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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for July 01, 2010

Hello Market Friends:

It's a first for us, Canada Day on a Thursday, and 2010's remarkable growing season will make this market a showcase of our land of plenty. Come on over, and bring your friends, too! Here's the news:

Lorenz Eppinger writes: "Just as the rains started to become too much of a good thing, they stopped. A greenhouse full of transplants is waiting to be planted and we are busy preparing the fields to be followed by two or three days of transplanting. Not only the crops but also the weeds appreciated the rain and the farm crew was busy hoeing and hand weeding all week long. Our last cutting of large Broccoli heads was just completed and you can expect tons again at market tomorrow. Zucchini are plentiful too in all colors and shapes. We have a new variety called Round of Tuscany which is especially good for stuffing. For greens we'll have Rainbow Chard, Dinosaur and green Kale, Collards, sweet and spicy Cabbages and large tender heads of Lettuce. We just started harvesting a new planting of Beets and they are delicious. We will bring a large supply of both Golden and Red Beets. New this week is the first cutting of Parsley, both curly and flat. If you have never tried our curly Parsley you might want to give the dark green bunches a try. Also fresh bunches of Cilantro and Purple Scallions and of course Garlic Scapes. Hope you have a Great Thursday. Happy Canada Day from all the folks at Greenfields."

Sosnickis' news: "For the Canada Day market we'll be bringing: Mixed heirloom tomatoes for the Dufferin crowd! The plants are doing beautifully, so by next week everyone will be enjoying lots of TOMATOES!! One crappy crop is Broccoli - it is over before it began! We'll have lots, but it's not pretty. We could not get it to size because of the heat the heads get loose, so Broccoli is a crop everyone can look forward to this fall when it's cooler. Beets however are awesome! Roast, boil, grill, juice, always eat the greens, pickle them, make borchst - in this Polish/Ukrainian household Beets are almost used daily! The last of our Strawberries will be around, some Kohlrabi, lots of huge bunches of Kale, & PEAS - tons and tons of the freshest, sweetest PEAS IN A POD!! Snack fresh or pop them into a salad as we're still cutting some Boston, Romaine & Red Leaf!" Jess &Ben

Featuring patriotic colours, here's a recipe for some of our farms' bounty:

Canada Day Salad
1 bunch beets
about 1/2 quart strawberries
1 cup soft fresh cheese (a young one from Best Baa, or Angelos' ricotta)
a handful of finely chopped herbs (mint, tarragon and parsley are very nice)
2 scallions, chopped
a wide bowlful of flavourful greens, such as arugula, mizuna, spinach, and/or red leaf lettuce

Reserving the beet greens for a cooked side dish, boil the beets until just tender, cool enough to slip the peels off and cut into wedges. Scatter onto the greens, followed by sliced strawberries, crumbled cheese, herbs and scallions. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and add a generous grinding of black pepper. Enough for several happy eaters.

News from Growing Spaces: "With all the rain we've been having, Blythe's been busy in the kitchen. New this week, Savory herb jelly. This jelly goes well on a cheese platter or as a spread for meat. As well, she's made a fresh batch of Strawberry Rhubarb Jam for Canada Day. This jam uses 2/3 less sugar than most jams, so you can really taste the fruit! A perfect hostess gift for the coming weekend!"

BERETTA ORGANIC FARMS
Canada Day Specials Get the BBQ ready! Here come the STEAKS!
Tender & Juicy NY Striploins and T-Bones at the lowest price yet!
'Naturally Raised' Chicken Drumsticks $20 / 5lb
Big Boy Hot Dogs $5 pkg
Much Requested Burgers
Beef / Turkey / Bison
Extra Lean Ground Beef $30 / 5-1 lb pkgs

Welcome back to Laura Sabourin of Feast of Fields, with a beautiful list of fruit: "Lots of certified organic red raspberries, wild and tame blueberries, mulberries, sweet and tart cherries, Filsingers' organic apple cider and grape juice made from our grapes!"

More heavenly morels from Forbes Wild Foods, not to be missed.

Be sure to enjoy some lemonade from our special guest vendor, Josef (age 9), who wrote to say that because he's concerned about the biodiversity of our planet he wants to help the World Wildlife Fund and present a display about ecology. This kind of activism seemed like a very good way to honour Canada Day at the market, and a good fit with the work of organic farmers, too. Thanks to Lorenz of Greenfields for donating one hundred lemons in support of the cause, and to the good guys at Chocosol for helping out with cups.

One disappointment is we'll have to postpone our Georgian Bay Fish Fry until the weather co-operates:

From the Akiwenzies: "This wind (40-50 knots) is not letting up and doesn't sound like it will till Friday and then it's supposed to pick up over the weekend yet again. No one else is fishing either. This adds up to no fish fry this Thursday. We really wanted to do it but this wind just won't stop. We will let you know when we return to normal." Natasha and Andrew

There will be live music from about 3:30-5 courtesy of Emilyn Stam and guests, and multi-talented park friend Michelle Webb will be offering face painting for kids. Lots of great choices for snacks and dinner, with strawberries, baking and ice cream cones for dessert! Looking forward to celebrating the holiday with our wonderful market community.

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

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