Happy Women’s History Month 💐🌼

Nykole, of Noki Farms with a gorgeous mushroom bouquet!

written by Lillian Carcao,
Communications Coordinator
Market operates Thursdays, 3-7pm, 
INDOORS, at 875 Dufferin St 
*full vendor list here

Hey Dufferin Grovers!
This week’s newsletter is written by me, Lillian – the market’s communication coordinator. 
Since it’s the beginning of March, I wanted to start by saying Happy Women’s History Month!

It’s the perfect time to celebrate all the women in our lives, whether they be mothers, grandmothers, daughters, sisters, wives, partners, friends, coworkers or any of the other amazing women in our lives! We here at Dufferin Grove Farmers’ will be celebrating the women of our market all throughout this month, and we’d love for you to join us. 😉

Nykole, working on a class lecture with some of her beautiful enoki mushrooms beside her.

Starting with Nykole from our feature photo, she’s a great example of a woman who wears many hats in her life. She’s a farmer, a fungal researcher, a business owner, and even a part-time professor! That’s right, when she isn’t working on cultivating gourmet mushrooms and microgreens, she’s cultivating the minds of her students. How awesome is that?

 

Generations of Talented Women and Girls

Coming out of retirement to share her delicious Caribbean food with the GTA, Estelle’s Caribbean Cuisine is sure to comfort you the way your grandmother’s food would. With years of experience perfecting her flavours, Estelle excels at cooking not only traditional Caribbean food such as jerk chicken and Caribbean roti, but also putting a twist on classics from other cultures, like chow mein and lasagna!

And speaking of grandmothers, Estelle is a grandmother herself! I had the pleasure of meeting one of her granddaughters – Zoey – at the market a few weeks ago, and she was a bundle of joy! Curious and adventurous, when she saw me taking photos with my camera at the market, she asked if she could try. And I am so glad she did, because she was a natural! Below you’ll find some of the fantastic photos she took, enjoy them!

Lasagna from Estelle’s Caribbean Cuisine – photo taken by Zoey, Estelle’s granddaughter!

Veggies from Plan B Organics — so colourful! 🌈

Delicious sourdough bread from Johnson Family Bakery! What a beautiful and crunchy crust 😍

Mushrooms from Noki Farms, look how huge that King Oyster mushroom in the middle is!

“Ahoy!” To A “Landlubber’s Lobster”!

Yarr harr! These here mushrooms hail from Quebec – far from any treacherous waters. But shiver me timbers, they taste so similar to our crustaceous sea-mateys that many can’t tell the difference. For ye vegan and vegetarian Dufferin Grovers, these be the best alternative available, and our hearties from Forbes Wild Foods will be bringing a bounty of them to this Thursday’s market. Raise yar anchors and set course for them quickly, or you’ll be walking the plank empty-handed!! 🚢🏴‍☠️

Meal Kits! (You Might Have Missed These…)

If you’re a fan of Magic Oven’s many delicious meals, you may be interested in their cook-at-home meal kits! 
With easy instructions and delicious results, if you’re in a pinch, Magic Oven has got you covered! Be sure to ask what options they have available at the market, as these aren’t normally displayed on their table since they need to be kept cold in their cooler until being served.


A “Turnip’s Doppelganger”!

Don’t be fooled by their appearance, these aren’t turnips – they’re actually watermelon radishes! As Nathan, of Nith Valley Organics explained to me, if you cut one of these in half, it’ll be pink on the inside, just like a watermelon 😲🍉

They’re great roasted or in salads – definitely check with Nathan for any cooking tips!


New Products Seen Last Week..
Farmers’ markets are the places where you’d expect to find ingredients you wouldn’t usually see at your usual grocery store. Those watermelon radishes were a great example, but what about products that we haven’t even seen yet at our market?
Well, with so many amazing vendors, we luckily had a few new products being launched at last week’s market. Here’s a few highlights:

New from Fisherfolk – smoked wild whitefish! Fished from Ontario’s Georgian Bay! Love the taste of a local catch! 🎣👀

Been in the mood for sausage? 😏

Link Haus’s Moroccan B’saha Maroc sausages (pictured above) made their first debut at our market just last week!

You might have seen Nicole’s video on our Instagram or Facebook page last week, but if not, Johnson Family Bakery brought scones for the first time!! Another important piece of news from them is that, because of the US tariffs, business owner, Chuck Johnson, is moving away from using any US ingredients, and thus using only local Canadian ingredients (as much as possible), to offset the costs of American goods. This means that many of their products are going to be reinvented in these next couple of weeks (particularly those requiring nuts), so keep your eyes peeled for their new product debuts!


Vendor News – Welcome Back To…

Yes, we’ve heard all of you asking when Piccolo Farms Organics would be back with their fresh made pasta, sauces and more! And at last, we can announce that Piccolo Farms will be back at this week’s market, yay!! Here’s Nicole scooping up a batch of fresh pasta the last time they were at the market — better stock up while they’re here! 😋

Ending with Something Sweet!

The first baklava I ever tried was from Alma Bakery, and wow, it was sooo worth it. Sweet honey, chopped nuts, and luxurious saffron all came together perfectly in this delicious dessert. I definitely recommend trying one at this week’s market! 😋

It’s amazing to see what the next generation of girls and women is capable of. As seen with her photos earlier, Zoey (left) was such an enthusiastic learner – and very creative, like her grandmother, Estelle. It’s no wonder that she took such great photos! What a talented family! 💜
(Also, that’s me, on the right! 😂)

We’ll be highlighting more of Dufferin Grove Farmers’ Market’s amazing female vendors throughout the month – definitely stay tuned!


Thanks for reading, everyone!
Excited for another amazing market this week, see you then!
-Lillian
*Market operates every Thursday, 3-7pm – INDOORS, (at 875 Dufferin St) 

VENDORS_March 4th, 2025

Growers:

• Plan B Organics
• Nith Valley Organics
• Noki Farms

Meat & Fish:

• Link Haus (gourmet sausage)
• Fisherfolk
• Nith Valley Organics (lamb & chicken)

Eggs:

• Nith Valley Organics

Bakery:

• Johnson Family Bakery 

Prepared Foods:

• Magic Oven
• Estelle’s Caribbean Cuisine
• Link Haus (grilled sausage & chips)

Preserves & Specialty Items:

• Forbes Wild Foods
• Kalmplex Snax
• Piccolo Farm Organics – welcome back!

“Extras”:

• Women’s History Month!
• Poetry (with Marc) – 3-5:30pm
• Ice Skating! (only until March 16th!)

A happy Dufferin Grover (Jenny), who just bought a sweet and spicy treat from Kalmplex Snax. Hope to see more beautiful smiles like hers, this Thursday!