Roxborough Farmer’s Market Report

Friday, August 29, 2008

Last summer Red Earth Farm’s CSA offered locally grown fruits through their buying club each week. In addition to my fruit share I was able to order extra delivered with my share every other week. This summer I am not so lucky. I did not buy a fruit share and so far, not a single fruit has been offered through the buying club. That means that every Friday I’ve had to arrange my schedule to make it to the Roxborough Farmer’s Market to pick up fruit for the week. The Roxborough Farmer’s Market, though small, offers a great deal of variety. The big problem is that the market is so popular that most of the fruit sells out within an hour or two.

The past several weeks I’ve done my best to get there at 2.00 when the market opens. The line starts even earlier. I was 15 minutes early last week and the line was already ten people deep. I waited in the hot sun for about 20 minutes before I made it to the front of the line. I needed my husband who was towing the toddler in the bike trailer to help me home with the goods.

In addition to seasonal fruits and vegetables the market also offers baked goods, jams and jellies, eggs, quilts and fresh cut flowers.

Still Life with Pears and Grapes

Sunday, August 24, 2008

These were so pretty that I had to take a photo: lovely small pears and these tasty wee Thompson grapes. Both from Highland Orchards (DE) at Fitler Square market. And, they have spots open in their fall CSA shares—and two sizes so that those of us not feeding a family of 4 can enjoy the abundance without being overwhelmed.

The 320 Market Cafe

Monday, August 18, 2008

I’m always on the lookout for places to pick up locally grown foods, whether it’s in the city or the burbs.  Lately, I’ve been finding more little gems in the burbs!  My latest favorite is the 320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore.  They keep a nice stock of locally grown fruits and vegetables.  Over the weekend they had local squash, corn, tomatoes, peaches, and a whole host of others.  They’ve also made a pledge to only carry mushrooms from Chester County (according to their newsletter, ChesCo mushroom producers are facing stiff competition from Chinese producers - who charge less, but also produce an inferior product).

Additionally, 320 stocks Birchrun Hill cheese, Seven Stars yogurt, and Natural by Nature milk, and coming this Fall you’ll be able to pick up local, organic, pastured chicken and local grassfed and pastured beef.

I should also mention that they have stellar pico de gallo.  The avocado may not be local, but the tomatoes are.

It’s really great to see the 320 Market Cafe making an effort to support local farmers and our local economy.  I’ve heard reports that many other small markets in the vicinity (not just Delaware County, but throughout our region) are moving toward this model,  In increasing numbers, people care about where their food comes from and have the desire to keep small farmers afloat. 

Clark Park market report, 16 August

Saturday, August 16, 2008

It’s really apple season!  I’m so happy.  Those are Ginger Golds from Fahnestock Fruit Farm, along with broccoli and a pepper from Keystone Farm, multicolored beans, some hot peppers, and another bell pepper from Urban Girls, a red pepper, a cucumber, two small summer squash, and an ear of corn from Shenk’s Berry Farm, and two four-seed cookies from Slow Rise. 

Market Report: Indian Valley Farmers Market

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Although Indian Valley Farmers Market (IVFM) has been open for six weeks, this Saturday was the very first opportunity I’ve had to stop in.  Gorgeous blue skies and a cool breeze allowed for the family and I to make the trek to the market on our bicycles, a short six blocks away. 

The market, held each week in the newly-revitalized Telford train station, is currently managed by the local Main Streets program, Souderton-Telford Main Streets, and has just a handful of vendors.  The quantity of vendors is no matter, given the great quality and selection of products that are available.  And, judging by the size of the crowd, I’m not the only one holding that opinion!

Windy Springs Farm is by far the largest vendor, taking up about a quarter of market’s space, and offering tons of fresh veggies and fruit.  This week, the farm was offering both purple and white eggplant (2 for $1!), a multi-colored selection of bell peppers, yellow and green squash, lima and string beans, cucumbers, blueberries, several varieties of plums and tomatoes, peaches and an enormous selection of melons.  They were also selling their own homemade marinara sauce, which I picked up along with two baba ghanoush-destined purple eggplant.

Ray Gehman, purveyor of Ray’s Greenhouse, and his son Russell, hold seniority over at the market, having vended each of the seven years IVFM has been in existence.  “I’m glad to see it taking off on its own now,” Ray said to me as he looked out at the hustle and bustle.  “You can see people are getting excited about eating local.  It’s good quality, good prices—everyone’s happy!”  Especially happy if, along with some of the peppers, eggplant, beans and tomatoes the Gehman’s were offering, one also happened to pick up a jar of their homemade ketchup (also available in a sugar-free variety) or Pennsylvania-Dutch staple chow-chow.  Ray’s Greenhouse usually has a larger selection of plants available, but this week, pretty Blackeyed Susans were on their own.

To combat all that healthy produce from Ray’s and Windy Spring’s, lots of sweets were on hand:  The table at Frankie’s Favorites was filled with delectable-looking oatmeal raisin cookies, handmade not only with all natural ingredients, but also organic eggs.  The Farmer’s Daughters stand is run by two sisters who really are a farmer’s daughters.  They had a massive selection of cookies, breads and pies, both of the traditional variety (Shoe Fly Pie) and some non traditional yummies like wagon wheel cookies (chocolate chocolate chip cookies whose edges were rolled in powdered sugar). R & L Home Baked Goods makes their fruit rolls, breads, cookies, brownies, pies and cakes fresh daily.  Most hard to pass up?  Hands down, their Peanut Butter Tandy Cake.  *swoon*

And speaking of baked goods, Bakers on Broad was representing their Souderton shop very well with fresh-baked rosemary foccacia, epi rolls, German rye, cinnamon raisin, Italian and multi-grain, just to name a few.  With something for everyone, their tables were totally swamped!

A couple unique companies were also on hand:  The Brown Soap Company specializes in making natural vegetable glycerin soaps from the biodiesel process.  They had a plethora of bar soaps, from baby powder to mango to warm vanilla, as well as funky wooden soap holders and shaving cream brushes.  I’d love to dig a little bit deeper and learn more about this company.  Their product is very intriguing!  Also on hand was Willy’s Wood, run by William White a local contractor.  He had a beautifully handcrafted Adirondack chair that I could barely keep my tush away from, as well as tables and a neat planter with lattice.

Topping the market off was live music.  Talk about icing on the cake!  A three-person group calling themselves The Happy Rangers, started playing around 10am, providing impeccable down-home ear candy for us all.  More than a few IVFM patrons couldn’t help themselves and took a little spin on the macadam in front of the band.

After our rounds at the market, we stopped in at Assou’s Bistro, housed in the old train station building.  Assou Lehdmat and his wife opened the bistro a few months ago, and provide a fresh and healthy alternative to your run of the mill pizza joint.  I enjoyed a fabulous, nutty and rich espresso while Avery indulged himself in a pile of French toast, served with a side of watermelon (purchased by the restaurant from the market).  Sub. Lime.

Also within the block, though not within the market proper, one will be surprised to discover quite a pocket of culture: Telford Treats by the Tracks offers a creamy-style Polish water ice, Vietnam Cafe serves an amazing lunch and dinner, and at the Mexican grocery, Servicios Y Productos Coronado, one can pick up all the needed burrito ingredients. 

This may be suburbia, and IVFM may be a small town market, but really…  I’m hard-pressed to think of anything we might be missing.

Indian Valley Farmers Market
www.ifvm.org

Penn Avenue and Main Street, Telford, PA
Saturdays through October 18, 8:30am-12:30pm

The $20 farmer’s market trip

Having forgotten my ATM card at home, I had only $20 in my pocket for today’s trip to Headhouse Square farmer’s market.  I’ve heard often that eating locally grown food (and organic) is for elitists, that the food is too expensive for your average person to purchase.  So since I was low on funds, I wanted to see how much I could buy - I don’t think I did too badly:

I spent a little less than $20 - maybe just short of $19.  Here’s what came home with me:

• 4 flatbreads from Wild Flour Bakery
• 1 pint of cherry tomatoes from Buzby’s
• 1 heaping quart of green beans from Buzby’s
• 1 butternut squash from Buzby’s
• 2 ears of corn from Culton’s
• 1 bunch of carrots from Culton’s
• 2 plums possibly from North Star Orchards

After pricing things out on the Acme website, I realized that I could not have done better at the grocery store, even if I bought non-organic foods.

On a completely unrelated note, Culton Organics already has giant celery roots available (I think they were $3.25/lb).  Their secret: plant indoors in February and then transplant outside when it’s warm enough.  I was awfully glad to see the return of celery root, although I didn’t buy any yet.

Clark Park market report, 9 August

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Having missed the Clark Park market for the last two weeks, I went a little crazy this morning.  (I love that I can pay with a credit card at the farmers’ market.)  I’m planning to make pizza tonight with the local chard I picked up at Mariposa earlier in the week, so I bought some mozzarella from the Pennypack Farm stand and basil from Urban Girls.  I also got corn (today’s lunch), a watermelon, a hot pepper, some summer squash, ground beef, and two bell peppers from Shenk’s Berry Farm.  The other hot peppers, the tomatillos, and the green-and-orange bell pepper are from Urban Girls, and they’ll probably go into a black bean soup (not all the hot peppers, though).  Despite Nicole’s offer, I continue to enjoy my adult-lettuce-free summer.

Market report, 2 August: Bloomington

Monday, August 04, 2008

I spent the weekend in Bloomington, IN, so I missed my usual trip to the Clark Park market.  Instead, I investigated the farmers’ market in Bloomington.  I’d had its official address, so I was surprised to find a sign for it two blocks away from where I’d expected.  Then I turned the corner and saw all the tents—it’s huge!  It seemed to be about the same size as the Union Square Greenmarket in Manhattan, although I’m not great at estimating size like that.

There were three or four double rows of stands selling produce, plus a ring around the outside that included a higher proportion of processed things like baked goods, smoothies, dairy, and tamales, in addition to the produce.  These peppers were particularly eye-catching:

Since I was travelling (and staying in a motel, with no refrigeration beyond the air conditioning), I couldn’t try all the things that looked tempting, like the elk meat or the plums or those peppers or the various cheeses, and I don’t think I could’ve fit a bonsai tree or some of the beeswax candles in my backpack, anyway.  What I bought was food for brunch, with plenty of extra for breakfast yesterday (and today, and a bit more):

Vanilla yogurt, of a drinkable consistency and in a beautiful glass bottle, Early Gold apples, blackberries, part-whole wheat sourdough, and a cinnamon roll that didn’t last long enough for the picture.

Market report: Clark Park

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Yesterday’s trip to Clark Park farmer’s market was more than just about picking up my CSA share.  Since I find that I have to supplement my share with other food so much more this year, I was pretty interested in who was selling what.  Overwhelmingly, the tomatoes were the best looking things - nearly everyone had them, from classic slicers to giant, misshapen heirlooms, to tiny cherry tomatoes.

Urban Girls definitely had the prettiest display.  The big bowl of on-the-vine cherry and yellow pear tomatoes was gorgeous (and fantastic-tasting: I had to buy a pint), but they also had a big bowl of mixed variety cherry and grape tomatoes as well as boxes of large heirlooms (one of which also came home with me).  They also had huge amounts of super fresh basil, as well as a small amount of large tomatillos and white peaches.

Another vendor (can’t remember the name) was also laden down with a ton of peaches, but they also had cute little donut peaches!

The produce at University City High School’s stand was also really pretty and fresh - they were selling some great looking tomatoes, half pints of blackberries, leeks, radishes, Japanese eggplants, and zucchini.

Margerum’s and a few other vendors were selling some great looking corn.  And, of course, I made a pit stop at my favorite brownie joint, BT Brownies.  Excellent, as usual!

A visit to Ithaca, New York

Monday, July 14, 2008

It seems like many of us here at FTP are on the move this Summer - first Kevin goes to London, and now my trip to the slightly more domestic location of Ithaca, New York.  This past weekend I was in Ithaca for the Fingerlakes International Dragon Boat Festival.  Knowing that Moosewood Restaurant is in Ithaca, there was at least something locavore-ish to check out.  Not knowing anything else about Ithaca, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  As it turns out, Ithaca has an amazing local foods scene and is incredibly progressive about environmental issues. 

Even the dragon boat festival is trying to become what they call a ‘zero waste zone’.  There was a stand at the festival dedicated to educating people about composting, something I’ve never seen at another festival.  And the recycling bins!  It took me nearly 15 minutes to figure out which was the appropriate trash can into which to toss a yogurt cup. Already a ‘zero waste zone’ is Ithaca’s lovely farmer’s market.

A few of my teammates and I stopped in at the farmer’s market yesterday morning on the way out of town.  It’s beautiful setting: right next to the lake.  And it’s charming - it’s a pretty outdoor market with a roof.  It’s an interesting mix of local artisans and local growers.  And what’s better is that these local growers seem truly interested in educating people about what it is they’re selling.

The very first place I stopped was the Cherry Knoll Farm stand.  The farm produces only blueberries, and sells blueberries, several varieties of blueberry wine, and blueberry wine vinegar.  I could not resist buying the vinegar, especially after the recent discussion in the comments section of a post here on FTP about making salad dressing!  The very nice man at the stand was very excited to talk about the vinegar - he told me that it takes about nine months to make, and is aged in barrels.  I also purchased a bottle of their dry blueberry wine.

Three types of cheese came home with me from Finger Lakes Farmstead Cheese Co.  Here was another vendor who was incredibly proud of the cheese - she proudly boasted that she makes all cheeses by hand.  They use the milk from the hormone-free, grass-fed cows on the family farm.  I bought a chunk of the Red Meck, a Muenster-style washed in beer, as well as a cheese with stinging nettles and one flavored with onion and chives.

And lastly, I could not resist buying a jar of pork liver pate from The Piggery.  The Piggery raises heritage breed pigs and sells charcuterie at farmer’s markets and direct from their farm store.  Oh, and even more amazingly their goal is to eventually have a product line that uses every single part of the pig, and their whole business focuses on reducing their carbon footprint, even down to making their products in a solar-powered kitchen.  I think it might have been Heather, one of the owners, who was so sweet to me yesterday morning at the stand.

Have I mentioned that I love produce/meat vendors who are so excited about their products that they can’t stop talking about them?  We have too few of those types here in the area.  Don’t get me wrong: I know the local farmers are proud of what they produce, but I rarely run into one who wants to talk your ear off about what they’re selling.

One thing I do think we do a little better here in Philadelphia (and this is based off a single farmer’s market visit, so I might be dead wrong) is bringing heirloom and more unusual vegetables to market.  The produce at all the stands at the Ithaca Farmer’s Market were stunning and beautiful, but I didn’t see anything unusual or interesting (produce-wise). 

As I mentioned, I was able to visit Moosewood Restaurant.  As someone who owns a few of the Moosewood cookbooks, I was delighted to have the chance to eat there.  It’s an interesting place - the menu changes twice every day, and the dinner menu offers only four entrees to choose from.  I wouldn’t say the food is spectacular, but it came across as very comforting.  They did have a nice selection of local wines.  And, of course, the menu included many locally-sourced items.

Surpisingly, in what seemed like the suburban hinterlands of Ithaca (where our team’s hotel was located) there was a restaurant called Watercress that we found by accident.  Watercress also uses locally-sourced ingredients in many of their menu items.  The food was a little more contemporary, and very delicious.  Excellent service, too!

I’m always amazed at the differences between Philadelphia and other cities when it comes to supporting local farmers.  The Philadelphia area definitely has an amazing farmer’s market system and there’s a vibrant community of those who seek out locally grown produce and meats.  Ithaca, too, has a fantastic community of local farmers and producers.

Clark Park market report, 12 July

Saturday, July 12, 2008

So many choices this morning!  I had to pause for a while to try to figure out how much I’ll actually be able to use this week, lest I buy twice that much produce.  I missed the blackberries, which were gone within the first half-hour of the market, but I picked up cucumbers (the yellow ones are really good), zucchini, carrots, and a pepper from Urban Girls, corn (!) and a hot pepper from Shenk’s Berry Farm, gooseberries and plums and lentils from Margerum’s, and tomatillos from Pennypack.  There were also lots of peaches and tomatoes, for those of you who like such things, and still a lot of blueberries and both regular and Asian eggplant.

My kingdom for a gherkin

Sunday, July 06, 2008

July is a fantastic month to visit farmer’s markets.  There’s just so much available - tomatoes, peppers, and zucchini are coming into season, there’s tons of fruit, and everything is just beautiful.  A visit to the Headhouse Square Market this morning was too much to resist - and even though I had have a big CSA box full of gorgeous produce and fruit and I was able to get pretty much everything on my grocery list yesterday at Clark Park, I had to buy a few more things that I didn’t really need.

These West Indian Gherkins were available at two different stands, Culton Organics and Yoder’s Heirlooms (I think).  They were just too tempting to pass up, so about a dozen of them came home with me.  West Indian Gherkins are a completely foreign cucumber variety to most of us.  These tinies beauties must be picked before they reach about 1.5 inches long or else they will likely be bitter.  And they are super crisp and very sweet. 

There’s pretty much only one thing you can do with a West Indian Gherkin: pickle it.  I plan to use this recipe.

A multi-market report: Clark Park, Landsdowne, and Martindales

Saturday, July 05, 2008

While picking up my CSA share earlier today at Clark Park Farmers Market, I was shocked to see that Urban Girls had a basket full of spaghetti squash.  According to the woman at the stand, these little babies are in short supply so I grabbed a few.  I couldn’t believe my luck!  I don’t expect to see spaghetti squash for at least another month or two, but the Urban Girls put in a big supply of spaghetti squash seeds early in the season this year.  That’s great for me - spaghetti squash is a favorite of mine!

Urban Girls also had lots of greens, squash, and a few baskets of nice looking pearl onions.

I got to the market just a few minutes after it opened, so not everyone was there yet and many vendors hadn’t even finished setting up.  However, I saw some pretty heads of cauliflower at one stand, and one of the local high schools was selling some gorgeous carrots and greens.  Blueberries, summer squash, and corn were in wild abundance throughout the market.  And Landisdale Farm were selling some very nice beets and lacinato kale.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been buying a brownie from Better Together on my way out of the park.  In addition to having a booth at Clark Park, the Fair Food Farmstand has also started to sell these little bits of heaven.  You can also get them at the farmers market at City Hall.  B.T. brownies are organic, and many of the ingredients are locally grown.  And did I mention that they are outstanding?  Last week I bought one of the chocolate brownies with chocolate bits.  This week I bought a chocolate brownie topped with chocolate chip cookie topping.  So good.

The stand that normally sells tomatoes was not there yet, so I stopped at Lansdowne Farmers Market on my way home from Clark Park in the hopes I could get some tomatoes there.  Alas, no.  Most of the booths at Lansdowne Farmers Market don’t actually sell produce - many of them are art vendors or flower vendors, or merchants from the town.  Of the three that sell produce, there was nary a tomato to be found.  But there was great looking fruit from Fruitwood Farms (really lovely plums), a small selection from Farm Fresh Express, and corn, zucchini, and a bit of fruit from the vendor whose name I can’t remember.  From that stand I did manage to pick up some early green bell peppers.

And since I still needed tomatoes, I kept driving up Baltimore Pike until I hit Martindale’s.  I didn’t really expect to find locally grown tomatoes there - not all of their produce is sourced locally.  However, I was thrilled to see that they had both large heirloom varieties and yellow cherry tomatoes from Paradise Organics.  Hooray!  I could have spent the day there with my nose buried in the pile of tomatoes - they smelled amazing.

New Amsterdam Market

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Yesterday I visited the third meeting of the New Amsterdam Market, a project to start a permanent public market in a building at the South St. Seaport.  I volunteered there at a table that was more or less a joint endeavor between Fair Food (with which I assume the readers of this blog are familiar) and Sweet Pea Nourishment (a new, small-scale catering company sourcing local, seasonal ingredients).  I’m happy and honored that I had the chance to go, and it was a fun adventure for the foodie in me—but it was also different than I expected, and the whole market scene made for a long and crazy madhouse day. 

The market was set up under an overpass in front of the Fulton St. fish market building—and I was happy for the steel above us when it started to downpour in the middle of the afternoon!  There was a wide variety of vendors—cheesemongers, animal farmers, many bread bakers, many chefs sampling food made from local ingredients, a few farms, a NYC brewery offering birch beer and ginger ale, the Bent Spoon ice cream makers from Princeton, even a foraging older couple from Vermont!  So while I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the variety of superb and tasty food at the market, like in other public markets the emphasis seemed to be on artisan food crafters rather than the farmers I’m more accustomed to seeing at the markets I visit every day.  The great thing about the New Amsterdam Market, though, is that all the artisan producers emphasized the local foundation and sources for their food! 

Also like other public markets—certainly like Reading Terminal Market when a big convention is in town—there were hordes of people simply sightseeing and interested in free samples.  I doubt those people knew what they were seeing, but Ann Karlen (who valiantly spent the entire day sampling and portioning the cheeses we brought) thought many of the people who bought cheese from her did seem educated about the opportunity they were being offered to find all this amazing food at one market. 

From the Philadelphia region, the blueberries (the only ones at the market) and cherries were snapped up; the cheese table was mobbed also, and cheeses like the Shellbark Hollow goat chevre, the Hendricks Gruyere, the Primavera Tome, and a cheddar similar to the PA Noble were especially popular.  I spent more time around the dry goods, and the samples we offered of Tait Farms’ strawberry rhubarb conserve and (of course!) Betty’s Tasty Buttons fudge sauce met with rave reviews! 

If anyone’s curious (oh, alright, I’m just boasting), I came away from the market with some wild ginger from VT, a bottle of riesling from Long Island, ‘thunder’ pickles with garlic and hot pepper from Katchkie Farm near Albany (owned by a nifty catering company!, an enormous loaf of crusty sourdough bread from the restaurant Daniel, and honey lavender shortbread from the Milk and Cookies bakery.

Oakmont Farmer’s Market

Friday, June 27, 2008

I’m just as guilty as anyone else of sticking to my normal routine and putting blinders on when it comes to discovering new stuff, particularly when it’s farmer’s market related.  I go to Clark Park and pick up my CSA share, sometimes I stop in at the Lansdowne or Swarthmore markets.  I stop in at the Fair Food Farmstand on my way home from work sometimes.  And that’s sort of it.

I recently discovered a farmer’s market just six miles from my house, though, thanks to my friend Janet.  Oakmont Farmer’s Market is in Havertown, and the vendor list looks great - North Star Orchards, Fruitwood Orchards, Wimer’s Organics, Blueberry Hill Farm, Schaeffer’s Flowers, Hillacres Pride, Great Harvest Bread Co., Lindenhof Farm, and (I’m super excited about this one) Backyard Bison.  Janet was good enough to write up a little something for us on the Oakmont market:

The Oakmont (Haverford Township) farmers market is a small but ‘growing’ venture, in its second year of operation. Located in the Oakmont municipal parking lot on Darby road at Eagle, it is open Wednesdays 3-7 p.m. through Labor Day, and 2-6 p.m. from Labor Day to November 21.  Despite it’s size, you will find a huge variety of products, from Bison to cheese to flowers. On a recent visit, I picked up a beautiful head of lettuce, strawberries at their peak, and a bison London Broil.  If you live in Havertown, Ardmore, Wynnewood, or are just passing through, check out the market.  They also have a great website at http://www.oakmontfarmersmarket.org.

And check it out: they have a blog!  With recipes!