Think Green and Head to the Market!

Think Green and Head to the Market!

Hello Market Friends:
So, looks like we didn’t get the best weather forecast of the week, but we hope we have the best customers! Please thumb your nose at the showers and show your support for the farmers and vendors who work so hard to bring you great organic food all year.
We’ve got lots of good news to share:

“Forbes Wild Foods Wild Leeks‬ are in full force now. ‪Picked‬ by members of ‪Beausoleil‬ ‪First Nations‬ on the southern tip of ‪Georgian‬ Bay, our ‪ramps‬ are picked using progressive methods that ensure they will remain abundant for future generations. If you would like to learn more about the sustainable harvest of wild leeks please check out our blog post.”

Try this recipe to make great use of both the leaves and bulbs of wild leeks. You can pick up the nuts, green garlic and olive oil at the market, too:

Spaghetti with Wild Leek Pesto
2 cups wild leek leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 whole green garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tsp salt

Blend all ingredients and set aside. Prepare this pasta to go with the pesto:
1 pound of dried spaghetti
2 Tbsp salt
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup wild leek bulbs, sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
juice & zest of 1/2 lemon
4 Tbsp toasted walnuts
1 cup pasta water, reserved after cooking spaghetti
salt & fresh pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of water to boil with the 2 Tbsp. salt. Cook pasta until not quite done, then turn it off and leave it in the pot of water. Add olive oil to a large pan, and sweat the wild leek bulbs until they become translucent (3-5 minutes). Season with salt.

Lift the pasta out of the water with tongs and add it to the pan. Add butter, 3 Tbsp pesto, 2 Tbsp cooking water and toss well. Then toss in lemon juice & zest, nuts, pepper and more pesto if desired, and serve.

Welcome back to Jenny Cook of Knuckle Down Farm: “Dufferin Grove Market, we are so excited to be coming back with a Spring harvest for you this week! If the weather forecast is making you blue, come on over to the Market and pick-up up some greens.  Our greens are loose, so please bring a bag or container! We will have loads of Spicy Salad Mix for all, Arugula for those of you who like to keep it simple, a teaser of Baby Spinach and maybe, just maybe the very first Rhubarb. Oh and there will be green garlic too. We will be tucked into the garage this week, so come find us and say hello, we’ve missed our market friends.”

Heidrun‘s Dufferin Park Bakers list:
Sourdoughs: rye, potato-rosemary, olive-onion
Artisans: baguette, multigrain, spelt-walnut, cranberry walnut
Italians: rosemary, multigrain, whole wheat, raisin
and Rice-flour bread

Mike Madden of Thor Farms sent this note:
“It is looking like I cannot make it to the market this Thursday. We have had a number of calves born is the past couple of days and are expecting another 5 to 6 more in next couple of days.  Unfortunately farming is taking priority at the moment. I have sent some pictures of newborn calves no more than 6 hours old. They are basically born, cleaned, up and starting to drink within an hour.  Black Angus are an excellent breed for birthing.
We are having some red calves born this year, which is very odd.  The only explanation I have for it is that one of my steers was not a steer and has given us some reds. Even with the best plans and intentions, nature takes its course.”

Mike will be back next week, and starting to offer burgers and fresh cut fries. That’s right, folks, fries are returning by popular demand!

We’ve got two significant birthdays to celebrate this week: Stan Babek , our eldest and most regular customer, will be turning 94, and Rodrigo Venturelli from Plan B has reached a certain round number. Not to say which but it’s evenly divisible by 5 or 10….Join us in singing for two of our market treasures!

Speaking of treasures, Hot Docs Documentary Cinema is one of  Toronto’s, so when they got in touch to ask if we would help spread the word that a great-looking film about a couple’s dream of farming is opening soon, we were tickled!  THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM is showing from Friday, May 17th to June 5th at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Theatre on Bloor east of Bathurst.
Use the code BIGGESTLITTLEDG online or at the box office to get discount ($8 instead of $13) tickets to the Sunday, May 19th screening at 4pm.

OR, if you are one of the first 6 market news subscribers to reply to this email, you can have a FREE ticket to the show on Friday May 17th at 6:30! Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom! (ALL TICKETS CLAIMED AS OF 6PM WEDNESDAY.)
See you at the market,
Anne Freeman

Vendors This Week:

Ali Harris (rotis, fish sandwiches, fritters, drinks, pesto)
Bees Universe (honey, eggs, knife sharpening)
ChocoSol (chocolate and coffee)
Country Meadows (olives, oil, cheeses, eggs)
Culture City (non-soy tempeh, fermented condiments)
DeFloured (sweet and savoury gluten-free baking)
Dufferin Park Bakers (wood-fired oven breads, soups & snacks)
Forbes Wild Foods (mushrooms, nuts, syrup and more)
Green Florin (nuts, oils and dried fruits)
Kind Organics (sprouts and salad mixes)
Knuckle Down Farm (salad mix)
Marvellous Edibles (organic produce, preserves)
Monforte Dairy (local cheeses from a variety of milks)
Plan B (local and imported organic produce, ferments)
Spade & Spoon (jams, pickles, maple syrup)
Urban Harvest (seeds and soil amendments)
Waymac (oyster, shiitake and lion’s mane mushrooms)