Surprise! It’s September!

Surprise! It's September!

Hello Market Friends:

Anne here, back in the market newsroom after a couple of weeks away. I was very sorry to learn that our last market had a number of serious product quality and quantity issues. Everyone was struggling with temperatures in the high 30s Celsius and no rain, and this had serious consequences on the farms. We sincerely apologize, and along with the growers we will do all we can to make it up to you this week.

Essa Seedlings and Sprouts and Sundance Harvest were both hoping to return this week, but the intense heat forced them to change their plans. We will keep you posted.

I had a good vacation, but I am happy to be back; enough of playing hooky! I had to look up the spelling of that word, and it reminded me of another favourite: petrichor.

In case you haven’t run into this one before, petrichor means the smell of the earth just before rain. Such a good word, right? I think there should be a related word for the feeling that happens when August turns to September, because you can sense such a change in the air.

Whatever it means for our individual routines, September brings a definite shift. No more drifting along, taking the long days and the bounty of summer for granted. It’s time for a re-set, time to put ideas in motion and bite into new things, both literally and figuratively.

Purple Barley Flour
An heirloom grain fresh milled the day before you get it
From Motherdough 14$
Cucamelons 
This fruit grows on vines and is also called a “Mouse Melon”
From Natures Way 6$

Turning inspiration into action requires support, so before you plunge in, you’d better pack a good lunch. For that, there is no need to look any further than your trusty online farmers’ market.

Many of the world’s great cuisines and our great vendors feature variations on food that comes in portable, edible packages to grab and go.

For example: the classic empanada. I just counted, and between Marvellous Edibles and Tapioca Toronto we have almost a dozen kinds. Hey, but that ain’t all! We’ve got tamales, mini quiches, savoury hand pies and croissantswrapsburritos and samosas, too. How are you going to choose?

Spinach and Ricotta Empanada
From Marvellous Edibles, 6$
4 Pack of Frozen Empanadas – Sausage
From Tapioca Toronto, 22$

I heard someone say they prefer salads for lunch. Not a problem! Take a large mason jar, and start with Ying Ying Soy tofu and/or Green Florin seeds or nuts on the bottom, add  a layer of farm fresh veggie chunks, and then fill the jar up with torn greens. Take along a sidecar of dressing from Earth + City or The Greenhouse Eatery, and voilà, Le Layered Lunch.

Are you more of a snacker? Ying Ying Soy’s Tofu JerkyBuschbeck Farms Lamb Pepperettes and Hola Alegrias’ granola bars are great to nibble, we’ve got bread and cheese and dips and spreads galore, and pints, punnets, baskets and boxes of more kinds of fruits and vegetables than I can fit into one newsletter! This is a great time to give up on boring, and start biting into our inspiration-to-action-packed lunches. BON APPETIT!

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Returning to our theme, this moment in the year, the bees have been feasting on nectar all summer long, so this is the peak time to extract honey. I spoke to John and Irina of Bees Universe on speakerphone while they were hard at work. They have been extra-busy, collecting fresh honey from their hives throughout the region. They have bee-yards near Richmond Hill, Aurora, Innisfil and Barrie. Do you know that it is beneficial for allergy sufferers to eat honey from the area they live in?

It’s also hard to beat the flavour of fresh summer honey, and all their honey except creamed is just-bottled from Bees Universe’s hives. In a short time they will have luxurious chunks of honeycomb, too! This year Bees Universe has something special and new; it’s called Total Bee Honey, and it is wildflower honey infused with royal jellypropolis tincture and bee pollen, all the healing and strengthening creations of the bees!

I asked John if he had anything in particular to tell you, and he replied, “If you want to save the planet, support the bees. They are the most important creatures on the planet. No bees, no food!” Of course, for John and Irina, bees are the most important creatures in the UNIVERSE!

Our very own Derick Greenly of Summergreen Farm is prominently featured in a terrific article on mushroom farming in Saturday’s Toronto Star. Be sure to read all about it!

Thanks to Karen and her son Isaac for choosing a birthday gift that keeps on giving! For the next 5 weeks we will be adding extra market food to the College Street Community Fridge.

I have some other thanks to add this week: huge gratitude to Leah Hesketh, Aidan MacCleary, Grady Tarlin, and Rowan Ferrerro-Hallett for their hard work and good humour this summer! Labour Day marks the end of their Canada Student Jobs, and the start of post-secondary programs. We wish you all every success and we will miss you!

Happy September Everybody,

Anne 

We hope that the person who received this champion-size beet from Marvellous Edibles is a really big fan!