2008 Phila. Farmers Markets

[rlibkind]

Rather than add lots more posts to last year's Headhouse Square topic, I thought I'd start a new one for 2008 covering all the Philadelphia Farmers' markets.

First, the news: there will be new markets this season at City Hall and near Jefferson Hospital, sponsored by Farm to City.

FTC's Bob Pierson says he's lined up three "definite" vendors as of earlier this week for City Hall: Fruitwood Orchards (a South Jersey berry, tree fruit, garden vegetable producer), Pumpkin Ridge (cut flowers), and Better Together Bakery (from Havertown). Possible additions include an aquaculturist who grows clams and sea lettuce, a seller of canned/jarred goods (with some fresh veggies), and two youth organizations who are involved in urban gardening. Pierson said that the City Hall market likely wouldn't be much bigger, since space in the venue, the northeast quadrant of the courtyard, is limited.

Full details of the Farm to City markets, including schedules, can be found at FTC Farmers Market page., but here are some dates worth noting:

<UL><li>South & Passyunk Market opens May 6, with vendors to include the Livengoods and the Rineers, among others.</li><li>The City Hall market opens Wednesday, May 14. No time established yet.</li><li>Jefferson, Chestnut near 10th, will be held Thursdays from 12 noon to 5:30 p.m., beginning May 22. No vendor lineup yet.

</UL>The other major sponsor of area farmers markets, The Food Trust, hasn't posted its schedule yet, except for the hugely successful Headhouse Square venue, which begins its Sunday run May 4.

Anyone besides me ever wonder why we've got two separate organizations sponsoring farmers' markets? I don't have all the answers (I wouldn't be surprised if policy/politics and ego had something to do with it), but Farm To City and The Food Trust are coming at it from different angles, though from the consumer's practical point of view it hardly matter. Farm To City is more interested in promoting the economic well-being of small, family farmers and to help preserve vanishing countryside. The Food Trust's goal is to insure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. Now you know.

[etalanian]

Thanks so much for this valuable info.

Eileen

[rlibkind]

A reader of my blog about markets posted comments which included the schedule of markets sponsored by The Food Trust, including Headhouse (Saturday and Sunday), Fairmount, and other neighborhoods. There will also be a new market on Wednesdays opposite the Franklin Institute at Aviator Park, 20th and Race. You can find that schedule here.

[rlibkind]

Nicky Uy, project manager for The Food Trust, subsequently sent me the full schedule of farmers markets they either sponsor or partner with. I've converted her e-mail Excel file to a web page, which you can find here.

[rlibkind]

Talula's Table will among the vendors at the Sunday Headhouse Square market this season. They brought their sausages to the West Chester farmers' market last year and decided to further expand for 2008. The Kennett Square characuterie and market does merguez (lamb sausage), game sausage, parma, salamis and other cured meats, along with dips and mustards.

The Food Trust's Nicky Uy reports these other vendor updates:

Birchrun Hills Dairy and Farm will bring fresh milk from grass fed cows starting in June and veal from humanely raised bull calves.

Tom Sereduk plans to sell five times the volume of last year with 30 different varieties of flowers.

Busy Bee Farm will sell raw and low temperature infused honeys, various types of fresh and dried lavender and a plethora of herb.

It's hard to think about maple syrup in warmer weather, but why not? Spring Hill Farm from Lackawanna will have it.

Another new vendor will be Happy Cat Organics, Berks County, with heirloom vegetables and sells dozens of varieties of heirloom fruit and vegetable seeds.

African greens grown from seeds that come directly from Sierra Leone will be featured by Yoder Heirlooms of Lancaster County, along with other pesticide-free heirloom produce.

The Rodale Institute has its own CSA offering organic produce through its Quiet Creek Farm. They are branching out to farmers' markets this year, including Headhouse.

Edited April 25, 2008 by rlibkind (log)

[mattohara]

Bob,

You are a powerful force for good. Thanks so much! See you at the markets.

[mattohara]

Today's Haul:

Apricot Pie with marzipan crust: $15

Rhubarb: $2.50/bunch

Cinnamon Buns: $5 for six

Apple Claw and Cheese Claw: $1 each

Masa-Beans-Flatbread with Chicken thing: $6 each

Artichokes: $5 each

White Asparagus: $5/bunch

Large Griggstown Pot Pie: $19

Small Griggstown Pot Pie: $9.50

Handmade Honey Soaps: $2.50 each

Not too many vendors today, but some new ones. Taqueria Pueblita didn't have their al pastor setup set up yet. Anybody know what the other things are called? They were very good, even at 6$ each. And does anybody know what the Griggstown prices were last year? It seems to me that a large pot pie was about 5$ less.

[I_call_the_duck]

Aargh. Forgot the Farmers Market opened today. Such a great excuse to get up early-ish and get my lazy butt over to the other side of town.

Matt, looks like you brought back a nice haul. Tell me more about the flatbread thingie.

And it does look like the pot pies went up in price. I think the large were $17 each.

[rlibkind]

Large Griggstown Pot Pie: $19

Small Griggstown Pot Pie: $9.50

Handmade Honey Soaps: $2.50 each

....And does anybody know what the Griggstown prices were last year?  It seems to me that a large pot pie was about 5$ less.

←

iirc, small Griggstown pot pie was $9 last year. So I don't think prices went up quite as dramatically as you think.

[rlibkind]

HEADHOUSE MARKET OPENS

The Food Trust began its 2008 farmers' market season with a bang: 25 vendors showed up for opening day at Headhouse Square Sunday. Considering how early it is in the growing season, that's a phenomenal turnout.

Among the returnees, Queens Farm, whose mushrooms are pictured above. (Scroll for more photos.)

Other vendors appearing today were: Hurley Nursery, plants; Versailles Bakery; Los Taquitos de Pueblo, restaurant; Yoder Heirlooms, produce; Weaver's Way, produce; Joe Coffee Bar; Natural Meadows Farms, eggs, meats; S&S Kitchens, baked goods, preserves; Busy Bee Farms, honey, soap; Happy Cat Organics, produce; Young's Garden, flowers; Griggstown Quail Farm, poultry and pot pies; Patches of Star Farm, goat dairy, centermeat; Hillacres Farm, cheese; Mountain View Poultry Farm, eggs, poultry; Culton Organics, produce; A.T. Buzby Farm, produce; Talula's Table, charcuterie; Demarah, body care products and fragrances; Spring Hill Farms, maple syrup; Betty's Tasty Buttons, chocolate; Longview Flowers; Birchrun Hills Farm, cheese; Wildflour Bakery.

Versailles Bakery, which last year just sold at Headhouse and the Haddonfield NJ Farmers' Market, is adding other local markets this season, starting Thursday at Fairmount & 22nd. Versailles will also sell at Schuykill River Park (Spruce & 25th) and New Hope. They retail at the bakery, 1026 Haddon Ave., Collingswood NJ.

Versailles. whose bread is pictured above (their pastries are also fine), won't be the only new vendor at the Fairmount market, according to The Food Trust's Jon Glyn. Amish produce seller Sam Stolfus is scheduled to return, and new vendor Bill Weller's Orchard Hills Farm of Bloomsburg will start out selling budding plants and hanging baskets, but is expected to expand offerings as the season progresses, starting soon with strawberries and asparagus, then leading up to mid and late-summer stone fruits.

Bryan Sikora of Talula's Table (that's Bryan on the far left) said he'll be bringing a couple of patés in the future, along with his wide ranging sausage selection. I tasted the lamb curry with golden raisins, dry juniper and summer sausages. The lamb had nice but manageable heat along with the sweet notes, the juniper was pleasantly smokey, and the summer sausage (which I bought) cries out for some Spotted Cow Ale from Wisconsin, home of many fine summer sausages.

One of last year's farm vendors who didn't make it back is Old Earth Farm. I've been told they've shuttered their operations.

At least for much of the first hour, crowds were manageable, not at all like a peak summer weekend. I left before the 11 a.m. speechifying began, but a band was playing from the small plaza leading into New Market opposite the Shambles.

Youngs Flowers, no longer at the Reading Terminal Market, also sells at Rice's Market in New Hope this year. That's a long haul for Russell and Pamela Young (above) from their greenhouse operations deep in South Jersey's Salem County.

Weaver's Way held the entry corner spot opposite the Young's. Their fine selection of radishes disappeared quickly. This photo was taken shortly before the market's 10 a.m. opening bell; the radishes were gone by 10:30.

Edited May 5, 2008 by rlibkind (log)

[Vadouvan]

Anyone with good chickens ?

[rlibkind]

Anyone with good chickens

←

I can't speak from experience this season, but poultry producers were much in evidence: Griggstown, Mountain View, Natural Meadows Farm. Whether they're still working off last year's frozen birds and or selling this year's "spring chickens" (though still frozen) I don't know.

[rlibkind]

Aviator Park Market Opens: It's The Berries!

The sign says it all: first berries of the season. Highland Orchards Farm proudly displayed these gargantuan strawberries at the first day of the Aviator Park market, not just of the season, but ever.

The Food Trust established the new market at the urging of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. The market, located on 20th street across from the Franklin Institute and Moore College, runs Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m.

Highland Orchard offered a much larger variety of fresh produce than anyone has a right to expect the first week of May. That's due to the Wilmington farm's use of greenhouses, though the berries, rhubarb, asparagus, and some of the broccoli were harvested from plants in the ground. Highland Orchard's Ruth Linton said some of the produce from the greenhouse (like the various legumes and Persian cucumbers) are grown in hanging baskets, while other crops (fennel, beets) are in planting boxes.

Among the other produce items on sale Wednesday: English peas (both in the pod and shelled), fava beans, salad greens, cabbages, baby bok choys, carrots, potatoes, leeks, scallions, onions, flowering chives, parsley and other herbs. Linton also sells mushrooms, meat, chicken and cheese from other area producers, and baked goods from her mom.

Highland also appears at a few other area markets, including Fitler Square.

The only other vendor at Aviator Park this week was Betty's Tasty Buttons. Fudge isn't exactly produce, but She Who Must Be Obeyed says it's one of the basic food groups, just like pizza and beer.

From Highland I bought the strawberries and a bag of Ruth's mother's donuts.

The donuts were in the soft-cake style (alas, not fried in lard, which gives a great crispy finish), with plenty of apple flavor and even a few bits of apple, presumably from chunky apple sauce. Just a light touch of cinnamon in the exterior sprinkling of sugar.

The berries were big and fire-engine red (if any fire engines were still painted red these days). Although the early season berries lacked the intensity we'll see in a few weeks, they were fresh-tasting and, the next morning, considerably brightened my bowl of puffed wheat. They were even better dipped in Betty's fudge sauce.

Highland Orchards at Aviator Park

[rlibkind]

LET THEM EAT BREAD!

Fairmount market opens with baker among vendors

Each year, on the Saturday nearest Bastille Day, rowdy Fairmount residents gather in the street in front of Eastern State Penteniary's gate, demanding that Marie Antoinette be put to the guillotine. But before she is sliced and diced, Marie (played by London Grill co-owner Terry McNally) advises the rabble to eat cake, then promptly attacks them from the parapet by tossing Twinkies.

René Mondon would rather they eat bread.

The Collingswood baker (pictured above) is one of four merchants who opened the farmers' market at Fairmount and 22nd Street Thursday afternoon, directly across 22nd street from the historic prison. Although I love the baguettes from Metropolitan and Le Bus, Mondon's are truer to the bread brought home every day in France: it's a tad denser and chewier, not as light an airy as the boutique breads. Which means it's bread for eating, not for display, and very versatile, since it's as good to eat for a sandwich or grilled over charcoal with garlic as it is to slather with sweet butter and jam. The bear claws, apple turnovers and danish pastries are fine, but what I really enjoy are the parmentiers, vaguely pretzel-shaped, light, sugary pastries that are an excellent accompaniment to Gallic coffee.

Mondon formerly based his wholesale bakery in Pennsauken, but has moved 100 percent of his operation to retail, with a store on Haddon Avenue in Collingswood and an expanded presence at farmers markets. He started going to the markets last fall, dabbling his toes at Headhouse Square with great success, along with the Collingswood farmers' market. This year he's at New Hope twice a week, Fairmount, 25th and Spruce, Headhouse and Haddonfield. Mondon explained that his wholesale business suffered after 9/11 because he supplied airlines flying out of PHL, and the prices demanded by hotels have simply become unprofitable for him. So, the Loire Valley native has placed his bet on retail.

Returning to Fairmount are Earl Livengood and Sam Stoltzfus. Manning Livengood's this week was son Dwain, offering rhubarb, potatoes, spinach and a few other goodies (but none of the morels which graced Livengood's Reading Terminal Market stand the past two Saturdays, courtesy of forager Sam Consylman). Dwain also sells beef from his own small herd. Stoltzfus offers a similar range of produce in season, with the addition of Pennylvania Dutch baked goods. I'm not fond of that style of pies and cakes, but if you enjoy them and live in Fairmount, Sam's got them.

Another new vendor at Fairmount is Bill Weller, who stands in the photo below among a colorful raft of hanging baskets, potted plants, seedlings. We won't see Bill's main crops until late spring, since he specializes in stone fruits (cherries, apricots, peaches, etc.), pome fruits (pears, apples), and berries. But it's obvious he also has a green thumb for some very hardly looking plants for the patio or porch. The hanging baskets sell very well back in Bloomsburg, where his farm is located, Bill says. The larger baskets might be a tough sell here, though not because they aren't beautiful and fairly priced. Most shoppers at Fairmount arrive on food, and the hanging baskets aren't easy to haul home when you're also carrying a bag or two of veggies.

[rlibkind]

RIPE AND READY

It's only 35 miles from Woodstown, in South Jersey's Salem County, to Center City Philadephia. I'm sure glad A.T. Buzby Farm made the trip to Headhouse Square this morning, especially with the load of red, ripe, sweet and flavorful early strawberries they brought along.

Although we're likely to see even more intensively flavored berries in a couple weeks, these beauties hardly lacked in strawberry-ness. I tasted a couple right after I got home with my haul, but about half the quart has been sliced and now macerating for my breakfast yogurt (maybe with some squished, ripe banana added as well). The remainder will top ice cream for dessert tonight. They were priced at $5 a quart.

At Headhouse, no merchant can sell before the market manager rings the bell, literally. So I stood next to the French radishes at Weaver's Way's stand, blocking all other potential buyers starting at three minutes to 10:00 a.m. (Last week they were gone in a flash). I got mine, as well as a bunch of pristine dandelion greens. Over at Culton Organics I picked up a couple of leeks for $6 (I forget the pound price), which will be grilled to accompany Country Time Pork's chops purchased yesterday at the RTM's Fair Food Stand.

Talula's Table brought along paté this week as well as all those sausages. The summer sausage I bought last week was spot on. No doubt abut it, Talula's is better than the summer sausages I've bought from Miesfield Meat of Sheboygan or Usinger's of Milwaukee, but it's not three times better than a quality commercial version. (Talula charges more than $20/pound vs. the $7.50 you'd pay for a good Wisconsin summer sausage from Miesfield of Sheboygan or Usinger or Milwaukee, and that price includes the shipping). And it's not that Talula's overcharges based on its raw material and production costs; it's just that the larger firms specialize and take advantage of economies of scale Talula's hand-crafted method can't match. So, if you want a six-ounce stick of summer sausage, splurge on Talula's. But if you plan on making sandwiches for a gang, order from one of the Wisconsin butchers.

[philadining]

I saw signs announcing that the Phoenixville farmers market has started up again, every saturday until November 22, 9am-1pm.

They even have a website: www.phoenixvillefarmersmarket.org/wp/

This week the market featured:

Artisan’s Gallery & Cafe

Backyard Bison

Baues Busy Bees

Birchrun Hills Farm

Betty’s Tasty Buttons

Charlestown Cooperative Farm

Countrytime Farm

Great Harvest Bread Co.

Jack’s Farm

Marci’s Morsels

Mitchell Program

Mountain View Poultry

Patashoo

Shepherd’s Pie Dog Bakery

Soap by Pat

Sweetwater Baking Co.

Whole Hearted Baking Co.

Ocean Earth Wind Fire

I, uh, forgot to check it out personally...

[rlibkind]

Clark Park Offers Choice Choices

With more than half a dozen vendors selling fresh produce this early in the season, Clark Park Market in University City/West Philadelphia offers plenty of choice. I stopped by at opening at this year-round farmers' market sponsored by The Food Trust for the first time and was impressed by the quality. Flower vendors and bakers supplemented the produce stalls, and expect more farmers to sell their goods as the season progresses.

Two vendors today offered strawberries though one, Landisdale Farm (Jonestown, Lebanon County), was basically sold out by the official 10 a.m opening (get there early). Both Landisdale's and Fahnestock Fruit Farm's berries were fairly tasty and sweet for early season berries, priced at $3.50 and $4.25 a pint, respectively; the berries from Fahnestock (Lititz, Lancaster County) were bigger (ideal for topping a shortcake), but both were tasty.

Most of Fahnestock's stock today, however, was devoted to tunnel tomatoes, $2.50/pound iirc. Landisdale's tables groaned under a wider variety of spring vegetables.

Other produce vendors at Clark Park today: Pennypack Farm of Horsham, with vegetables and greens; University City High School, with spring root veggies, herbs and flowers; Margerum's with spring veggies, herbs (fresh and dried), and dried beans and fruits, among other products; Keystone Farm, from way up north in Rome, Bradford County, selling not only veggies, but eggs, beef, pork and lamb, and cheese from the nearby LeRaysville plant; and Eden Garden of Dillsbury, York County, selling greens.

Other vendors included two flower stalls (Triple Tree Flowers, Lancaster, and Heinsohn's Greenhouse, Bangor, Northampton County) and two bakers, Slow Rise of Lancaster and Forest View Bakery of Lancaster. Slow Rise offers artisan breads while Forest View sells traditional Pennsylvania Dutch pies, cookies and other sweets.

If you live in Center City, Clark Park is an easy subway (Routes 13 or 34) or bus (Route 42) ride.

Edited May 17, 2008 by rlibkind (log)

[rlibkind]

Photos from today's trek to Clark Park:

University City High student enjoys a taste of his labors

Landisdale Farm tables

Fahnestock Farm, tables laden with tomatoes, berries

[KatieLoeb]

Today's small haul from Headhouse includes a bag of mixed spring greens and some pretty white radishes for a salad, three big zucchini for cream of zucchini soup, a big picture perfect hothouse tomato also for the salad and two croissant - prosciutto/gruyere and chocolate/raspberry. My kitty Turbo is enjoying sharing the prosciutto/gruyere croissant as I type this.

For all you gardeners, there were some of the most beautiful herb plants I've ever seen for sale at $2/pot. Pineapple mint, tricolor sage, oregano, two kinds of lavender, rosemary, marjoram, etc. Healthy looking and sweet smelling to the last. I wish I didn't have a black thumb.

[rlibkind]

With the holiday weekend, traffic seemed just a little slow at Headhouse Square: not dead, mind you, just a tad less frenetic.

Which doesn't mean there weren't wonderful foodstuffs to acquire.

Blooming Glen has been back at Headhouse for the past couple weeks, displacing Weaver's Way as the anchor produce vendor at the Lombard Street end of the shambles. They featured a humongus crop of French breakfast radishes. A more peppery, larger elongated French radish could be had at Weaver's Way. Talula's Table also returned this Sunday after a brief hiatus. Another vendor which missed the opening few weeks but is now a regular is Buoni Amici of Hammonton, selling greens, spinach, veggies, berries, beets and other produce. A.T. Buzby's strawberries were selling for $5 a quart. Culton Organics has been featuring baby artichokes recently; I didn't check the price this week, but the week before they were two for $4. Can't image Andrew Fenton didn't purchase a few after I ran into him there the prior week.

My purchases at Headhouse this past Sunday included some wonderful looking frozen pork steaks from Natural Meadows Farm. They only raise Tamworth hogs, a heritage breed. Although comparatively lean compared to other heritage breeds, it's still considerably better marbled than today's factory pigs. The steaks I purchased looked suitably, but not too, fatty. We'll let you know when they get et. I'm also going to try my hand this season with some kitchen herbs, which I purchased from Youngs' Garden and planted yesterday: sage, chives, thyme and peppermint.

Edited May 27, 2008 by rlibkind (log)

[rlibkind]

Hail The Summer Solstice!

As the solstice approaches (this coming Friday, 7:59 p.m.), summer fruits are trickling into the marketplace.

Local cucumbers (yes, it's a fruit, not a vegetable, though we tend to treat it as the latter, just as we do the tomato) could be found at Headhouse Square (A.T. Buzby, among others). I used the salad cuke yesterday as a garnish to chicken and cold noodles in sesame sauce. The kirby cukes, which were fairly large, have been quartered and, since last night, have been sitting a brine with lots of smashed garlic and coriander seeds, well on their way to becoming kosher pickles. (By this morning they had reached the "new pickle" stage; I figure they'll be halfies by tonight.)

In the realm of fruits that we think of as fruits, Buzby also had the first Jersey blueberries of the season, $3.50 a pint, iirc. Also at Headhouse, Noel Margerum featured pretty good tasting sweet cherries, $3.25/pint; another vendor (sorry, didn't write it down) had a semi-sweet cherry that I tried and thought a bit on the tasteless side.

We're approaching the end of the strawberry season, but fine examples can still be had. The $6 quart I purchased from Culton Organics at Headhouse were particularly good: the best I've had this season, large, but deep red, sweet all the way through and strong in strawberry flavor. Buzby and Buono Amici also had good-looking strawberries. Culton also has a huge crop of tunnel-grown apricots; the traditional orchard variety are still a few weeks away.

This little piggy . . .

Dwain Livengood has added pork to the frozen meats available at the family's stand (Tuesday afternoons at South & Passyunk, Thursday afternoons at 22nd & Fairmount, all day Saturdays at the RTM). The offerings include no-water added ham steak slices and bacon cured by one of the few remaining family-owned processors in Lancaster County, Smuckers Quality Meats of Mount Joy. Lancaster Farming had an excellent article on the decline of the small meat processors in April.

Birchrun Hills is offering veal as well as cheese. The ground veal was selling for $7 when I last checked two weeks ago.

[rlibkind]

The trickle of summer fruits I wrote about before the summer solstice is turning into a rivulet. Soon we'll have a raging torrent.

Over at the Fairmount & 22nd Market today, Sam Stoltzfus offered black raspberries at $3.95/pint; Earl Livengood had his organic raspberries for a little bit more. Bill Weller was selling what may be the season's last strawberries, $4.50/quart, along with blueberries and dark, sweet cherries, the best I've had so far this season: big, plump with juice, flavor and sweetness. Livengood also had the first Lancaster County corn I've seen this season (not his own but from another Lancaster County farmer). The fourth vendor at Fairmount today was Versailles Bakery.

At last Sunday's Headhouse Square market, Culton Organics featured haricots vert, pricey at $7 but delectable looking. Sweet cherries at Beechwood Orchards were $6.50/quart or $3.75/pint, with blueberries at $4.50/$2.75 and strawberries $3.50/quart. Margerum's was selling blues for $3.50/pint, Buoni Amici for $3, with cherries priced at $5/quart or $3/pint. Every vendor's lettuces and greens looked inviting.

[mrbigjas]

here's the thing about culton organics: dude is kinda nutty. their stuff is really expensive, there's no two ways about that, but this week i got japanese onions, supposedly the same type they use for yakitori. they were incredibly aromatic, and awesome grilled. he also had these purple elongated onions, which are as sweet as vidalias, but have a better flavor.

great beets too. and some devil's ear lettuce which is excellent.

also this week i bought something called 'lettucy' from north star. i'd never heard of it, but apparently it's some kind of mustard green, but mild enough that you don't cook it. it's just a little sharp, and a little meaty, and a little bitter, and awsome. and tonight, with those purple onions i mentioned and some grated asiago, wiht a dressing of good spanish olive oil, some dijon and chardonnay vinegar it mighta been the best simple salad i've ever had. i mean i can't tell you how good this green is. put it this way, the boy scarfed it, and he's not even two. what kid have you ever heard of who eats salad? know what i mean? he LOVED IT.

awesome greens.

anyway, lettucy aside, the point is, culton organics dude. talk to him. he's really into what he does.

[KatieLoeb]

In addition to the gorgeous radishes, cucumber and baby arugula I purchased for salad this afternoon, today's haul from Headhouse Square included these:

Garlic scapes and oyster mushrooms, stir fried and then lightly steamed with water and served with a splash of tamari and some slivered almonds and hazelnuts. I'd never attempted to cook nor tasted garlic scapes before. They're really good! The blossom ends are a bit stringy, but I think that might have been me accidentally over-frying them before adding the water. Nonetheless, I think I need to do some research and try these again in a couple of weeks. These could become a new favorite veggie at my house.

[rlibkind]

I was so overwhelmed by the depth, variety and volume of produce this weekend that I've combined my fruit and vegetable report for the Reading Terminal and Headhouse in one. Here it is:

Beets, one of my favorite roots, are plentiful and colorful. Over at the RTM, Benuel Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce finally has those deep red cylindrically-shaped beauties I so adore.It's one of the sweetest varieties you can find. He was selling then in quart boxes, sans leaves, for $2.50. Chiogga beats could be found at the Fair Food Farmstand. Lots of other beets were available at Headhouse, too. Most colorful were the "rainbow" beets at Northstar, $5 for a quart of the babies and $2.50/pound for larger versions.

I made my second batch of kosher garlic pickles this week, using fairly small kirbies found at Kauffman's, prined at $3.99/pound; O.K. Lee was selling larger but fresh, glistening local kirbies in 1-3/4 pound bags for the bargain price of 99-cents. I couldn't find samples as small at Headhouse, but there were still plenty of nice fresh kirbies, some priced as low as $2/pound (Weaver's Way, which featured slicing cukes at the same price). A variety labeled "Gherkin" could be found at Yoder and at least one other Headhouse vendor, but these aren't the kind of cucumbers you'd find a jar of midget sweet pickles. Instead, these are a very small and spiny variety also known as West Indian or Burr cucumbers. Seedy but great for eating raw, according to one of the vendors.

Local corn and sweet bell peppers are also making their appearance. Prices hover around 60 to 75 cents an ear right now. The green bell peppers at Buzby (Headhouse) were selling for a buck apiece. Eggplants, in all their wonderous variety, are also becoming plentiful. Buzby's big Jersey eggplants were priced at $1.50 each.

The tomatoes aren’t quite where they’ll be in a couple more weeks, but Iovine Brothers Produce (RTM) featured Jersey Ugli’s at $1.45. Kauffman’s red and yellow field tomatoes were fetching $3.99. Over at Headhouse, one vendor was selling heirlooms at about $4.50, iirc.

That's Some Spicy Blueberry!

Blueberries are in abundance right now, as are red and black raspberries. The raspberries were selling from $4.50 for a half pint, blues for $3.50/half-pint, $5.50/pint by the Wenks (Three Springs Fruit Farm) at Headhouse. The fat berries in the pint I brought home were pristine, fresh, sweet and deliriously spicy. Over at the RTM, Fair Food’s blues were going for $2.75/pint, Livengood’s for $3.95, Kauffman’s for $4.95 (or three pints for $12).

Raspberries do tend to be pricey, but they are lovely. Kauffman’s offered reds for $4 a half-pnt, blacks for $3. Fair Food’s purple berries sold for $3.75. Over at Headhouse Wenk's was charging $4.50 for a half-pint of black raspberries. Next week we might see the wineberry variety at Livengood’s, gathered by Sam Consylman. Blackberries should arrive in a couple of weeks, too (they usually appear at the same time as peaches; it’s no accident these two fruits make a great combination).

This week has got to be the peak of the cherry season. Beechwood Orchards (Headhouse) featured two varities of yellowish cherries, Napolean and Emporer Francis. The Napoleans I purchased were even sweeter than the dark sweet cherries; they are more apt to bruise, but don't let that stop you from enjoying these delicious stone fruits. All the sweet varieties at Beechwood were priced at $3.75/pint or $6.50/quart. Over at Wenk's dark cherries were $4/$6.

Sour pie cherries could be found at Livengood's, Kauffman's and Fair Food at the Reading Terminal Market, and Beechwood, Wenk's, and Northstar Orchards at Headhouse. Prices ranged from $4.50/quart at Beechwood and Fair Food to $6.95 at Kauffman’s. Northstar's Morellos were selling at $6.

'Cots, Peaches and Plums

Another stone fruit now starting to peak is the lovely, spicy apricot. Ben Kauffman had them at the RTM for $3.99/pound, while over at Headhouse they were featured at Wenk's ($4/pint) and Beechwood ($6.50/quart).

Peaches made their first appearance of the season at Headhouse. Noel Margerum selling Jersey whites and yellows at $3.75/quart (4 to 5 peaches). Yellows were $4/quart at Buoni Amici.

Another sure sign of summer, plums, could be found at Northstar (Early Golden and Jewels, $2/pound) and Buoni Amici (sugar plums, $3/pint, $5/quart).

Summer may just be underway, but signs of autumn could also be detected, even if one of them came from the other side of the equator. Locally, an early summer apple, Lodi, could be obtained from Wenk's for $1.49/pound; its highest use would be for sauce.

By no means local, but at Iovine's you could find lovely Abate Fetel pears from Argentina, a large, long-necked variety priced at 99-cents. Black figs from California were selling for $3.99 for a pack of about 10. Mexican red, black and green seedless grapes were being sold in bags for $1.99, each bag containing about 1-3/4 pounds.