14 Years of Meeting at the Market

It’s hard to focus on local news today. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone at the market.

This week we are celebrating our 14th anniversary. Come enjoy a taste (or two) of the famously delicious cakes Leslie Lindsay is baking for the occasion!

We opened before there were permits, protocols and city-wide policies for farmers’ markets in Toronto, and a remarkable kind of experiential learning happened in those early years. Now there are more layers of rules and requirements. Complying with some of these presents no problems, but there are ways in which we’re just not ‘standard’.

The following is an excerpt from a letter I received this week:
“The City of Toronto has identified an opportunity to improve the north-west corner of the park where the clubhouse, ice rink, Zamboni garage, community garden and bake oven are located…..
Parks, Forestry and Recreation department staff at the City are hosting a community conversation/workshop on Thursday, November 24th to bring residents, program/facility users, community organizations, businesses, City Councillor and City staff together to discuss park assets and areas for improvement.”

Many of you who are reading this are ‘regulars’, who care a lot about the market and the producers it helps to support. I’d like to ask for your assistance. We need a good number of people to take part in the meeting and be sure that the City’s plans will be a good fit for the market as well as other activities in the park. Please reply to this email or talk to me at the market to learn more.

A lovely forecast means we’ll be enjoying the great outdoors again, and many fine foods will be coming in:

From Marvellous Edibles: “In addition to our crazy array of veggies like everyone else’s, we will have fresh Peking and Muscovy ducks, fresh and Certified Organic Nova Free Ranger Chickens, Fresh stewing hens, and fresh 100% grass fed and finished beef which is at its best because of a whole summer of grazing and never eating any grains.”

CockaDoodleDoo Bakery is visiting with gluten-free breads.

There will be fresh and smoked trout, aged cheeses, chocolate, hot tea and soup, Brazilian style crepes, wild mushrooms, and many kinds of produce. And that’s just a sampling.

Angelos (Country Meadows) is in Greece for the olive harvest, and will return around the end of the month.

We’ll be distributing the first, hot-off-the-press Loyal Eaters cards, to reward winter shoppers. Beginning November 24th , each week you attend and spend $10 or more anywhere at the market, you can get a stamp for that day. When you have collected 10 stamps, we’ll show our appreciation with a nice reward.
See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Vendors we Expect this time:

Ali Harris (rotis and fritters, hemp pesto, beverages)
All Sorts Acre (lamb, wool, felted crafts, duck eggs)
Bees Universe (honey and bee products)
Chocosol (coffee and chocolate, tortillas)
Culture City (fermented condiments, tempeh)
DeFloured (gluten-free baking)
Dufferin Park Bakers (wood-fired oven bread, soups, snacks)
Everdale Farm (organic vegetables)
Forbes Wild Foods (mushrooms, nuts, syrup, preserves)
Kind Organics (sprouts, salad mixes, teas)
Knuckle Down Farm (organic vegetables)
Lovell Springs Trout Farm (fresh and smoked trout)
Marvellous Edibles (organic veg, meats, poultry, preserves)
Mike the Knife Guy (sharpening)
Monforte Dairy (cheeses, sausage)
Pine River Organic Farm (organic produce)
Plan B (organic produce)
Shared Harvest (organic vegetables, ferments)
Sosnicki Organic Produce (organic vegetables)
Spade & Spoon (jams, pickles, soups)
Tapioca Gourmet (gluten-free filled pancakes)
Ted Thorpe (veggies)
Waymac Farms (oyster and shiitake mushrooms)
Ying Ying Soy (organic tofus and miso)

Visiting: CockaDoodleDoo Bakery (gluten-free breads)