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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for July 24, 2008

Hello Market Friends:

It seems this may go down in the books as the stormy summer of '08. Here's the Wednesday weather report from Jessie Sosnicki:

We had a close call today! Dug our potatoes, harvested sweet Spanish onions, beets, chard, and picked as many tomatoes as we could find (it is still not tomato season for us, so do not expect tons just yet- a few cases for tomorrow folks, some sun sugar cherry, roma, slicing and heirlooms), and then the storm moved in overhead. Ben's mom and I washed and graded the fresh veg, while I put our other two workers to work trimming garlic. (The garlic has been lifted from the soil, now we trim it up and let it dry out. Lots of big garlic bulbs for tomorrow.) Anyhow, it was a wall of rain. Some of the worst we've seen. Strong, strong winds and a mass downpour. Then on the tin barn roof we all heard that dreaded sound of hail. Long story short, just a wee bit of hail, minimal damage. Just went out this afternoon to pull up baby leeks and fresh big bunches of dill and am sinking in the mud! The beets, sweet corn and other crops are leaning to the east from the storm. Have to wait till Thursday morning to pick our zucchini, some blossoms and cucumbers! Mother Nature was kind to us today, we've had first hand experience with devastating hail storms before....See all at the market!

From Monika of Greenfields: For those of you who got a sneak peek (and taste) of those delicious, tender "Spitz Kraut" (Pointy Cabbages) last week- there's more where they came from. We'll have lots, along with some round Green Cabbage as well. We've been pelted with rain during harvest all week, but the extra moisture is helping the Black Kale and Collards to cope with the heat. We'll have lots in the Kale and Swiss Chard department. Beet tops are looking great, but it may be the last week with tops, so scoop up some delicious Golden and Red Beets with greens while you can. Our Purple Scallions were a bit late this year, but now they're here, sweet and delicious like last year! First week for our fresh Garlic too. Plenty of Parsley and Cilantro, as well as Dill to complement all those pickling cucs around. Spring Mix is tasting great too.

Deer Valley Farm will be at the market with venison summer sausage chubbs (made for them by Mennonites) as well as fresh venison steaks, shish kebab cubes, and small grilling roasts just perfect for the BBQ. You can contact us at: dvf@venison.ca

Shane of Underground Organics will have a superb selection of organic, fresh flowers again this week. Choose your own or have him put together a lovely bouquet. Some people might be surprised that "organic" needs to be mentioned next to "flowers", but the mainstream flower industry is soaked in chemicals (and often in unfair labour practices, too). So while you're celebrating the all-too-brief beauty of summer (no special occasion required), you can be happy that you're supporting good growing, too.

See you at the market!

Anne

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