Monthly Archives: May 2017

We’re moving a few of the vendors who usually set up on the path ‘up top’ today (Country Meadows, Spade & Spoon, Forbes Wild Foods and Culture City) and the farmers are walking their harvests in from the curb, but the market will be humming in the rain, if not quite singing! Everdale is putting up an extra tent to be sure market-goers have a nice covered spot along the path.

It’s no easy feat to provide a steady supply of produce early in the growing season, especially when weather conditions have been so challenging. Kevin Hamilton from Shared Harvest farms has had a really tough start this year because the farm is on a flood plain, so it will be a few more weeks until we see him, and Knuckle Down Farm will be absent this week as they’ve got a lull between crops without enough to harvest. Luckily, we’ve got some farmers with lots to feed us! The Harvest Team at Plan B (see above) is in fine form, and here’s news from some others:

Kyle sends the Everdale report: “We’ll have asparagus, parsley, cilantro, romaine heads, arugula, salad mix, spinach, radish, salad turnip, bok choi, beets, carrots and some other storage roots.”

Marvellous Edibles will have asparagus too. Now is the time to enjoy it! This may be the last week for another spring treat, wild leeks from Forbes Wild Foods. 

Sosnicki Organic Produce contribution: “Busy week on farm planting! The rain we got over the long weekend was perfect, so field crops are doing fantastic so far! Within a couple weeks we will have big heads of field lettuce and also bunched beets and carrots from the greenhouse! For now more of the same spring bounty: White Turnips, both kinds of Radishes, and Salad Mix, and from storage our Potatoes, Carrots and Beets!” Jessie

Waymac Farms will be back, and Andrew says he’s hoping some beautiful pink oyster mushrooms will be ready to bring.

Sadly, Floralora Flowers won’t be able to attend the market anymore. All that beauty will be missed! Sas asked me to include a note of thanks to all her regular customers for being so wonderful and supportive.

Remember how we promised that there would be something new each week for the next while? Well, here come the introductions! We have not just one, but two new vendors this time, who will be joining us as part of a rotating roster of new food entrepreneurs, all contributing to our lively local food scene:

Welcome to Rescue Dogs: “a 100% Vegan Hot Dog & Street Fare company offering hand made, locally & organically sourced Hot Dogs (from a recipe crafted over years of trials) as well as Sloppy Janes (gluten free and chock full of protein!) and home prepared condiments including Vegan Cheese Sauce, Sauerkraut, Tempeh Bacon, a Pancake bun, and more! Our buns are locally baked and each and every piece of food is hand prepared for your enjoyment. A portion of every sale will be donated to local animal shelters and animal assistance programs, and we are elated to be the first ever group to officially partner with Humane Societies across Southern Ontario.” You’ll find the Rescue Dogs cart across from the Dufferin Park Bakers at the south end of the building on the fourth market of the month.

Along the west side, look for Baha’s Foods. Hiren and Johnny make organic Indian-style snack foods such as Samosas and Potato Rolls, with surprising and delicious international variations alongside the traditional fillings, and amazing hot sauces to top things off. You can purchase their products fresh-cooked to enjoy at the market, or frozen to take home.

We’ll publish a list of all the rotating vendors so you can see who’s coming when. Have a look at the list below for the rest of the wonderful crew that will be happy to see you, rain or no.
See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

This Week’s Vendors:

Ali Harris
Baha’s Foods
ChocoSol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Everdale
Forbes Wild Foods
Kind Organics
Marvellous Edibles
Monforte Dairy
Plan B
Rescue Dogs
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Stas
Tapioca Toronto
Waymac Farms

This week my daughter and I were imagining how amazing the neighbourhood would look to someone from a country without four distinct seasons who was seeing it for the first time. Every street presents a miracle of colour and light. It’s too beautiful to miss another minute, so good-bye four walls and a roof, hello park! We’ll be all out from here on in, and I expect it will feel like the market took a nice, deep breath. Ahh. Lots of room for our growing roster of vendors. Each week you’ll have more to choose from, particularly when it comes to dinner. Bring plenty of bags, and a picnic blanket if you can stay for a while!

Welcome back to Rafael of Tapioca Gourmet with his delicious Brazilian crepes. If you’ve never watched him make one, you’ll be surprised to see the snowy white, dry tapioca flour he sifts onto a pan transformed into a crispy pancake, ready to hold the fillings of the week. This time, he’ll be offering Sauteed mushrooms with fresh herbs, Caramelized Onions, FiddleHead Salsa, Organic Cheddar and Greens, with optional Prosciutto. So good (and gluten-free too).

Ali Harris has great salads on the menu now, featuring mango, arugula, and whatever is tasty and abundant at the market.

We’re delighted to announce that VQA wines are most definitely in season! Southbrook will be in attendance, sampling and selling their local and organic options.

Kyle from Everdale writes, “We’ll have a small amount of asparagus, romaine head lettuce and salad turnips along with loads of spinach, salad mix, arugula, radishes, bok choi, cilantro, storage roots and dry beans.”

Jenny says,  “Knuckle Down Farm will be back with limited greens. Apologies to those who can’t make it early enough, we hope to add another hoop house someday soon so we can double our Spring supply! Next week we will be taking a week off as we transition to the field, which is finally dry enough to work in. Looking forward to seeing everyone down on the path.”

Sosnicki Organic Produce news: “Beautiful week for planting! While Ben and our men keep busy in the fields, Joe will be bringing the following to Dufferin Grove: Long and Round Radish, fresh field Kale, *White Turnips*new this week!, Bok Choy, Salad Mix, and from storage our Beets, Carrots and Potatoes!” Jessie, Ben, Joe & crew

Andrew from Waymac couldn’t believe how fast he sold out of mushrooms last time, and promises to bring more, but come as early as you can, just in case!

LATE-BREAKING NEWS: Pine River is coming, with asparagus.

See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

Vendors for May 18th

Ali Harris
Bees Universe
Bon Service
ChocoSol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Everdale 
Floralora
Forbes Wild Foods
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Monforte Dairy
Pine River Organic Farm
Plan B
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Tapioca Gourmet
Urban Harvest
VQA Wines: Southbrook
Waymac

Last week, when most market-goers wrapped up their shopping early to get out of the usual Thursday rain, Damon Dewsbury of Culture City and Rodrigo Venturelli of Plan B treated those who remained to an oh-so-fine blues session in the zamboni garage. We’re hoping the sun will break through and it won’t be all hurtin’ songs this time. These guys are good!

Spring planting has been delayed for many farmers due to the wet conditions, but the crops that had a head start in hoophouses and greenhouses are coming on strong. Everdale will be back, and Kyle sent their list: “This week we’ll have lots of salad mix, arugula, radishes. cilantro, hakurei turnips. bok choi, dry beans, carrots, beets and some other roots.”

We’ll have plenty of rhubarb, wild leeks, all kinds of greens, and another bumper crop: Floralora’s spring blooms! Treat all the Mums, Mommies and Mamas you hold dear to bunches of tulips and other fresh flowers. They’re local, harvested by a happy, hard-working and much-appreciated crew, and unlike most cutflowers, they’re free of chemical inputs.

Bees Universe and Pine River will be absent, but otherwise we expect a full house, with vendors inside the garage and north end as well as outside along the south and west sides of the building. We have a new volunteer helping us out, and we’re going to put her right to work trying to count how many people come to the market on a spring afternoon. It’s not an easy task actually, since it’s so pleasant to wander in and out and up and down, browsing and chatting before deciding what to take home.  Say hi to Kira on one of the times you pass by!

News from Linda at Country Meadows Gardens: “I thought I’d better send out something to say our ark did fine in the latest mini floods. For awhile there I thought I’d have to get life jackets for the animals and poultry!! The greenhouses are overflowing with plants. I did some beautiful herb combination planters for Mother’s Day gifts this year.”

Marvellous Edibles has fresh prime cuts of grass-fed beef ready. There are excellent advantages to having a chef as your farmer. Jens is very particular about the details of cutting and aging their beef in preparation for market, and he’s always got good advice about how to cook it. His expertise really shows in the delicious sausages and burgers he makes, and beginning this week, you can enjoy these on the spot!

A warm welcome to Stanislav Tomaschevitch, aka Stas, who will be making Marvellous Burgers, Meatball Sandwiches, Bratwurst & Sauerkraut on a Bun, Fries* and Gaufrettes to order. This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship….

See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

*If you are curious to know the whereabouts of ‘the fry boys’, the Kennedys will be cooking up a storm on their farm in Prince Edward County this summer.
This Week’s Vendor List:

Ali Harris
Bon Service (New! Stas Tomaschevitch)
ChocoSol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Everdale 
Floralora
Forbes Wild Foods
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Monforte Dairy
Plan B
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Urban Harvest
Waymac

When actors mumble this it’s because they haven’t actually got any words to say, but at the market, the first ‘fruit’ of springtime inspires lists of both nouns and verbs: crumble, cordial, shrub, pie, cake, muffins, soup! Chop, stew, roast, freeze and enjoy it! Blythe from Spade & Spoon will be cutting the first bundles for you this week!

Welcome back to Sosnicki Organic Produce! Here’s Jessie’s news: “Hello all! We are happy to be back after a busy winter and fall on farm and with the kids!! An exciting tidbit from our end here: we have more land in transition so soon we’ll have just a little bit more of everyone’s favourite veggies! Our main focus will be soil health as we’ve invested in soil testing and consulting for soil regeneration. We are also going to pasture graze our neighbours’ organic cows on some acreage for carbon sequestering. It’s a brain freeze – there is simply so much to keep continually learning when you are feeding folks and being stewards of land – a.k.a organic farming!!! Follow us on Instagram if you don’t already for a daily dose of what goes on around here – @SosnickiOrganic. We are planning a great harvest season for 2017! Ben went to auction and bought more irrigation pipes so naturally it will be a rainy year 😉

Pine River Organic Farm is harvesting fiddleheads! Get them while you can! Lots of wild leeks on the Forbes table too!

The fabulous crew from Urban Harvest has an unbeatable selection of heirloom vegetables, herbs and flowers, both seeds and plants, including irresistible beauties like these pansies.

Angelos and Linda Kapelaris from Country Meadows will have lots to choose from as well!

Jenny Cook from Knuckle Down Farm writes, “Well, we may be floating into market on a barge, but it is summer in the hoop house so be there we will. This week we will have radishes as well as greens, greens and more greens. Salad season is upon us. Put on your rain boots and come early if you can. Oh and don’t forget your bags!

Floralora will be back next week with gorgeous bouquets for Mother’s Day. Bees Universe will also be absent, working hard to complete spring tasks with their hives.

We’ll be giving a tour while the market is underway this week, to the consultant and City staff most involved in plans for the northwest corner of the park, including all the areas used by the market. We don’t know all the details of  the scope and timing of the project yet, so I’m not sure whether to refer to it as renovation, replacement or renewal, but I’ll try to keep you informed as the process unfolds.

Don’t let the Weather Network decide what you’re going to eat, folks. Come on over and show your favourite organic farmers and vendors that you appreciate the work they do to provide us with great food.
See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

Vendor List for this week:

Ali Harris
ChocoSol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Forbes Wild Foods
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Monforte Dairy
Pine River 
Plan B
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Urban Harvest
Waymac