2019 Farmers Markets

[Okanagancook]

Starting a new thread for this year's bounty.

I went to my first Penticton Market this morning.  It's been going for a few weeks.  

It is divided into produce which must be grown locally and other stuff.....soaps, trinkets, etc.

At 8:30 start time a bunch of kids run the full block with hand bells ringing in the Market opening as all the vendors clap....they get pretty slow near the end.

 

There are a lot of small farms throughout the Okanagan and it is interesting to see people find a niche.  Last year a gal started a sprout company and now she supplies a lot of the Winery Bistros as well as a huge selection for sale at the market.  I got a litre container (packed) of pea shoots from her this morning.  

 

Then there is the fellow who started a mushroom farm a year or so ago here:  https://www.wtfmushrooms.ca

I got some beautiful oyster mushrooms.  The chap ahead of me in line didn't have his money with him and the mushroom seller just game him the $20 box on the proviso he get paid next time...the chap apparently shops the market every Saturday so there was no hesitation "yeah, catch me next time".   Gotta love it.

 

They have created an ally area where the food trucks are.  This is new from last year.  I bought some "cheese" bread from one of the trucks, chatting with the lady behind the counter.  They are all sour dough and lots of different kinds.  Her so called 'cheese' bread consists of white bread with about 2 tablespoons of cheese sprinkled on top of the loaf.  VERY disappointed and I think I will let her know about my disappointment next time I am there.  

 

Another couple bought a large farm in the next valley over.  Her husband grows garlic and she makes bread in this wonderful wood oven that was on the property when they purchased it.  Wonderful bread, wonderfully expensive at $9 for a smallish loaf.

 

 

 

Anyway here's a picture of my haul today.  I got that lovely cloth bag too.

 

 

 

[kayb]

Well, the cheese bread is still pretty. I make one with cheese and browned sausage kneaded into the dough that I like a lot; I call it breakfast bread. Makes a great egg salad sandwich!

 

[chromedome]

I went out to the market where I used to be a vendor, for the first time in a couple of years, and said hello to the handful of familiar faces who were there (it's still early in the season, so many of them aren't coming out yet).

 

Bought a bag of fiddleheads, one of radish microgreens, and some baby carrots. Ate Syrian food (hurray for recent arrivals!).

[Okanagancook]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Well, the cheese bread is still pretty. I make one with cheese and browned sausage kneaded into the dough that I like a lot; I call it breakfast bread. Makes a great egg salad sandwich!

 

Now that’s more like it.  Sausage is always a welcome addition.  A bakery in our old town used to make cheese buns about the size of a Costco muffin.  It was riddled with cheese in the middle and crispy brown bits of cheese on the outside.  I guess I will have to make my own.

[ElsieD]

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Well, the cheese bread is still pretty. I make one with cheese and browned sausage kneaded into the dough that I like a lot; I call it breakfast bread. Makes a great egg salad sandwich!

 

 

Well, now, that sounds interesting.  Can you tell us more about it?

[kayb]

I use my basic white bread recipe -- 4 1/2 cups flour, 1 packet yeast, 2 tbsp softened butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/4 cup warm water. I brown a half-pound of breakfast sausage, breaking up the lumps, and let it drain on paper towels and cool. I grate a couple of cups of whatever kind of cheese is handy -- sharp cheddar is good, but I've also used a mix of whatever kinds of odds and ends I have in the cheese drawer. I turn the dough out onto a counter and knead the sausage and cheese into it, let it rise, shape it into two 8 x 4 loaf pans, let it rise again, and bake it. It makes wonderful toast with an over easy egg on top, and I've made open faced egg salad sandwiches with it as part of a brunch. It's awfully good just buttered with some jelly.

 

This makes a moderately crumbly bread, so it's not the best for any sort of major sandwich production, but it works well with soft spreads like egg salad.

 

FWIW, that recipe is also the same that I use for dinner rolls and cinnamon rolls, and I've also made pizza rolls and ham and cheese rolls like you would cinnamon rolls with it. If I'm not kneading anything into the dough, I don't knead much at all -- just two or three minutes. It makes a wonderfully soft, light roll or bread.

 

[ElsieD]

@kayb  Thank you!   

[Okanagancook]

Ditto re thanks.

 

My DH said not to worry about the cheese bread...she told me she sells out every week.....? I wonder.

She is unlikely to be open to feed back....maybe I will take her a slice of sausage cheese bread😮

[weinoo]

While theses strawberries were very nice and tasty, it cost me $14 to make a pint of sorbet (with rhubarb) and a pint of strawberry jam, - that's a lot!

 

And while the strawberries were beautiful when I purchased them and started walking home with them, I erred in not immediately starting to work with them. By the time I got around to washing and hulling them in order to make said jam and sorbet, they weren't in the best of shape; they were, as a matter of fact, starting to look not good - so I really didn't get to use the full amount I had bought...

 

My guess is that they're refrigerated after being picked, and then the heat of the day causes them to sweat profusely (like I was), leading to less than perfect fruit.

 

Still - they were tasty. And the sorbet rocked. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

While theses strawberries were very nice and tasty, it cost me $14 to make a pint of sorbet (with rhubarb) and a pint of strawberry jam, - that's a lot!

 

And while the strawberries were beautiful when I purchased them and started walking home with them, I erred in not immediately starting to work with them. By the time I got around to washing and hulling them in order to make said jam and sorbet, they weren't in the best of shape; they were, as a matter of fact, starting to look not good - so I really didn't get to use the full amount I had bought...

 

 

 

We pass a half-dozen farm stands at strawberry fields en route to the country.    I have seldom had good luck buying strawberries from any of them.    Regardless being "field fresh", they lose vibrance by the time we get them to the house or home.    I always try to choose medium rather than dark red berries, which I often find overripe, but still they look tired very quickly.    I also hate to refrigerate berries.    I grew up in strawberry country and know that berries should be bought in small quantities and eaten while still warm from the field.      Strawberries, more than other berries, are fragile and are sadly a commodity that has been spoiled by its 24/7 availability.  

[Kim Shook]

We went to Chile's Orchard market in Crozet, VA this weekend.  Came home with these:

 

We picked the blueberries - which I've frozen, peaches (delectible), corn, and peach cider doughnuts (we got 6 - this is what was left last night).  There are also some plums that didn't make it into the photo.

 

 

 

[BeeZee]

A local farm is setting up a table in our YMCA on Saturday morning and I believe also 1-2 nights during the week. Various items, some are 2/$5...I picked up a bulb of fennel and 5-6 beets (some red, some golden) for $5 - going to make a raw salad with them. They had full pints of blackberries for $5, but I have so much fruit in the fridge right now I had to pass.

[Alex]

This is tomorrow's market. It's the biggest of several in and around Grand Rapids.

 

Quote

SATURDAY FOOD LIST

• Apple products
• Apricots
• Beans (green, yellow, purple)
• Blackberries
• Blueberries (new arrival!)
• Body care products
• Bread/Baked goods 
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Cherries (tart + sweet)
• Coffee (cold brew, beans, ground)
• Cookies
• Corn (NEW on the Market!)
• Cider (alcoholic + non-alcoholic)
• Cucumber
• Currants
• Dairy products (milk, cheese, goat cheese)
• Eggs 
• Fish
• Flowers
• Garden transplants (vegetables, herbs)
• Gooseberries
• Granola
• Greens 
• Herbal remedy products
• Herbs 
• Honey 
• Hungarian Pastries
• Jelly/jam
• Juice (cold-pressed)
• Kettle Corn
• Kombucha
• Maple Syrup
• Marinades
• Meat (great variety, never factory farmed!)
• Microgreens
• Mulberries
• Mushrooms 
• Pasta (hand-made!)
• Pasties
• Peaches
• Peas
• Peppers 
• Pizza crusts
• Popcorn
• Potatoes
• Quiche
• Raspberries 
• Rhubarb
• Root veggies
• Salsa
• Soup mixes
• Strawberries 
• Summer Squash
• Sweet potatoes
• Teas
• Tortillas

 

[MelissaH]

On 7/26/2019 at 9:13 PM, Alex said:

This is tomorrow's market. It's the biggest of several in and around Grand Rapids.

 

 

How is this market on Fridays, generally speaking? (I am not a disinterested party. 😁 )

[Margaret Pilgrim]

On 7/26/2019 at 6:13 PM, Alex said:

This is tomorrow's market. It's the biggest of several in and around Grand Rapids.

 

 

Our (Laney College) market had one item not on your list.  

 

Roasted crickets.   Did not buy any, but they are very popular.

[Alex]

2 hours ago, MelissaH said:

How is this market on Fridays, generally speaking? (I am not a disinterested party. 😁 )

 

Most of the folks I tend to buy from are there only on Saturday, so I haven't been to that market in a couple of years and can't speak to its current Friday status, but from what I remember, there was still a good number of produce and other vendors. Many GR'ers head out of town for the weekend while others prefer to not deal with the Saturday crowds.

[kayb]

4 hours ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

Our (Laney College) market had one item not on your list.  

 

Roasted crickets.   Did not buy any, but they are very popular.

 

I ate my first crickets when we visited the Tower Grove market in StL recently. They were ground into a meal and added to granola. Tasted like...granola.

 

I was also intrigued by the paella pan that must have been 36 inches across, bubbling on a gas burner. Got some tamales which were quite excellent, as the paella looked to need a while longer on the burner. Made me want to make paella, though.

 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Just now, kayb said:

 

I ate my first crickets when we visited the Tower Grove market in StL recently. They were ground into a meal and added to granola. Tasted like...granola.

 

I was also intrigued by the paella pan that must have been 36 inches across, bubbling on a gas burner. Got some tamales which were quite excellent, as the paella looked to need a while longer on the burner. Made me want to make paella, though.

 

I started noticing these after adorable Pati brought them to my attention.    Sold in half pint containers at a  Panaderia stall.   Today, wild spinach.   Maybe next week, roast crickets?

[MelissaH]

16 hours ago, Alex said:

 

Most of the folks I tend to buy from are there only on Saturday, so I haven't been to that market in a couple of years and can't speak to its current Friday status, but from what I remember, there was still a good number of produce and other vendors. Many GR'ers head out of town for the weekend while others prefer to not deal with the Saturday crowds.

And some of us prefer to venture into the city during the week!

[Kim Shook]

Mr. Kim surprised Jessica and me with an adventure on Saturday.  First stop was the South of the James farmer’s market.  Some weirdos come for the vegetables.  This is what I come for:

I got to love on a bunch of these good boys and girls. 

 

Mrs. Yoder’s doughnuts (as big as your face):

 

With chocolate ganache:

 

Our goodies:

Goats R Us cheeses: hot pepper, cucumber & dill, and horseradish.  Pesto, tomatoes, corn, and garlic/Cheddar potato bread – allegedly.  It was good bread, but we couldn’t detect any garlic or Cheddar. 

[kayb]

Having missed the Farmers' Market on both Saturday (taking grandchildren back to Nashville) and Tuesday (life got in the way), I happened to see on Facebook the Amish produce farmers were set up on a parking lot in town today. I got there as they were loading up to go home.

 

I scored a small watermelon, a huge canteloupe (same size as the watermelon), a half-dozen ears of corn, a basket of four slicing tomatoes, and a bag of about 8 peaches. That haul cost me all of $28. And well worth it. I passed on okra, squash, peas, and assorted other stuff.

 

I still have half a small watermelon in the fridge (the local grandchild is here, so he and I will likely finish that off tomorrow), but Aldi had pork steaks on sale, thus I will be diving into Deep Run Roots at some point over the weekend.

 

[BeeZee]

5 large tomatoes, $5 from the farm who sets up a table at my YMCA on Saturday mornings. They had giant scallions, eggplants, yellow squash, cherry tomatoes (red and yellow), beets, potatoes, basil, ground cherries, and some other things I am forgetting.

 

[Tri2Cook]

I was finally able to make it to the local market for the first time this year yesterday. It coincided with the opening ceremonies for the annual blueberry festival so there was a large turnout. The veggie situation still wasn't the greatest but it never really is here. I got a few goodies from the lady from the elk farm, the guy from the beef farm and the guy that does the German style meats, some cheeses from the cheese maker, some bread from the bread lady and some nice looking pickles. Probably would have done more damage with a little more time, I ducked out of work for a few minutes to go so I had to get back pretty quick.

[kayb]

Didn't go today. I was still pretty stocked up on veggies after hitting the Amish farmer's stand Wednesday, and I'm leaving town for a week Thursday. (If there are any decent eats, I'll blog them.)

 

[liuzhou]

I'm distraught! Yesterday,  I went to visit my local market as I've been doing for over 20 years, and when I got there, it wasn't! The purpose built building, to which it moved only about 10 years ago, was shuttered and deserted. A sign hung on the wall.
 

 

To cut a long story short, it is telling me that in their wisdom the local authorities have decided to waste more money doing up a place that is the least in need of doing up and it will be closed for (at least) two months to allow for the work. How will I survive?

Edited September 2, 2019 by liuzhou (log)