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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for May 01, 2014

Hello Market Friends:

Have no fear, the clouds will part someday, and in the meantime, let's eat well!

This week I'd like to sing the praises of some locally-made delights that are far better than their supermarket 'equivalents', things you might not try if somebody (like me!) didn't tell you how good they are. Here are a few of my current favourites in this category:

• Ying Ying Soy's plain, perfectly firm tofu, made naturally healthy from organic Ontario soy beans, so good sliced and grilled with a simple marinade of tamari, sesame oil and garlic.
• Bees Universe lip balm with 2 (count them, just 2) lovely ingredients, beeswax and olive oil. Forget about all those unpronounceable things in big-brand versions, this is just right.
• Kind Organics' delightfully refreshing, belly-friendly Water Kefir! Why would anybody drink pop when you could have this? I can't get enough of the Mojito Lime flavour, but I want to try them all. If you haven't heard of water kefir before, here's some information from Kind's website:“The most prominent benefit of water kefir is its ability to restore and maintain good digestion. It is often used as a treatment for various intestinal ailments, including Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), and helps to replace invasive bacterial and yeast cultures within the body with more beneficial cultures.”
• Spade & Spoon's Hot and Spicy Ketchup: this stuff turns macaroni and cheese into food of the gods! When you want to cook things just so you can eat a condiment, you know it's good.

Here's some news from the vendors:

From Linda at Country Meadows: "Still not much like spring temperatures but things chug along at the farm. Lots of cold tolerant veggies and herbs coming to the market: spinach, swiss chard, collards, kale, endive, etc.

The turkeys say spring has arrived and are laying lots of eggs, so there will be turkey eggs at the market, too.

I just have to share this with you, another of my amazing moments with my turkeys. In the video I sent you Mr. Bigglesworth was doing his circle dance. Well, on Monday I was working away in the greenhouse transplanting and listening to my radio. It was sunny so I had rolled up the sides of the greenhouse. I heard a tap, tap, tapping noise and looked around since I assumed I was all alone. There tapping away to the music was Mr. Bigglesworth, my famous turkey. As the beat of the music changed, he'd increase or decrease his tapping. I just stopped working to watch him. He always dances for his ladies but that is a very elaborate dance. For my music, he was just toe tapping. Guess my music is not as interesting as his ladies." Have a look at Mr. Bigglesworth here! http://dufferinpark.ca/market/wiki/wiki.php?n=Galleries.FrontPage

Up to now, when you've heard about turkeys on YouTube, chances are you were not picturing this guy. He's a rare Ridley Bronze, and as you can see, the star of the farm.

Plan B news: "Fresh from the greenhouses of Ontario this week we’ll be bringing some delicious cucumbers, some very fine green beans! basil, dill, cilantro, lettuce, arugula, and more From our own soils we’ll be bringing kale, green garlic and green onions as well as some grape tomatoes. We’ll be bringing some of Sosnickis’ cabbage, as well as shiitake mushrooms and then apples of many kinds: Ida Rd, Golden Russet, Spy, Spartan and more plus the Cider(!!) as well as a bunch of delicious imports to round things out." Alvaro

From the Akiwenzies: “We won’t be down this week. The wind has blown the ice back into our area. Back to waiting for the ice to melt (preferred way) or to blow back out. Will let you know when the boat is able to get back to fishing again.” Natasha and Andrew

In Park News:

Dufferin Grove has had quite a run of remarkable staff with multiple talents. Some have gone on to be philosophers, cooks, actors, lawyers, novelists, teachers, mothers. Christina Serra and Dan Watson, two former Dufferin Grove staff who were also long-time members of the Cooking Fire Theatre Festival at the park, are starring in a wonderful comedy at the new Theatre Centre on Queen Street, on until May 14. The story is about Christina's real-life immigrant-Italian grandparents, Lina and Ralph: http://dufferinpark.ca/aboutus/wiki/wiki.php/News2014.FrontPage. Food plays quite a role in the plot, as do sewing machines, ocean liners, and love....

Here are the vendors we expect:

• Ali Harris (rotis and fritters, hemp pesto and seeds),
• Bees Universe (honey and bee products),
• Beretta Farms (organic and naturally raised meats),
• Best Baa (cheeses, yogurt, sheep's milk),
• Chocosol (coffee and chocolate, tortillas),
• Country Meadows (eggs, cheese, olives, oil),
• DeFloured (gluten-free baking),
• Dufferin Park Bakers (wood-fired oven breads, soups,and snacks),
• Field Sparrow Farm (pastured meats),
• Forbes Wild Foods (dried mushrooms, maple syrup, nuts, preserves),
• Kind Organics (sprouts, kombuchas, teas, chocolate),
• Plan B Organic Farm (local and imported organic produce),
• Spade & Spoon (jams, pickles, soups),
• Urban Harvest (seeds, body care, soil amendments),
• Wildlife Gardening (native plants),
• Ying Ying Soy (tofus and miso).

See you at the market!

Anne Freeman

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