Still in the Game

 

There have been weeks this year when our market vendors may have felt like they accidentally enrolled in one of those ‘extreme challenge’ competitions that are so weirdly popular. Racing against blight in tomato and cucumber fields, attempting to roll huge loads through a construction zone obstacle course, and selling food in torrential rain are some of the events. So far, nobody has yelled ‘I give up’, and we’re all hoping for some easy, breezy market days ahead!

There’s plenty of good cheer in the correspondence from growers, and look at the rainbow that followed the storm at Knuckle Down Farm. Their news: “Looking forward to a beautiful market day (fingers crossed). We will have lots arugula and spicy salad mix again this week. Carrots, beets and delicate French filet beans along with tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes. Remember the season might be short this year, so get ’em while you can, there is nothing like a fresh garden tomato!” Jenny

From Niagara Lavender Farm: “We have the best load of peaches. They are the sweetest peaches of the whole season and we only have about a week left.” Debbie

The Sosnicki Organic Produce contribution: “We have some quality tomatoes still coming out of the blighted fields! You can certainly score some baskets of Romas to make sauce. And oodles of heirlooms and some cherry/grape toms too! Not out of the tomato game yet! Still holding on….
Watermelons, Peppers, Broccoli, Sweet Onions, Cabbage, Red Cabbage, cabbage, cabbage, Potatoes, Beets, Carrots, Garlic galore, Kale, Eggplant, Jalapenos, 3 kinds of long Zucchinis too! Should be a gorgeous, plentiful market! Come hungry!!” Jess, Ben, Joe & crew

The Everdale List: “This week, we’ve got: arugula, basil, beans, red beets, rainbow beets, orange carrots, rainbow carrots, rainbow chard, cilantro, collard greens, cucumber, dill, flowers, ground cherries, green kale, purple kale, head lettuce, green onions, red fresh onions, yellow fresh onions, parsley, bell peppers, radish, salad mix, specialty greens mix, spinach, summer squash, cherry tomatoes, salad turnips.
Can’t wait to see all your smiling faces at CarrotFest this Sunday! Don’t forget, it’s from 11 to 4 and it’s chock-full of exciting activities and goodies for all ages. Free admission!” Wolfy

Baha’s Food has a fabulous sounding new flavour to add to their samosa lineup: Coconut Chickpea Biryani, yum! Stop by to sample their outstanding hot sauces too.

Recently I heard that over at the Brick Works, Rafael from Tapioca Toronto had over thirty orders just from other vendors on a market day. Talk about a rock-star crepe maker!

There will be Scottish Country Dancing south of the market from 6 PM on. All are invited to watch or join in, and dinner options will be abundant. The full vendor list for this week is below.
Enjoy August, it won’t last forever!
See you at the market!
Anne Freeman

P.S. On September 7th, in keeping with our zero-waste goals, we’re going to host a Repair Café at the market. What’s that you say?

“Repair Café is a grassroots, volunteer group that organizes events where neighbours help neighbours learn how to repair. Do you have a broken household item? Don’t toss it! Bring your small appliances, computers, electronics, clothes, jewellery, books, and more, and we will show you how to fix it for free!”

We’re looking for local ‘fixers’ to help out on the day. Please get in touch by replying to this email or info@repaircafetoronto.ca if you have skills you can share! And start thinking about things that could be saved from the dump with a bit of TLC. Read more here: http://repaircafetoronto.ca/

P.P.S. Jutta Mason asked me to post a link to her final newsletter:
http://www.dufferinpark.ca/newsletter/wiki/wiki.php?n=Newsletter.August2017

Vendors This Week:
Ali Harris
All Sorts Acre
Baha’s Food (4th market of each month)
Bees Universe
Chocosol
Country Meadows
Culture City
DeFloured
Dufferin Park Bakers
Earth & City
Everdale
Forbes Wild Foods
Fressy Bessie
Kind Organics
Knuckle Down Farm
Marvellous Edibles
Monforte Dairy
Niagara Lavender Farm
Pine River
Plan B
Robinson Bread (2nd and 4th market of each month)
Shared Harvest
Sosnicki Organic Produce
Spade & Spoon
Stas
Tapioca Toronto
Ted Thorpe
Urban Harvest
Waymac

Photos by Peter Wills.