Linger Longer

Linger Longer

2017-07-19 09.20.012017-07-19 09.18.26Thursdays at Dufferin Grove are so lovely and lively at this time of year that you may want to plan an extended visit. We suggest arriving in good time to scoop up market treasures such as Niagara Lavender Farm’s first peaches, which will be making their debut. Then you can do the full circuit to load up on everything else you want to eat for the week. Kids can lounge happily in the StoryTent, and there will be music to enjoy and special info-tables. We’ve got lots to choose from for dinner in the park, and Clay and Paper Theatre will be presenting “Fables for the Future” at 7pm.  The park is the place to be!

A few hints of all that will be on farmers’ and vendors’ tables:

From Wolf Chrapko at Everdale: “This week we’ve got some added excitement from fruiting crops…tomatoes and beans and red currants (oh my)! Folks can also look forward to fresh yellow onions, all on top of our usual stall staples.
On a farm note, we will be harvesting and curing this year’s garlic in the next few days, and we are helping to run a seed saving trial for South Anna Butternut Squash, which means we will be hand pollinating squash flowers in the next little while.”

Ted Thorpe will be bringing lots of his cousin’s strawberries.

Jessie from Sosnicki Organic Produce sent a message from the field: “I’m harvesting Field Beets and Carrots now with Miss Sadie! The beets are baby, but needed to be thinned. Rainbow and gorgeous. Cucs, Zucs, Cherry and Grape Tomatoes – LOTS of Heirloom Tomatoes now too, Costoluto Genovese being our main one at the moment, ripening beautifully! Fresh dug Potatoes, maybe a few Green Beans; if not, there will be next week for sure! Maybe Sweet Onions if we get a chance to pull some. Fresh, massive Basil plants too! I’m sure I’m forgetting something :)”

Forbes Wild Foods has Chanterelles and Morels, both fresh!

Alongside all the fresh veggies from Pine River Organic Farm, you’ll see some new products: dried sweet cherries, prunes, walnuts and sunflower oil. These organic foods come from the farm of Florin Vasile, in Moldova. Florin, who is primarily based here but still very involved in the farm business back in Moldova, is helping Bob Felhazi get Pine River’s produce to market, and introducing us to these delicious specialties as well.

We’ll have gorgeous heads of lettuce, and a wide assortment of fresh herbs, sprouts and salad mixes to combine in cool summer salads.

All Sorts Acre is coming steadily with lamb now, and Marvellous Edibles has a good selection of other meats.

Rotating vendors this week include Cock-A-Doodle-Doo Gluten-Free Bakeshop, Mnandi Pies (Zimbabwean meat and vegetable hand-pies), and Southbrook Wines.

2017-07-19 11.11.05We’d like to waft sweet messages on the breeze encouraging everyone to feast on the bounty of the season. If that doesn’t work, we’ll try large crude signs! Perhaps we can offer inspiration, such as this delicious recipe:

Turkish-Style Zucchini Pancakes
(adapted from The New York Times)
Grate 3 medium zucchini, mix in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and put this in a colander over a bowl while you gather the other ingredients. Then dump the mixture onto a clean teatowel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
In a large bowl, combine the zucchini with:

3 large eggs, beaten
½ cup all-purpose or chickpea flour
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
3 green onions, finely chopped
⅓ cup finely chopped dill
fresh black pepper to taste

Mix well, add a teaspoon of baking powder and mix again.

Heat a good heavy frying pan, add 2 Tablespoons sunflower or olive oil, and when the oil is warm, add scoops of the zucchini mixture, flattening lightly with a fork so they’re less than half an inch thick and about 3 inches across, with a little space around them. Fry until golden brown, turn over and repeat a couple of times until crisp. Add more oil as needed for the next rounds. Place finished pancakes on a paper-towel lined pie plate and keep them in a warm oven until all are ready.

Serve with a side sauce of:

⅔ cup plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
salt and fresh chopped herbs as desired

This is making me hungry, how about you?
See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

Vendors This Week:

Ali Harris
All Sorts Acre
Bees Universe
ChocoSol
Cock-A-Doodle-Doo Bakeshop
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Everdale
Forbes Wild Foods
Fressy Bessie
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Mnandi Pies
Monforte Dairy
Niagara Lavender Farm
Pine River
Plan B
Shared Harvest
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Southbrook Wines
Spade & Spoon
Stas
Tapioca Toronto
Ted Thorpe
Waymac

P.S. Don’t forget to bring along your Market Kit (of bags, containers to use or return and dishes for eat-on-the-spot foods). Joining the Boomerang Bags crew, Toronto Environmental Alliance will be visiting to tell us about their Zero Waste Toronto goals. Let’s do this!