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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for August 21, 2008

Hello Market Friends:

Fresh and local is at its finest in these glory days of August, but don't forget next winter when you're shopping; reminders of summer are awfully sweet in the cold. A couple of simple ideas:

Berries and halved apricots or plums freeze beautifully on a cookie sheet and can then be packaged without sticking together for tarts, muffins, smoothies or even jam if you're too busy to make it now.

Pesto (I freeze small jars without the nuts or cheese and add them later) and balls of basil pureed with butter and a little olive oil (again, frozen on a cookie sheet and then dumped into bags) come in very handy mid-winter.

Here's the news from the vendors:

From Laura of Feast of Fields: "Wild blueberries are at their best and most bountiful right now. Ours are coming to you from Temagami and I'm glad to let you know that we will be offering them this week at a lower price due to the great supply. In addition we will have our own plump juicy certified organic blueberries (last week for these). These larger berries are great for fruit flans, fresh eating or freezing. Also Red Haven freestone peaches, a few apricots, a great selection of plums, our early heritage apples, French Bartlett pears and maybe a few Clapps, the beginning of our fall cropping Raspberries, plump blackberries and if it doesn't rain....some figs. Carrying berries home on your bike? Why not bring along some rigid reusable (yogurt?) containers to transfer them into?"

"Finally, Greenfields carrots have arrived! If you haven’t already, give our super sweet carrots a try, you won’t be disappointed! Also this week, we have red chard, green kale, Italian and curly parsley. Our purple scallions have sized up, ready for stir frying. The beets are ready and we have both red and the lovely candy cane varieties. We will have a few Sierra head lettuces, which are green and red in color with a soft flavor and crisp texture. Also, we have two varieties of cabbage, the classic round and the sweet and tender Spitz Kraut. Two types of onions are available, the sweet white Walla Walla and Red Tropea Mediterranean. Both are a great addition to any salad or grilled on the BBQ." Lesley

"On behalf of Merrylynd Organics, Miquela would like to say thank you to all our friends and customers at the Dufferin Grove Farmers' Market who have helped make these past seasons so enjoyable. Merrylynd Organics will not be selling flour on a regular basis at the market for the foreseeable future but is open to special orders on request. I hope to see you all soon." You can contact Miquela at: thereisonly01@yahoo.com

From Jonathan Forbes of Forbes Wild Foods: "I'll be bringing wild blueberries and I'll also have just a few fresh wild mushrooms, black trumpet and hedgehog."

Colette Murphy (Urban Harvest) and Maria Nasterska (Oh Soy) will be away this week.

A special addition to our news this week from Gail Gordon Oliver, market friend and the editor of "Edible Toronto":

"In our Spring 2008 issue, we ran an article by Samantha Albert, "Pigs that Root and Turkeys that Fly, about Vicki and Max Lass and their Church Hill Farm in Punkeydoodle's Corners near Stratford, which was followed by a wonderful, heartfelt story written by Vicki about the challenges – and, ultimately, the joys – of owning and operating a humanely run, small-scale livestock farm.

Vicki had no way of knowing, when she wrote her story last winter, that she and Max would soon be faced with the most asinine challenge imaginable – the possibility of Church Hill Farm being literally paved over to make way for a highway bypass. Please consider signing a petition opposing this, and making as big a stink as you possibly can about it. People like the Lasses and their neighbours should not be forced to face the potential expropriation of their farms, their homes, their years of hard work, and their cherished memories. This affects us all -- consumers and farmers alike.

The petition can be accessed by going to www.ipetitions.com/petition/ChurchHillFarm. (After you've entered your name, contact information and comments, it reads "Your signature has been recorded." At this point, your signature is already on record and you are not required to make any payments to ipetitions.com.)"

Thanks to the many supporters of small farms out there.

See you at the market!

Anne

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