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Weekly Market Notes Library

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Weekly Market Notes for May 29, 2008

Hello Market Friends:

We can't wait any longer. The market will move to the full outdoor setup this week. Ted Thorpe will be back with field grown lettuce and arugula, so it really is that time again! More news:

From Monika of Greenfields: Warmer daytime temperatures are really helping to give the veggies a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, we'll begin harvesting our own field grown Spring Mix, Spinach, Mustard, Kales, Chard and more! The Strawberry field is covered in beautiful white blossoms- and Bees doing their important work! Stock up on the Rhubarb and freeze a little too, so that you have some to combine with fresh Strawberries in the next month. This week, we'll be bringing lots of local good as usual. Fresh local Spring Mix, Rhubarb, Chives, Beets, Bok Choy, and our own Asparagus, Sunchokes, Rutabagas, Dandelion and more! There will be a large serving of ready-to-eat extremely delicious 'baby' Mangoes, so scoop these treats up while they last. We will have very nice looking Black and Green Kale, Chard, Red Peppers and more. See you there!

From the Sosnickis: Ben will be coming with potatoes, more asparagus and perhaps the first of our greens! For all that are interested in seeing how we planted our heirloom tomatoes, sweet corn and potatoes, log on to our farm blog at http://sosnickiorganicproduce.blogspot.com/ as I've created a blog for each crop with lots of pictures. Jessie.

If you can't make it to the market, or find you've got so many goodies to carry home that you can't manage seedlings, you can also find Colette Murphy of Urban Harvest, with a full selection of native species, heirloom veggie, flower and herb seedlings at her shop down the street: 360 Dufferin, just below the jog.

Fresh Venison will be available from Deer Valley Farm this week. Special on venison farmers’ sausages for those who like to BBQ at home.

Last week, along with beautiful blooms, Underground Organics brought in some nettles. That's right, the things that sting...but only til a short while after they're picked. Shane explained that on the west coast, where he's from, market-goers buy these super-healthy greens by the pile. At Dufferin, people weren't so sure what to think. Here's a little advice from Anna Bekerman:

"In my experience nettles can replace other greens in many recipes--I wash them, then boil them until soft, then they can be added to an omelette, pasta sauce, pesto, anything. Last summer we made fritters using the Joy of Cooking pancake recipe, some of Angelos' feta and some nettles that Jutta had fried up with garlic and onions. That was really tasty, as was the [park supper] nettle gnocchi (sorry, can't remember exact quantities for that one, but we didn't follow them--just added nettles until the dough was nice and green.)" Anna will be using some in the market-day park soup, too.

We have another beautiful gallery of market photos on the website, this time by market friend Rebecca Pinkus:

 http://www.dufferinpark.ca/market/wiki/wiki.php?n=PinkusGallery.FrontPage 

It's well worth a visit!

One of the big trees by the market area path has been marked for removal, so one day soon we'll see a big change there. We'll be very sorry to lose its lovely canopy. The forester who came to have a look at it says these Norway maples often "trip themselves up", that is, their roots grow in an ever-tightening circle which limits the life span of the tree. A number of the old giants around the "Grove" are reaching this point, making the young trees coming along in the park that much more precious. Here's hoping for a green, green summer ahead.

See you at the market!

Anne

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