers who support our bee populations. For a gourmet twist, pick up a jar of Garden Honey Bee’s  locally sourced Jalapeño Honey.

5. Gifts The Kids Can Make!

At the Bib & Tucker Sew-Op booth, you can pick up a child-friendly kit that the kiddos can use to whip up a gift for mom themselves. The kits teach the fundamentals of math and art through a hand-sewing activity that focuses the mind and reinforces hand-eye coordination. For every QUARK (Quilting Activity Resource Kit, $20) purchased, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, a local nonprofit based in Woodlawn, will donate one QUARK to a Birmingham-area student. When you stop by the booth, you can also register your children for the Sew-Op’s summer camp June 11-15 ($150).

6. Gifts For The Home

There is no shortage of chic, upscale home goods – all locally sourced from Alabama makers – at the Market at Pepper Place. The mother-daughter team behind Birmingham’s thimbletreestudio  offers one-a-kind, hand-crafted items, including throws, stitched art, aprons and totes.

For the plant lover, pick up a super-cool geometric concrete planter crafted by Cedar + Sail Supply Company.

7. Jewelry

Bham Now editor picks for locally sourced jewelry for Mother’s Day include this chic pair of leather bar earrings ($17) from Leather & Pearl Girl and elegant, stoneware pendant necklaces with 18-karat gold glaze ($48 each) by Susan Gordon Pottery.

8. And, Of Course, Flowers!

Flowers are a classic Mother’s Day gift, and the rustic bouquets of local blooms available at the Market at Pepper Place are particularly charming.

Check out flower options at the booths for Snow’s Bend Farm, Happy Trails Flower Farm and Hepzibah Farms, among others.

So come on over to the Market at Pepper Place this Saturday!

You have no excuse not to knock it out of the park this Mother’s Day. Head on over to Pepper Place this Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon. No complaining –  you can get breakfast and coffee there.

Partner: the Market at Pepper Place