Farmers Markets

[maxmillan]

I started off this morning at Granville Island hoping to find this Milan guy and his tomatoes. Alas, neither to be found. With all the hype about these tomatoes I am now obsessed in finding them.

However, I did buy three different variety of tomatoes, none of which wowed me. The ones I bought at Nat Baileys were definitely superior. Also bought a lot of garlic. Unfortunately, he is sold out of the braids; note for next year, buy early. I also bought Concord grapes, quite early I thought but they were deliciously sweet.

So, does anyone know where I can get Milan's tomatoes soon? Will he be at Trout Lake this Saturday? And what does he look like?

[BCinBC]

Milan is supposedly going to be at Trout Lake for all of August and at least the first part of Sept (as I overheard in line last weekend). I cannot recall what he looked like exactly, since I was averting my eyes the whole time - and had the soup nazi episode of Seinfeld replaying in my head.

However, I can almost guarantee you that if you show up at 9 AM, his stall will be the one with the big line. He also has a cardboard sign that says something like "Stoney Paradise - Tomato Man(ifesto)" posted at his stall / temple entrance.

Last week his stall was closer to the parking lot. If you stood at the coffee trailer and faced the market, his was on the right side about 5 or so kiosks in, across from the mushroom guy. Again, look for the line. Good luck.

[maxmillan]

Thanks, BCinBC, for the heads up. I arrived at 8:15am and lineup started at 8:30. It was located 3 stalls away from the coffee truck.

I got myself a good bagful of Sunrise tomatoes, a couple of Wallas and a pint of mini yellow tomatoes. Now that I've seen Milan, I recall seeing him at Granville Island last Thursday.

During the lineup, a woman told me that people were lined up at 8am at Granville Island for his tomatoes and he sold most of it before the 9am opening (the time that I arrived.) Some very uncivilized people were diving for the tomatoes like they were diamonds. Milan sold before the 9am time because these PEOPLE were getting restless and causing problems. Now, Milan is a very nice man but I think he should not sell to the public until 9pm at Granville Island.

Thankfully, he did just that at Trout Lake and the people were very patient.

There is, supposedly, four write-ups on his products in the newspaper. Does anyone have a link to these?

[barolo]

There is, supposedly, four write-ups on his products in the newspaper.  Does anyone have a link to these?

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Here's one: Stoney Paradise

[Daddy-A]

During the lineup, a woman told me that people were lined up at 8am at Granville Island for his tomatoes and he sold most of it before the 9am opening (the time that I arrived.)  Some very uncivilized people were diving for the tomatoes like they were diamonds.  Milan sold before the 9am time because these PEOPLE were getting restless and causing problems.  Now, Milan is a very nice man but I think he should not sell to the public until 9pm at Granville Island.

I agree, except that Milan shouldn't have to make the decision. Where were the market organizers? Milan knows about tomatoes, not crowd control.

A.

[mtigges]

We spent the entire day at Lonsdale Quay. There were two farms, one orchard and an apiary. The orchard, Jobsthof Orchards from Oyama had the best Peaches I have ever had. I ate about 10 of his beaten up ones for free. We were right beside him. The farms had lots of excellent produce, except the corn, was picked more than 2 days ago (by the look of it). And you should all be relieved, we were the only craft there, unless you count the salsa guy and the pastry lady.

[barolo]

West End Market today: tomatoes from Klippers Organic Acres and Snowy Mountain Orchards, plums from Snowy Mountain, peaches from Ritson Family Orchards, Bad Girl chocolates (poor Arne, how are you getting your fix?), leeks, broccoli and pattypan squash from Langley Organic Growers, green, yellow and purple beans from ??, raspberries from ??, cheese from Little Qualicum, sausages from Jay Springs Lamb. There were beautiful melons but I have too much fruit already.

Then I zipped over on the ferry to Granville Island for some garlic from the garlic guy, a JJ Bean coffee, a short jaunt to les amis for more cheese, dropped in to see Barbara Jo's new shop, a batard from Patisserie Lebeau, fish tacos at Go Fish, back on the ferry and home by 1:30!

[Daddy-A]

Bad Girl chocolates (poor Arne, how are you getting your fix?)

Nat Bailey Market on Wednesday

A guy needs his Bad Girl

A.

[mtigges]

We spent all day at Ambleside today. This is the market that received a little bit of bad review on this very site. Today, it was excellent. There were I think 6 farmers selling produce. All excellent stuff. Some zucchini and eggplant varieties that I had never seen before. But unfortunately I have a very sad tale to tell.

The Riverview hospital either sits on or neighbour to parkland. This land was originally and still is partially zoned for farming. The intent was to have a segment of the patient population of the hospital to help on the farm. I think it worked for a number of years, but fell into obscurity until recently. A super nice guy, young, about 30, named Jonathan (he had the stall next to us) left his safe and well-paying computer programming job to farm this land. He leases stewardship of 20 acres and grows a multitude of vegetables. He has many hardships there, one being a lack of electricity (meaning no refridgeration so all his produce is stunningly fresh, way better than the other vendors), but chief among being the local pheasant population. The terms of the lease stated that out buildings and electricity and pheasant control would be provided. None of this has come to fruition. He is hanging up the hat.

In my opinion, young guys like this going out and farming in his fashion, so close to the city, and making a go of it should be applauded and supported. The province ok'd him to control the pheasant population, but local parks said no. Now he has decided to not farm the land anymore. He stated that local naturalists are pissed about his presence, a completely organic farm, that it interrupts the natural preserve of the park. I believe that his farm in this setting provides a unique opportunity for stewardship education. It's a real shame that he can't make a go of it.

He's decided to go pick wild mushrooms all fall, and then get back to tech in the winter. A huge loss I believe.

[lemon curd]

Jeffy Boy and I visited the White Rock Farmers Market today - it's our second visit this summer. The market is good for its size and is about 3/4 food stalls, with the others a mix between greeting cards, wood working etc... I went back mainly to pick up a second batch of organic basil to puree for the winter but the stall I got it from last time was sold out already. We did come away with great organic portobello and shitake mushrooms, eggplant, purple peppers, garlic, organic tomatoes and McLennan Creek goat cheese and blue capri.

Afterward we headed out to Surrey Farms for corn, blueberries and peaches. We had the corn for lunch with Jeffy Boy's chipotle butter. Good eats!

Edited August 22, 2005 by lemon curd (log)

[appreciator]

Has anyone seen scarlett runner beans at any of the markets? My dad used to grow them and I am having a nostalgic desire to eat them again.

Edited August 27, 2005 by appreciator (log)

[peppyre]

I don't think the red runners are ready yet. Maybe next week. I know my mom's are still pretty small and it seems that every year they are the late bloomers.

[maxmillan]

Does anyone know of any Farmer's Markets operating on Sundays within Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond or North/West Vancouver area?

[capers]

Does anyone know of any Farmer's Markets operating on Sundays within Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond or North/West Vancouver area?

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Here's a link to check out, they have the day of the week listed

http://www.bcfarmersmarket.org/directory/index.htm

As far as I know Coquitlam, White Rock, Ambleside and Richmond have markets on Sunday and the Nat Bailey Market on Wednesday. At any rate check out the links.

[Zucchini Mama]

Tomatilloes are $2 a pound at UBC farmer's market. The prices are really good. They have at least three kinds of beans, including variegated Dragon Beans, and they have some scarlet runners as well. You can e-mail the woman who organizes the market to find out what they're selling each week. There's also the option of picking a mixed bag of beans yourself and there are u-pick flowers as well.

We usually create a scarlet runner "teepee" in our back yard, but missed the planting date this year. I miss them now.

Ciao for Now,

Zuke

[kontemporary]

Does anyone know if any of the farmer markets carry cape gooseberries? I've had some trouble finding them..

[Zucchini Mama]

rêvasser,

It's just the beginning of the season. I got my first taste of them yesterday at UBC farm market. The artichoke lady at Nat bailey usually has really good ones. I'll keep you posted if I see them. I Love them. Only 3 or 4 made it home, the rest were eaten right on the farm.

Zuke

[kontemporary]

Awesome! Such a yummy fruit..

Do you know exactly how long their season is? It seems so hard to find but you can find it constantly on dessert plates in so many restaurants!

[appreciator]

I don't think the red runners are ready yet.  Maybe next week.  I know my mom's are still pretty small and it seems that every year they are the late bloomers.

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Thanks peppyre.... I can never remember exactly when they ready.

and they have some scarlet runners as well. You can e-mail the woman who organizes the market to find out what they're selling each week. There's also the option of picking a mixed bag of beans yourself and there are u-pick flowers as well.

Thanks Zuke... will investigate things up at UBC Farm. I keep meaning to go there but just can't seem to get by butt in gear on Saturday morning's

[maxmillan]

If anyone is interested, the knife sharpening guy is at the Nat Bailey's Farmer's Market. He will be there next week as well.

[Sam Salmon]

If anyone is interested, the knife sharpening guy is at the Nat Bailey's Farmer's Market.  He will be there next week as well.

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Yeah-saw him there today-not at all impressed with his equipment but that's just me.

Lots of everything on sale today but I was taken aback by the dearth of ripe Chiles

Both Devon of Medisea and the woman from BadGirl Chocolates had wistful almost worried looks on their faces for some reason.

Edited September 8, 2005 by Sam Salmon (log)

[maxmillan]

If anyone is interested, the knife sharpening guy is at the Nat Bailey's Farmer's Market.  He will be there next week as well.

←

Yeah-saw him there today-not at all impressed with his equipment but that's just me.

Lots of everything on sale today but I was taken aback by the dearth of ripe Chiles

Both Devon of Medisea and the woman from BadGirl Chocolates had wistful almost worried looks on their faces for some reason.

←

I was planning to bring my precious knives next Wednesday for sharpening but your comments have me worried. What is it that you didn't like?

[~cayenne~]

Does anyone know of any Farmer's Markets operating on Sundays within Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond or North/West Vancouver area?

←

Here's a link to check out, they have the day of the week listed

http://www.bcfarmersmarket.org/directory/index.htm

As far as I know Coquitlam, White Rock, Ambleside and Richmond have markets on Sunday and the Nat Bailey Market on Wednesday. At any rate check out the links.

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I read in a paper that the East Richmond Farmers Market has unfortunately been discontinued, due to poor turnout if IRC.

[Zucchini Mama]

Market Meals

Picked up a little chunk of Coho for lunch and popped it in the oven while I prepared some steamed scarlet runner beans from UBC market. Had this over rice noodles with Thai basil from UBC, grated carrots from Langley OG, and I was out of fish sauce, so just used simple soya sauce. Sometimes soya sauce is all you need to let the flavors sing out, as BCinBC reminded me in his post this morning in the Chinese food thread.

For dinner Wednesday night we enjoyed our spoils of Nat Bailey. I made a salad with sliced black cherry tomatoes from Klipper's, crumbled Light Blue cheese from Little Qualicum, salad greens and sliced cukes from Langley OG. Over this I sprinkled toasted pumpkin seeds and drizzled pumpkin seed oil from Gegenbauer that Peter just brought back from Vienna, (along with Apricot schnappes and copious amounts of chocolate!!!!) P. scored a hotel right by the Naschmarkt and picked up some Zotter chocolate bars there for me as well: www.zotter.at.

Oh my pumpkin seed oil, I've missed you so much and that deep loden color really picked up the "black" in the tomatoes. We also had bowtie pasta with salsa and gnocchi with sautéed zukes, green beans and asparagus. (I was cleaning out the larder, so there were leftover bits and pieces of this and that.)

We drank a 2004 Inniskillin Okanagan Reserve Pinot Grigio which was big and applely enough to match the intense flavors of the meal. It says 14.2% on the bottle, but either I'm getting dangerously good at absorbing alcohol, or the number's a bit high.

Bad Girl truffle of the week was cocoa nibs-fabulous as ever. Tomorrow at UBC farm the Mayan gardeners are having a special fundraiser for children in Guatemala, so will be cooking up some treats for sale. Apparently there's a ton o'corn at the UBC farm right now.

Zuke

Edited September 9, 2005 by Zucchini Mama (log)

[Zucchini Mama]

Zucchini Mama's Market Meal Highlights

For our neighbor's potluck this week I prepared sliced Russian heritage tomatoes from Nat Bailey market with thinly sliced Walla Walla onions, toasted pumpkin seeds, pumpkin seed oil, salt and freshly ground pepper. We ate this on pumpkin seed bread my friend brought along with her roasted Russian garlic from Granville Island, and chevre rolled in poppy seeds.

One of the highlights of this week was Chris's (Arise) rustic scone with Wildflower honey from UBC farm. The honey is dark and nutty with pungeant savory notes. The scone has exotic fennel and orange peel flavors.

Bad Girl truffle of the week: single plantation chocolate from Cuba-creamy caramel, buttery and smoky.

Dinner tonight: beef, pork, and bison sausages from the lavender and gentle beef lady at Nat Bailey Market with Langley OG salad greens and store-bought perogies with fried Walla Walla onions. The sausages were quite moist, but a bit on the salty side.

Dessert: Georgian baguette purchased from Mainly Organics, Little Qualicum Fromage Frais and UBC farm wildflower honey.

Tomorrow is the second last UBC farm market for the year. Last week tomatillos were $1 a pound!

Wine of the week was the mead we bought from Tugwell Creek Farm and Meadery near Sooke. Actually this wine really grew on me over the week. It tastes of buckwheat honey, clove, wildflowers, and oddly enough, vinegar. It's sort of sweet and savory, like a honey tonic. It was very good with the coconut sauce from the Beef Brisket curry at Mui Garden we had for takeout. (Our oven's on the fritz). I also liked it with milky Chai chocolate I'm addicted to, but it doesn't work with dark chocolate. The mead went well with Little Qualicum's Light Blue Cheese. I've had mead made by monks off the coast of Scotland which I really didn't like, but this is something completely different. I wish we'd bought more.

Notes on the wine from the farm's web site: "Metheglin $16.00 Can., 750 ml, sweetness code 1, 13% alcohol

An old world mead brought to the new world by the first settlers in North America. This ancient mead style descends from the many generations that created their own secret recipes. Wildflower Honey and a blend of spices is added to pure water and fermented with special yeast. Aged in French Oak barrels, this off dry mead, with its complex aromas and taste, is sure to please the most discerning palates." That's from www.tugwellcreekfarm.com.

Zuke

Edited September 17, 2005 by Zucchini Mama (log)