2008 Phila. Farmers Markets

[mrbigjas]

\Most colorful were the "rainbow" beets at Northstar, $5 for a quart of the babies and $2.50/pound for larger versions.

the brightest were the super bright yellow ones at culton organics, though.

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.

also at culton, as well as another one. culton also still had those fantastic purple onions i mentioned above. damn they're expensive. but good.

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.

those are the people on the lombard street end, whose name i can never remember. they were also selling red, yellow and orange non-heirloom varieties that they had been growing in a removable greenhouse type of hookup to keep them warm in the spring. they were much cheaper and surprisingly good considering the time of year and the varieties. talk to the big guy with the beard, he loves to talk all about how they're growing what they do. they also had good new potatoes in red norland and red gold varieties.

[rlibkind]

See my RTM comments here.

[Holly Moore]

Headhouse Square Alert - The tomato guy from Virginia, Sugar Hill Farm was at the market today and will be there for just one more week. His tomatoes are really good. Unfortunately much of this year's tomato crop was washed out by rains.

[TarteTatin]

I really do like Urban Girls produce on Wed afternoons in front of Standard Tap.

Last week and today I got the absolute best black raspberries I've ever had.

Her shallots are super, she proudly grows her own okra, and today I got the best little tiny cherry tomatoes. Just pop them in your mouth like candy. A couple of ears of corn, and I was good to go.

Very reasonably priced, I like the quality and the price much better than Headhouse on Sunday.

Unfortunately, she is just one little stall. Along with her is the bakery/cracker people from the south end of the Headhouse market.

Just the two stalls, nothing else.

But, her stuff is amazing.

[lancastermike]

Sitting in Rittenhouse Square reading the paper and drinking coffee on Saturday we saw the vendors setting up. Walked over and bought a few peaches from a farm in Lititz. We came to Philadelphia to buy peaches from a farmer who lives about 6 miles from us.

There was a nice bit of produce and also some baked goods and one fellow had grass fed beef. The flower seller was doing a real good business as many folks were strolling the Square with bunches of sunflowers

[rlibkind]

Once upon a time, there were Watermelons, Canteloupes and Honeydews, with an occasional Casaba or Persian to behold. Today we've got lots more choice. I don't have the slightet idea what variety is pictured here, but I can attest to its deliciousness.

From the outside, it didn't look like much. Hard, very wax skin (no netting like members of the cantaloupe family usually evince). But its aroma was enticing and was clearly ripe and ready for eating. The folks behind the stand at Beechwood Orchard (Headhouse Square last Sunday) didn't know what it was, other than it was ready to eat.

I cut it open Monday evening and was overcome by the aroma. She Who Must Be Obeyed was also overcome, but her reaction was totally different from mine. SWMBO quite accurately characterizing the smell and taste as "perfumey". To me, that's high praise for a melon. To her, it qualifies the melon for the trash can.

When a melon is good there's hardly a more refreshing fruit. This melon was damned good, one of the best I've ever enjoyed. I urge you to try new and different melons that you spy at the local farmers' markets this month, the peak of melon season.

Headhouse Square boasted more than melons, of course. Entering the market from the Lombard Street side one is immediately impressed by the tomatoes and other produce displayed by Blooming Glen Farm. Next week I'm definitely going to buy some paste tomatoes for gravy! Of course, it's hard to pass up the red and sungold cherry tomatoes for fresh pasta sauce or the yellow tiny pear tomatoes. This time of year, it's hard to go wrong buying any tomato (though it's possible if you restrict your tomato buying to supermarkets).

Speaking of pears, they're here. At least a variety that Buoni Amici called "Startlingly Delicious". I didn't buy any to test that proposition, but maybe this weekend I will. There are a gazillion varieties of pear, but a quick Googling failed to turn up one under this name. But it appears to be a Bartlett relation.

Peaches and blackberries are in full form. (Blueberries have basically run their course, unless, like me, you brought four quarts home from Maine). At last Tuesday's South Street market, Sam Consylman's Raritan Rose peaches sold at Earl Livengood's stall were gone by the time I arrived an hour after the opening bell. Beechwood Orchards (which is at South Street as well as Headhouse) featured both red and white donut (Saturn) peaches, red and white tradition peaches, and nectarines, iirc.

Highest on my list of produce offered by Beechwood (after the melon!) is the Santa Rosa plum. When they're good and ripe (black rather than red) they are incredibly sweet and flavorful. And juicy: Be sure to eat them over the sink.

Over at Culton Organics I picked up some yellow beets that, from the exterior coloration, could have been confused with rutabagas. Praise the lord, they didn't taste like those bocci ball Swedish turnips! I had some of those sweet red cylindrical beets I always rave about sitting in the crisper at home, so I roasted a couple of each on the Weber Silver B and enjoyed them with some simply grilled Bell & Evans chicken parts (breast for SWMBO, whole leg for me). Properly stored in the produce crisper, beets will keep for at least two or three weeks, sometimes more. (Beets are roots, and in days of yore they were among the foods that went into a family's root cellar to last the whole winter. Just remove any leaves and all but maybe an inch of stem, leaving the root end unmolested. Wipe off any loose clinging dirt - but do not use any water - and store in the fridge.)

[rlibkind]

The Clark Park Farmers' Market, sponsored by The Food Trust, will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Saturday, Sept 6. In addition to the market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., there will be music and other activities throughout the morning and for a few hours beyond market closing time. In addition to the Saturday market, there's a smaller Thursday afternoon market.

I made my first trip since spring to Clark Park and was overwhelmed by the produce offered by about a dozen vendors. You can see a gallery of the photos I took here. Great variety of tomatoes, plenty of summer fruits and veggies of all types. Because I had been to the Reading Terminal Market the day before, the Fairmount market the day before that, and was planning to get to Headhouse the next day, I limited myself to some fresh corn and yellow summer squash. They went great with the loin lamb chops I acquired at Giunta's Prime Shop at the RTM.

At Headhouse on Sunday plenty of heirloom tomatoes were in evidence at Culton's Organics (photo above), though I passed these up in favor of their "Currant" tomatoes, tiny little beauties on the vine smaller than "grape" tomatoes. Their highest use is probably just popping them into your waiting mouth, but I used them a quick pasta sauce last night, augmented by just a touch of onion and garlic. Yum. I also picked up some Mirai corn from Culton's, 50 cents an ear. More Headhouse photos from this week's trip here.

A brief tomato digression. As much as I love the different flavors and characteristics of the various heirloom tomatoes, I certainly don't disparage the basic "field" tomato. Get them ripe off the vine and they not only taste great, they offer a good bargain. And when it comes to picking a tomato for my BLT, I'll pass up the Brandywines, Cherokee Purples and Green Zebras for a good old field tomato, so long as it's ripe and fresh-picked.

Over at Fairmount on Thursday I talked with Dwain Livengood, who said he'd be killing some of his chickens over the next week, so they'd be available fresh rather than frozen. The birds are in the 3-4 pound range, and it's best to reserve them. I'll pick up mine this Thursday at Fairmount, but they'll also be available Tuesday afternoon at South Street and Saturday at the Reading Terminal.

Also at Fairmount, Bill Weller is selling some great produce. The cantelope I bought two weeks ago and the watermelon purchased last week were both flavorful and sweet. Last week I also purchased some donut (saturn) variety yellow peaches and turned them into cobbler. Their skins don't peel as easily as regular peaches, even after the hot water/ice water shock treatment, and there's a higher proportion of peel to flesh, so they are probably best used as a fresh-eating peach rather than in cooked and baked applications where you'd want to peel them. Still, even with the extra work and stray pieces of skin, the cobbler tasted terrific.

[Andrew Fenton]

At South & Passyunk, I picked up some ground cherries from Livengood's. I'd never tried them before, but they're really tasty, with sort of a cross between a citrus and tomato flavor. I brought a bag with me to work and have been munching on them all morning.

edit: and how can I forget, one of the best canteloupes I've ever had! We ate half of it last night, and I'm going to pick up some prosciutto on the way home tonight for some kickass antipasto action.

edit x2: and from Beechwood Orchards, a variety of pluot I bought just for the name... "Flavor Grenade." I haven't tried them yet, but when I do, I'll be sure to yell "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" and duck under a table or something...

Edited September 3, 2008 by Andrew Fenton (log)

[rlibkind]

Two new vendors joined the Fairmount & 22nd market today: a cheese-maker and a flower-herb vendor.

The latter, whose name I forget (other than David) is an Amishman who also sells at South Street on Tuesday afternoon. The cheese-maker is North Jersey's Valley Shepherd Creamery, which makes superlative sheep cheeses which I've previously purchased at the Fair Food Farmstand.

The paw paws were in, and they are ripe and ready, as you can see in the accompanying photo. As noted in another post in the RTM topic, you want to buy them heavily mottled. These were gathered by Sam Consylman and available at Livengood's, whose own paw paw trees have produced larger (but not quite ready yet) fruit this year, according to Dwain Livengood.

The addition of David and Valley Sheperd Creamy brings to six the number of merchants at Fairmount. Other vendors there include Bill Weller (orchard fruit and other produce), Sam Stolfus (produce, Pennsylvania Dutch baked goods), and Versailles Bakery.

Livengood's still has ground cherries. Audrey Livengood said she baked them in a pie that turned out very well. She pre-baked the shell, then sprinkled the bottom with sugar (brown, I think) and flour, then mixed the fruits with some additional flour (not much), sugar and a couple tablespoons of water before baking. The ground cherries don't release all that much liquid, she said. Dwain vouched for its deliciousness.

Below is a sample of some of Livengood's produce available today, including celeriac and okra. Dwain says they don't plant late corn, so the ears they are selling come from other Lancaster area farmers.

[Andrew Fenton]

Ooh, the paw paws are in? OUTSTANDING.

[rlibkind]

Tom Culton never fails to put together a photogenic display of his produce, like these leeks and white sweet potatoes at his Culton Organics stand at the Headhouse Farmers' Market Sunday. No less impressive are the varieties of colorful French carrots from Culton.

This was the weekend for me to pick up some Roma (plum) tomatoes. I purchased mine from Margerum's at Headhouse, but there were beautiful speciments from other vendors there, as well as at the Reading Terminal Market Saturday (Rineer's Family Farm, selling via Fair Food Farmstand, and at Benuel Kaufman's Lancaster County Produce). The price at most vendors hovered around $2/pound, though you could get a deal if you were planning to make a lot of sauce and could buy by the case. I skinned, cored and seeded the quart from Margerum's and made a sauce with onions, garlic (lots) and basil, which then went into some penne baked with parmesan, fresh mozzarella and ricotta. I topped it with some slices of sauteed mild Italian sausage from Martin's of the RTM.

Radishes seem to be back en force with the autumnal equinox. I purchased a bunch of French radishes, along with some Toscano kale. Among other fall vegetables, Culton, Earl Livengood and others are offering sweet, young knobs of celeriac; julienne and serve tossed with a remoulade sauce, or puree and mix with mashed potatoes.

The hurricane remants that but a damper on outdoor activities the Saturday before last caused the postponement of 10th anniversary festivities of the Clark Park Market operated by The Food Trust. Re-mark it on your calendar for Oct. 4.

Edited September 22, 2008 by rlibkind (log)

[KatieLoeb]

Gorgeous tiny jewel-like Fairy Tale eggplants and nice looking green and yellow zucchini at the Passyunk market this afternoon. The eggplants are pricey, but so cute and pretty. I'll be quartering and stir frying those with the zucchini and a lot of garlic before I drop a can of Ro-tel tomatoes in for a quick tricked out Mexican ratatouille.

I'm trying so hard to eat my five servings a day...

Bought some pretty plums too. Still sweet and juicy, the farmer said they'd been picked several weeks ago and kept in cold storage. They're the last gasp of summer except for the last heirloom tomatoes I saw.

Cauliflower bigger than your head at one table. It was so big I doubted I could finish one alone. But more importantly I won't have time to cook it this week so I'll wait until next Tuesday and feast on a ginormous batch of Roasted Cauliflower for dinner. Other than the friends I've made here, that roasted cauliflower is my very favorite thing that eGullet has introduced me to.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yesterday at the South & Passyunk market, I bought a watermelon from Livengood's. How decadent, I thought, to be eating watermelon in late October! And you know, while it wasn't as great as a really first-rate watermelon of July, it was still pretty darn good. I miss summer...

[rlibkind]

Based on visits the last two Sundays, Headhouse Square's roster of vendors, though still strong, are fading with the autumn leaves. But there's still plenty of good produce from a variety of farmers to choose from.

Queens Farm offers a small, selective but unusual array of vegtetables, including these bowl-shaped Ta Tsai greens suitable for use as salad or in cooking, though I can't imagine the latter since it would destroy the beautiful sculpture formed by these lovelies. Better to place of scoop of Asian-inflected chicken or fish salad in the center.

North Star had three different Asian pears the last two weeks. I picked up the Hosui variety, which were crisp but incredibly juicy. Five or six varieties of apples were also offered by North Star, as well as at other fruit vendors, including Three Springs and Beechwood Orchard.

Bunches of credibly fresh, thin-bulbed scallions (a.k.a. green onions) were selling for $2 at Blooming Glen at the south entrance to the Headhouse shambles. Queens Farm, meanwhile, had what at first glance appeared to be scallions but upon closer inspection (by the nose) were clearly small bunches of pugent fresh garlic.

A number of the Headhouse vendors will be there on the day before Thanksgiving (Nov. 26). You can order pies, turkey, sides, etc., in advance from them. Griggstown Quail Farm offers Red Bourbon turkeys at $7.99 pound, traditional birds at $3.79.

[rlibkind]

As Thanksgiving nears, local celery begins to hit area farmers' markets. Here are meter-long samples of red celery found Sunday at Tom Culton's Headhouse Square stall. Soon we'll see blanched celery, which is grown (mostly) under dirt to prevent the stalks from turning green.

Don't limit yourself to raw celery. This red celery, with thin, tough stalks and coarse leaves, is much more suitable for cooking, with a more intense flavor than the common celery. Braised celery (especially the blanched variety) makes an interesting veggie alternative; you can up the interest even more by finishing with some cream. I used the red celery as the major component in a vegetable stock (along with leek, carrrots and a whole head of garlic). Most of that stock is waiting in the freezer, but I used some last night to create an ersatz caldo verde, adding diced carrots, shredded kale and chorizo, but skipping the potato.

Culton recently returned from Slow Food's Salone del Gusto 2008 in Turin, where he was bowled over by everything, but especially the prosciutto produced from a southern Italian breed of goat. Culton hopes to begin raising the breed here. (No doubt Marc Vetri, who travelled to Turin with Tom, would be interested in Culton's animal husbandry.) Because Culton's pulled out his field crops to concentrate on vegetables, he's got the acreage to create room for ruminants to ruminate. Also impressing him was Eataly, the Turin warehouse food emporium inspired by and associated with the Slow Food movement. Culton said the display of various artichokes (a crop he grows here) was as long as the Headhouse shambles.

[Andrew Fenton]

Culton recently returned from Slow Food's Salone del Gusto 2008 in Turin, where he was bowled over by everything, but especially the prosciutto produced from a southern Italian breed of goat. Culton hopes to begin raising the breed here. (No doubt Marc Vetri, who travelled to Turin with Tom, would be interested in Culton's animal husbandry.) Because Culton's pulled out his field crops to concentrate on vegetables, he's got the acreage to create room for ruminants to ruminate.

Prosciutto di capra! How cool is that? I'll be sure to ask about it on Sunday.

[rlibkind]

Headhouse Square will be open this Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, but closed the following Sunday. The farmers' market resumes Sunday, Dec. 6, continuing through the first Sunday before Christmas.

[rlibkind]

Headhouse Square vendors didn't outnumber customers this morning, but it was close.

Five produce vendors displayed their product: Beechwood Orchards, Blooming Glen Farm, Margerum's, Queen Farm, and Weaver's Way. Among the other vendors present were Mountain View Poultry, Griggstown Quail Farm, and Versailles Bakery, among others. David Garretson of Beechwood Orchards said he'll keep showing up until the last day for Headhouse, scheduled for the Sunday before Christmas, unless foul weather prevents him from making the long drive from Biglerville in York County.

Although all but two of the city's other outdoor farmers' markets have closed for the 2008 season (the exceptions being Clark Park and Fitler Square, which are open Saturdays year-round), Versailles Bakery intends to keep showing up at the site of the Fairmount market (Fairmount and 22nd) as long as there are customers. Although that market had its last day the day before Thanksgiving, Versailles was doing a brisk business in brisk weather this past Thursday, setting up just before lunchtime.

Versailles had some nice prices this morning at Headhouse, with baguettes selling for $1.75 or two for $3, and most other loaves at $2.75 or two for $5.

[rlibkind]

Visited the winter market at Clark Park Saturday. The Food Trust has managed to attract 8-10 vendors each week to this year-round venue.

This past Saturday vendors were:

Forest View Baking

Keystone Farm (root veggies, beef, pork, apples)

Slow Rise Baking

Eden Garden (apple syrup, apples, root veggies)

Margerum's (preserves, root veggies, herbs and spices)

Earl Livengood (root veggies, greens)

Betty's Buttons (fudge)

Two other vendors who usually make the market, but didn't last week, were Landisvale Farm and

Mountain View Poultry.

The most interesting product I found was pointed out to me by Jon Glynn, who manages the Clark Park market for the Food Trust. It was the apple syrup from Eden Garden. It's definitely apple-y fruity and sweet, but with a bit of a tannic bite like molasses. Might be interesting to use in a cocktail, as well as on pancakes.

Earl Livengood is considering shifting his winter presence strictly to Clark Park, since he had found his Saturday business at the Reading Terminal Market drops off considerably at and after lunch. Also, he can no longer be two places at once, since son Dwain is spending a year in Honduras.