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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for March 26, 2009

Hello Market Friends:

I was very lucky to spend the first weekend of spring making maple syrup in the country, and one of the best treats was the dazzling starry night sky, unfortunately such a rarity in the big city. How about planning a make-ahead market menu for Saturday night so you can dine by candlelight, and maybe even starlight, during Earth Hour, this Saturday at 8:30 pm?

In the spirit of the season, here's some news from Forbes Wild Foods:

We will be bringing Organic Granulated Maple Sugar! A delicious alternative to brown sugar, maple sugar is made by slowly heating and stirring maple syrup until all the water evaporates, leaving a lovely golden-brown grainy maple sugar. Try it in your tea or coffee, baked into cookies, stirred in to yogurt or ice cream, or sprinkled onto crème brulee and then torched. Yum! ½ LB bags are on special for $12. The flavor is strong, so a little goes a long way. Meg and Seth

Lots to catch up on from Linda Kapelaris of Country Meadows Gardens:

First, as all the market goers know, Angelos went to Greece in the fall to pick the olives that produce this year's oil. Well, we've received from Greece (of course via the ocean) the first shipment of oil. Mmm, it is so yummy, a beautiful green colour, and that wonderful flavour that leaves a sort of peppery taste on the tongue, THE INDICATOR of extra virgin olive oil. For customers who were inquiring about purchasing larger containers of oil, it is now available.

Now to the home base, our farm in Queensville, where signs of spring are everywhere. First, I am so thrilled with how fabulous my poster boy is looking. Over the winter, he gained weight as well as an attitude, thinks he owns the place (oh, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am referring to the Market Calendar, November page, THE FEATHERED ONE). Pedro and wives are in fabulous form. Since our heritage turkey breeding flock is in good shape now, we are hoping to have a reasonable number of heritage turkeys for the market this year. I'll provide updates as the season progresses.

We've already had a few meals of salad greens from the farm, and before you know it, the greens will be ready for the market. Our last fall's baby chicks are now pullets, starting to lay tiny eggs, but in such a short time the eggs become regular size. We have tomato plants galore. The ones we started early are flowering; we are hoping for tomatoes for the table by the middle of May. Lots of plants for the market again this year. Angelos will have Rosemary plants at the market this week. Rosemary is fairly cold tolerant, and this will give customers an opportunity to get some for the Easter Lamb. Last year I started loads of Bay Trees, so for everyone who loves the wonderful flavour of bay leaves in their cooking, later on we'll have the baby bay trees at the market. There is lots to tell and I've only scratched the surface! Better close for now so that you will have room for the other vendor news.

From Greenfields: The greenhouse will soon be at full capacity with lots of beautiful colours sprouting! A nice selection of fruits and veggies available this week. Local produce this week are MacIntosh Apples, Red Beets, Green Cabbage, Rainbow Carrots, Carrots, Shiitake & Button Mushrooms, Yellow Onion and of course Greenfields-grown Sunchokes & Celeriac ( This is the last week of Celeriac month, so join in the fun!) Lots more including Broccoli, Celery, Red Chard, Cilantro, Collards, Black & Green Kale, Spring Mix, Romaine and that's not all. A great price on Lemons this week should excite anyone embarking on a spring cleanse. Lots more fruit as well. See you there, Mark

From the Akiwenzies: We won't be down this week. The winds have changed and moved the ice towards us and we had to pull out yesterday. It is supposed to blow for most of the week but hopefully we can be back in the water close to the week's end. Hope you had a good March Break and hopefully we will return next week.

From the Sosnickis: Organic compost for sale! We are now taking orders and will bring our organic compost to the city April 23rd and 30th. Nicely rendered down black gold (from organic cow and horse manure). Each bag is $5 and will cover approximately 10 sq. ft, 2" thick. Suitable for vegetable, perennial or annual flower gardening. Simply email us at jb@sosnickiorganics.com with your name, phone number and number of bags you need. You will be put on our list! Don't wait to long to order, as we will get busy with other spring tasks. Happy Spring to all! Jess & Ben

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

P.S. Your help is requested:

Take Action before April 8, 2009!
Canadian sugar company Lantic Inc.(Rogers Sugar and Lantic brands) is deciding right now to accept or reject Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) sugar beet. Lantic Inc. is the only sugar company in Canada that processes sugar beet (grown in Alberta) but the GM sugar beet will only be planted if Lantic allows it. Lantic sugar is currently GM-Free. Stop GM sugar beets from being planted this April!

ACTION OPTIONS:

1) Send your instant email from http://www.cban.ca/sugaraction

2) Print and distribute postcards to send to Lantic Inc. http://www.cban.ca/sugarbeet

3) Print the Action Alert with the cut-off postcard http://www.cban.ca/sugarbeet

4) Write your own letter and fax or mail it to Lantic:

Edward Makin, President and CEO, Lantic Inc.
4026 Notre-Dame St. E. Montreal QC H1W 2k3
Fax: 514 527 1318
For more information see http://www.cban.ca/sugarbeet or contact LucySharratt, Coordinator,
Canadian Biotechnology Action Network
coordinator@cban.ca
613 241 2267 x 5.

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