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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for April 10, 2014

Hello Market Friends:

Do we dare to believe it? Well, signs from the farms are quite definite:

Sandra Dombi writes: “Hooray!!! First harvest of baby kale from the greenhouses. Coming to you Thursday afternoon from Kind Organics. Welcome spring!”

If this week has your green thumbs feeling frisky, the good news is that as well as at market, you can get the seeds and soil amendments you need at the Urban Harvest Pop-up Shop, west of Lansdowne at 1340 Bloor West (phone: 647-606-9643).

Spring brings challenges, too, and this week I had a tough conversation with Ann van der Heyden from Woolerdale. This is the first growing season without John (who passed away last September), and the family has realized they have to reduce the number of markets they attend, so Woolerdale is reluctantly withdrawing from Dufferin. We will miss them and their wonderful vegetables, but we'll be able to visit down at Trinity-Bellwoods, where they have been core vendors for many years.

You may have noticed some exceptionally pretty eggs on the Country Meadows table of late. There are just a few each week, and they are so prized that you need to order them ahead. These 'fancy dozens' are laid by Linda and Angelos' special heirloom breed birds. Here's some information about the 'ladies', as Linda calls them:

"The breeds that lay these eggs are all dual purpose meat/egg chickens. The typical "egg chicken" will lay 7 eggs over a 7 day period whereas these dual purpose will lay an average of 4 eggs over a 7 day period because their primary function is not to just lay eggs. They lay eggs, sit on eggs to hatch chicks, then become fantastic moms, plus they can provide the best tasting chicken one could ever wish to eat. Most are very rare and can cost upwards of $50.00 and more per chicken, so it is taking me a while to build up a decent size flock. However, even if I could afford to buy a bunch of them, they are just not available."

You can order eggs by speaking to Angelos at the market or emailing lindakap@rogers.com

More news from Linda:

“Farmers' Markets in Europe: Recently I visited farmers' markets in England and Ireland. In London, England I visited the Borough market which has been operating as a market since the 900's so is now 1100+ years old. And we think we have established farmers' markets here!! What a market, spread over several streets and with full service restaurants, and wine and beer stalls within the market. It is huge, a fantastic place to shop, and it's sooo BUSY. However, what really stands out for me is how the markets operate over there: the hygiene or lack thereof in the market stalls, and the markets in general, such as eggs not refrigerated, no coolers anywhere, just hundreds of dozens of eggs sitting out on the tables. (In fact, over there eggs in the grocery stores sit on the shelves, not in refrigerators). This got me thinking, if there is so much illness to be picked up from farmers' markets operating the way they should, why is that one still in business and booming for 1100 years? Shouldn't lots of the market-shoppers be ill, or even dead from food borne illnesses, in which case that market would have closed centuries ago? Over here that market would not live to see its first birthday, never mind it's 1100+ birthday. By the way, I ate there and the food was scrumptious.”

One more thing: “SPRING IS REALLY HERE. My winter heated greenhouse is now overflowing, and I just finished selecting some COLD TOLERANT herbs, so a few Farm Fresh potted culinary herbs will be coming to the market.”

Plan B reports that the green onions and garlic are well on their way in the greenhouses now, and early salad mix won't be far off. To get us through this lean stretch, the lads will be bringing us as much local produce as possible in the coming weeks, augmented with some non-local extras.

To celebrate the wonderful day, special guest musicians from Samba Kidz will be heating things up with a free performance near the market around 5.

Here is the crew we expect:

• Ali Harris (rotis and fritters, hemp pesto and seeds),
• Bees Universe (honey and bee products),
• Beretta Farms (organic and naturally raised meats),
• Best Baa (cheeses, yogurt, sheep's milk),
• Chocosol (coffee and chocolate),
• Country Meadows (eggs, cheese, olives, oil),
• DeFloured (gluten-free baking),
• Dufferin Park Bakers (wood-fired oven breads, soups,and snacks),
• Field Sparrow (pastured meats),
• Forbes Wild Foods (dried mushrooms, nuts, syrup, preserves)
• Kind Organics (sprouts, greens, kombuchas, teas),
• Plan B Organic Farms (local and imported organic produce),
• Spade & Spoon (jams, pickles, soups),
• Ted Thorpe (represented by Ron) (cabbage)
• Urban Harvest (seeds, body care, soil amendments),
• Ying Ying Soy (tofus and miso).

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

P.S. Happy First Birthday to the apple of my eye, Sebastian from Spade & Spoon!

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