The List Gets Longer

We had a sweet market in the park last week, and this one is going to be even better. There’s news rolling in seven days a week as the market gears up. This time, we welcome several more returning vendors:

Evelyn’s Crackers is back, and they’re making more goodies to go along with their selection of crackers: Niagara fruit filled tarts, fig newtons, maple granola bars, corn and rye cookies are some of the new ones.

Erika and Andrew McIlmoyle of Waymac Farm wrote to say, “We have a great crop of mushrooms up and are well stocked to start.”

Sandy from Gro4 Organics will be bringing worm castings for lawns and gardens in 5 litre and 20 litre bags for just the next few weeks. Here’s some more information about Gro4 products: “Soil organisms play an incredibly import role in soil structure.  Our soil amendments contain a multitude of these organisms that include beneficial bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, fungi and so much more! In a healthy soil ecosystem, soil organisms work together to transform and maximize available nutrients to be used as food for plants. Gro4 Products help sustain an active and balanced soil structure.”

The recent cold nights have been hard on asparagus. We keep hoping, and the harvest keeps getting pushed back. There may be just a little….

Rhubarb, on the other hand, is unstoppable! Look for it on the tables of Spade & Spoon, Marvellous Edibles, and Knuckle Down Farm. Jenny says Knuckle Down will also have an assortment of spring greens, too, including a mix of lovely tender baby Red and White Russian kale. Remember to BYOBags!

Sosnicki Organic Produce news: “We’ve got lots more of our early produce coming to Dufferin. Our Salad Mix with baby Romaine, Red Oak leaf and Leaf Lettuces, fresh and tender Field Kale as baby leaves, those awesome pink Ostergruss Radish and Bok Choy! (Grilling both the radish and bok choy are great long weekend side dishes for sure!) And still from storage are our own Carrots and Potatoes! The weather has been weird (as we’ve come to live with) and the cool temps set back our large field heads of Lettuce and even our other greenhouse crops. Next week please look forward to our fresh Beet bunches with tops and fresh bunches of White Turnip, and by the first week of June we should be harvesting some of the field crops. Have a lovely weekend everyone!”
Jessie, Ben & crew

On the Forbes Wild Foods tables there will be Fiddleheads, and plenty of Wild Leeks, sustainably harvested by the BeauSoleil First Nations of Christian Island. The source really matters for these foods. Overzealous harvesting can destroy leek beds, and you don’t want to eat fiddleheads that grew in areas contaminated by agricultural runoff or other pollutants. Forbes takes these things very seriously, and sets the bar for fair and positive relationships with harvesters.

From Linda Kapelaris: “I’ve been so busy in the greenhouses I haven’t had time to send anything but I just had to find a few minutes to share an amazing piece of nature with you.  After suffering through snow/hail on Sunday, frost overnight, rain on Monday, I thought ‘what else is coming?’ I was scurrying around trying to get all my tender plants tucked in for the night on Monday, just before dark,  and as I emerged from the greenhouse, the biggest, most beautiful rainbow was right above my head. What an amazing sight. That rainbow made my day!”

If you haven’t taken home any of Linda’s beautiful plants yet, be sure to have a look at the Country Meadows tables.

Sas Long from Floralora wrote with good news and bad news: “The good news is that I planted about 5 times as many bulbs as last year and have sold them all in half the time!! It’s a learning curve, this farming thing! I thought I would have enough tulips to at least take me into June but alas, we are prepping the last of them for this week. We may have enough for next week, I’m just not sure yet.” So don’t take those gorgeous spring bouquets for granted! Once the summer flowers start to bloom, Floralora will be at the market steadily.

A note about prices: Recently, Krista Tobias from DeFloured told me (apologetically) that she had to raise the price of her cookies by 25 cents each. Then she filled me in on what’s happening to the cost of ingredients. In March 2015, a bag of quinoa (one of the main items in her delicious gluten-free cookies) cost seventy-eight dollars. The same bag now? One hundred and sixty dollars. Ouch! It’s not surprising that she has to charge a little more.

In spite of challenges, our bakers and prepared food vendors are working hard to offer you good value, and in the coming weeks, we’ll be highlighting especially good deals to enjoy around the market.

We’ll have some delightful tunes from Steve Cooper’s Sidewinder String Band to entertain you while you soak up the beauty of the spring afternoon.

See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

Here are the vendors we expect:

Akiwenzies  
Ali Harris
Bees Universe
Best Baa
Chocosol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Evelyn’s Crackers
Floralora Flowers
Forbes Wild Foods
Frogpond
Gro4 Organics
JK Fries
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Pine River Organic Farm
Plan B
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Tapioca Gourmet
Thorpe’s Organic Produce
Urban Harvest
Waymac 
Ying Ying Soy Food

There’s parking available on the north edge of the park, across from the high school.

As much as possible, please bring your own shopping bags and containers to reduce waste.