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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for January 17, 2013

Hello Market Friends:

Our market cooks and bakers are clearly feeling inspired, so we've got some delicious correspondence:

From Blythe of Growing Spaces: “I'm on a beet kick this week! I'll have a lovely batch of Borscht soup, Annie's Pickled Beets, and Red Root Relish! Needless to say, my hands are stained purple!”

Krista of DeFloured is having a great time making winter tarts: Salty Honey Tarts (with delicious honey from Bee's Universe), Maple Buttermilk Tarts (with maple syrup from Blythe) and maybe one more that's in the experimental stages. (Sign me up for that research!)

Jessie Sosnicki is cooking up a storm, too: “Ben and I went out early this morning and harvested yet some more Kale tops! The warmer temps also made the greenhouse Kale grow nicely, so we will have bunches of the Black, Dino Kale as well. Lots more Fingerling Potatoes and an abundance of Cabbages as well. More Vegan Cabbage Rolls, Raw Sauerkraut, Frozen Green Beans and Frozen Sweet Corn and Perogies. Also I will have a few bags of Vegan Perogies! I've made them taste exceptional with Spelt Flour, Caramelized Onions in sunflower oil mixed with Mashed Fingerlings (skins on!!) and Kale!! Fried lightly at home with some coconut oil they. are. delicious. Depending on feedback, I hope to get making an abundance of these time permitting before we fire the greenhouses this year :))”

Berettas' News: “We will be toting along a nitrite free beef sausage for 8.00/pkg.”

In other news, to continue our efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags at the market, we have something new to offer. We've realized that the problem is not just big bags to carry everything home in, but also smaller ones to put loose or moist items into. For quite some time, I've been using 'FoodSaq' reusable produce bags, and I like them a lot. They're very strong, easy to rinse clean, and you can see through them enough to avoid losing track of 'mystery' items in the fridge. I also think they improve storage quality for fruits and veggies. I found a modest quantity of these bags, so we'll make them available for $1 each (or $3 for 3 with a little carry pouch) for as long as they last. Feedback welcome; I'm hoping you'll like them enough to use them steadily, too.

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

P.S. You may notice some “Are we too chicken...” postcards at the market. We are assisting with a campaign initiated by the Practical Farmers of Ontario to increase the number of chickens that farmers in Ontario are allowed to raise without 'quota' from the current 300 birds/year to something more in line with the several thousand per year allowed in most other provinces. (If you think several thousand sounds like a lot of chickens, think again....Chicken farms in the quota system have to raise many tens of thousands of birds to make a go of it.) This change would help small, diversified and new farms, and those who want to raise birds on pasture.

The Practical Farmers of Ontario met with the CFO (the provincial chicken marketing board) late in December and are expecting a response by January 20th to their request to raise the small flock exemption limit. We're hoping the CFO will receive many cards demonstrating that consumers care about this issue, so please sign a card at the market, leave it in our collection box, and we'll send them on. You can also sign a postcard online at www.flockingoptions.ca/#!speak-out/cav6

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