marketfan

[Artichoke preparation demo Sunday 11 am Stefano Frigerio will take a few minutes out from his Copper Pot stand and demo how to prepare artichokes for more than just steaming and dipping them in butter. SnowBear Farm has a LOT Of Virginia baby artichokes. Hill Valley was going to post her artichoke recipe??? robin

Just a reminder, we will have on Sunday 10-2 Terrific baby Virginia grown ARTICHoKES Fresh Squash Blossoms-- excellent stuffed with Keswick ricotta or feta or shredded raw on a thinly sliced zucchini salad dressed with olive oil and sherry vinegar Stefano's Copper Pot Beet and Rhubarb jam he made with Joe Yonan and that ran out at U Street very early today Keswick's Bronze medal Vermeer and Quark -- the Vermeer ran out very early at U Street today as well

Kuhn's Orchard has the berry shooters. Yes, today was a record day in terms of customer counts at the market. (Not TOO crowded, although Garner did run out of everything by market close for the first time) Mountain View is an uncertified but organic farm. They have excellent growing practices, choose very good varieties and are delightful people.

KESWICK WINS TWO BRONZE MEDALS AT NORTH AMERICAN CHEESE AWARDS! Congrats, Melanie!!! We are thrilled that Melanie's Vermeer and her Quark won. She has been asked to send samples for the WORLD awards next year. Stop by the stand this Saturday and taste the winner-- free samples. NEW This WEEK: Tomatoes: mortgage lifter, cobra, Juliet Heirloom Tomatoes: Early red Moscovitch and others Cherry Tomatoes: Sungold, Grape, Navidad, Chocolate Cherry Cantaloups: Athena Sugar Baby Watermelon Candy and Mars Onions are BACK NEW VARIETIES of PEACHES BLACKBERRIES shallots dill BASIL-- It is Pesto time or Luke and my favorite Lemon Basil Cookie...... FRESH garlic at Mountain View Keswick's medal- winning Vermeer and Quark Lois' Chocolate Whoopie PIes with peanut butter icing Purple beans NEW ravioli at Copper Pot--rabbit ravioli NEW COOKED PASTA SALADS at Copper Pot Trofie Pasta With TOMATOES AND CHEESE Pasta, Lettuce, Bacon and Corn. *Looking for Gluten- Free Pasta? Copper Pot has several! *Free Range Eggs at Mountain View, Pecan Meadow and Truck Patch *Want a chicken? Pre- order your chickens at market@truckpatchfarms.com or from Daniel at Pecan Meadow at bluemountainbeef@juno.com and pick them up on Saturday.... KUHN: Peaches (yellow and white), Plums, Cherries, Apricots, Raspberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Gooseberries, First new crop apples -- LODI and the AMISH fave, TRANSPARENT -- make a wonderful tart applesauce sweetened just a bit with Kuhn honey. Plus beets, Candy and Mars(red) onions, shallots, fennel, cider, honey, mint, dill,Sentries have a bright red skin and yellow flesh, semi-freestone. Joe Yonan of the WashPost had some nice words for Kuhn and was inspired by Stefano "to jam on this summer" Try Joe's blueberry-lemon jam recipe from All We Can Eat blog: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-can-eat/recipes/every-summer-i-jam-on.html#more We will have his recipe on the market table..... McCleaf: Peaches (yellow and white) I adore their Kale. raspberries (black, red), blackberries, apricots, plums, Red and green kale,green and purple cabbage, okra, tomatoes (mortgage lifter, cobra, heirlooms), Candy and red onions, okra, apple butter. Golden Delish and Granny Smith apples. Mountain View: Never any pesticides, impeccably sustainable, Shawna and Attila and little Ruby have a marvelous farm on an environmental reserve. Very flavorful varieties. NEW Tomatoes (Early red Moskovitch, Juliet and Sungold Cherry) Carrots (Grate them into salad or with cabbage into slaw, cut in a hot jalapeno pepper), Leeks, Onions, Purple Blue Caribe potatoes with tender skins! (Halve them, roll them into olive oil, salt, rosemary and garlic and bake them.) Peppers: A few green and some Hungarian green Rounds. Eggplant: Japanese varieties,, Basil, Squash, many kinds of Cucumbers, Salad Greens: Lettuce mix, Mustards, beets for that wonderful Spicy Pink Beet "Gazpacho" I have been raving about. Lots of interesting varieties of cucumbers. Cucumbers are what I want this time of year for superb salads, with tomatoes and feta and a little basil.....o Garner: HEAPS OF Yellow corn this week. Red and white potatoes, 7 kinds of summer squash, beans (green, yellow and wax), okra, tomatoes (early girls, sunchief, roma, cherry), peppers (hot, purple, green, King Arthur and yellow, eggplants (finger, ghostbuster, big purple, japanese). Truck Patch: TP supplies Woodberry Kitchen restaurant in Baltimore with pork , including their suckling pigs? Tots of pastured pork as well this week. All cuts and sausages. Grass fed and finished on choice Black Angus steaks-- try their strip steak!!! And all the other beef as well. SALAD CENTRAL at Truck Patch: Want a salad with your lunch or dinner? Here is where to get pesticide- free Mesclun and arugula all summer long. Also chard. cantalopes -- Athenas planted close so that they stay sweet and intense flavor. The dry weather the last week makes them even sweeter. First of his beefsteaks tomatoes Green beans -- Blue Lake Pole beans. Steam them with butter, salt and pepper ( Or olive oil and their tarragon). Pecan Meadow: Chicken, duck and goose eggs -- all very free ranging. Grass- fed and grass finished, half Piedmontese beef makes for very flavorful steaks: porterhouse, filet, NY Strip, t-bone, sanwich steak, round cubed steak. Roasts, ribs (short and back ribs. Lamb cuts. Whole moscovy ducks. Lois' Traditional Penn Bakery: oatmeal whoopie pies, chocolate whoopie pies with peanut butter icing, pecan, oatmeal and shoefly pies, strawberry bread, zucchini bread.... Want a chicken? Pre- order your chickens at market@truckpatchfarms.com and pick them up at market. Or bluemountainbeef@juno.com Faucher's Meadows: Scabiosa, Lilies, Sunflowers, Zinnias from Elaine's two acres of meadows. They last and last and make wonderful gifts for hosts. The lilies I bought from her last week are still perfuming my living room. free range eggs from Mountain View and Truck Patch, Breadline's muffins made , baguettes, whole grain breads, croissants, NanBon's NEW zucchini breads and Raspberry Frangipane tarts... Panorama Artisanal Bakery: Lots of olive oil rolls, parmesan hamburger buns, ciabatta rolls for grilled sausages, pumpernickel bread (great with toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches), rye breads, whole wheat, sour dough, country French, baguettes, croissants and muffins, sticky buns... Dolcezza: try that Chocolate Amargo Gelato the Washingtonian called BEST CHOCOLATE COOL TREAT and all the berry and cherry flavors sourced from local producers... Copper Pot: New this week: rabbit ravioli and Cooked pasta salads that you can take right home and eat for lunch or dinner. I sampled the trofie last week. Excellent. Trofie with local tomatoes and cheese. Pasta, bacon and corn are the two for this week. I saw Stefano buy two crates of Apricots last week so I suspect that apricot jam may be in our future.... Lots of the stuffed pastas, too. STEFANO MAKES SOME GLUTEN FREE PASTA.... Robin and Carrie and Maude (Luke is on vacation this Saturday).

This Sunday at Bloomingdale FM: our producers have really been getting great press the last few days.... KESWICK WINS TWO BRONZE MEDALS AT NORTH AMERICAN JERSEY CHEESE AWARDS! We are thrilled that Melanie's Vermeer and her Quark won in a field of 77 participants from 15 states and Quebec. She has been asked to enter the 2010 WORLD Jersey Cheese Awards... If you have not tried her cheese, there are free samples at her stand. Washingtonian Raves about Keswick's Chocolate Pudding and Copper Pots Jams and Pastas in Best of Washington July issue http://www.washingtonian.com/blogarticles/restaurants/bestbites/12942.html Washington Post Stefano's 's Joe Yonan writes about canning with Stefano ]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/06/AR2009070603910.html[/url] And some Jamming afterwards inspired by his session with Stefano: My link Read about our SnowBear's Jim Dunlap and how he is trying to turn suburban lawns back into farms for young farmers My link LAMB SALE at NEW ASBURY THIS WEEK: Shanks on Sale, Loins and Ribs slashed to 2007 prices, Lamb Coupon NEW this week: blackberries German Butterball potatoes Cantalopes -- Athenas-- planted close together to keep the small and sweet at Truck Patch Yellow corn NEW ravioli at Copper Pot--rabbit ravioli NEW COOKED AND READY TO EAT PASTA SALADS: Trofie Pasta With TOMATOES AND CHEESE Pasta, Lettuce, Bacon and Corn. Greenstone Fields will have gorgeous garlic and beautiful BASIL, perfect for Barbara's special pesto recipe. Shitake mushrooms, grass range eggs, and a few tomatoes! Plus their fabulous flowers. I bought some sunflowers last week and they look like they will go on forever. Truck Patch at Woodberry Kitchen Truck Patch: Did you know that the Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore sources their pork from our TP, including their suckling pigs? That Policy Restaurant on 14th and T serves TP sausage or that Big Bear serves their arugula and spring mix with all their sandwiches? Lots of pastured pork. All cuts and sausages. TIP: Grilling TP's Pork Chops. Bryan says: Salt them the day before if you can, add garlic and pepper just before you cook them and then throw them on the grill. Sear both sides on direct heat for 2 minutes sper side, then indirect heat on the the grill for 3 minutes each side. Remove at no more than medium and let rest for 5 minutes. Lots of beef steaks as well. Delmonico, Strip steak, filet mignon. SALAD CENTRAL at Truck Patch: pesticide- free Mesclun and arugula all summer long. Also chard. cantalopes -- Athenas planted close so that they stay sweet and intense flavor. The dry weather the last week makes them even sweeter. First of his beefsteaks tomatoes Green beans -- Blue Lake Pole beans. Want a chicken? Pre- order your chickens at market@truckpatchfarms.com and pick them up at market. SNOWBEAR: ARTICHOKES (ask Jim how he tricks them into growing in our climate!) , dark red Norland, Mustard Greens, Leeks, Scallions, Kale(Russian, Dino), summer squash, chard, beets, turnips, peppers, garlic, beans (green and yellow wax), cucumbers to make cucumber-yogurt dip or soup. New Asbury: Superb lamb. I have been grilling their Mutton shoulder chops which are a bit older than their regular lamb, a bit cheaper and very tasty. They are offering a $5 Coupon towards a future purchase with every Whole Bone-in Loin Roast and Whole Trimmed-Bone Rib Roast. And Joan and Bill are continuing their 2007 Price Rollback on Loins and Ribs Sale on Shanks a Lots of chops for the grill and ground lambmeat, too. Butterflied boned leg of lambs for the grill as well... Painted Hand: Sandy has her superb goat, rose veal ( humanely raised with milk and on grass as they should be), free- range eggs and some grass fed beef for you this week. Reid Orchards: Caitlin is bringing Gooseberries, sweet cherries (Schmidt black cherry), Pie Cherries, black and red raspberries, red currants, white and yellow peaches. Spring Snow, a sub acid peach, Yellow are PF1 (Paul Friday, named for a peach breeder), semi-freestone, good flavor, Lodi (Caitlin gave me some Lodi applesauce she cooked with a bit of honey-- wonderful.) Plums and apricots. Sugar Snaps.. Common Good City Farm is back and will have the freshest and most local of our local producers because they harvest everything two hours before market at their urban farm at Gage- Eckington! Garner: Yellow corn, red and white potatoes, 7 kinds of summer squash, beans (green, yellow and wax), okra, tomatoes (early girls, sunchief, roma, cherry), peppers (hot, purple, green, King Arthur and yellow, eggplants (finger, ghostbuster, big purple, japanese). Panorama Artisanal Bakery: Lots of olive oil rolls, parmesan hamburger buns, ciabatta rolls for grilled sausages, pumpernickel bread (great with toasted tomato and cheese sandwiches), rye breads, whole wheat, sour dough, country French, baguettes, croissants and muffins, sticky buns... Copper Pot: New this week: rabbit ravioli. Cooked pasta salads: Trofie withi tomatoes and cheese. Pasta with lettuce, bacon and corn. He bought several cases of apricots from Reid last week so I think that apricot jam may be on the table this week.....

Talk to Jim about how he "tricked" them into growing. I trimmed them, quartered them and and braised them in olive oil, lemon, white wine and his fresh garlic. No inedible choke in the center. REally delicious.

Lauren IS brand new. She started the market this year after consulting with FF and Chip Planck because she lives in Glover Park and wanted a market in her neighborhood. She consulted with several FF people including Ann Yonkers and I have given her some advice over the last few months but she is the main person with a lot of enthusiastic support from her community. She is following a local producer- only model with some established producers and a few new ones. Except that she allows Hondo Coffee because it is locally roasted and he owns the plantation. It is a very good location in the Hardy School Parking lot on Wisconsin right across the construction of the new Social Safeway. They have Black Rock Orchard, Toigo Orchard, Smith Meadow Meat and Pasta, Bonaparte Bread, Westmoreland Veg, the Pound Cake Baker from Rose Park, Wheatland Organics, Wollam Flowers, and a few others including another Veg. About 10 producers in all.

We will have a lot of summer at BFM on Sunday july 5 PLUS ARTICHOKES and FRESH GARLIC at SnowBear Lots of corn, variety of tomatoes, 8 kinds of summer squash, chard, mustards, cabbages, potatoes, green,yellow and italian flat beans, spring onions, cauliflower, cherries and berries, keswick's chocolate pudding,cheese and yogurt, Stefano's pastas and jam, Panorama's famous olive oil buns and parmesan hamburger buns, every cut of pork, grass fed beef, whole goat for BARBECUES -- just 13 pounds, quartered.Eggs. Rose Veal. and everything we had last week in the previous email....

WE will have FRESH garlic at Bloomingdale FM at SnowBear on Sunday July 5th. And artichoke to go with it...

YES, We are definitely open on Saturday with all the producers including Cherry Glen Goat Cheese. Highlights (but not limited to this list): grass fed beef at Truck Patch and Pecan Meadow pastured pork at TP Ducks Chicken, duck and goose eggs Traditional Penn pies and baked goods at PM Lots of corn (bicolor and perhaps some yellow) lots of tomatoes --sunchief and grape romas, early girls, some early heirlooms lots of summer squash -- EIGHT varieties leeks fennel red, white and blue new potatoes apricots plums raspberries of many colors blueberries gooseberries cherries-- tart pie and sweet cabbages chard bok choy cukes -- picklers, Divas, Boothby Blonde, Lemon green beans purple beans Flat Italian roma beans cauliflower red and green kale cantaloup salads arugula red and white spring onion keswick's highly touted (Best of Washintonian 2009) chocolate pudding, cheeses, yogurts Stefano Frigerio's Copper Pot's much admired jams and pastas (ALSO Washingtonian best of 2009) Panorama's olive oil rolls and parmesan buns DOLCEZZA'S NEW FLAVORS OF GELATO AND SORBET-- blackberry and cream, black raspberry, sour cherry. My current fave is cucumber mint vodka which I use instead of cucumber soup.... ARTICHOKES AT BLOOMINGDALE ON SUNDAY AT SNOWBEAR....

Bloomingdale Farmers' Market Sunday June 28, First and R Streets NW next to the Big Bear Cafe 10-2 NEW THIS WEEK: ARTICHOKES at SnowBear -- first time we have ever had them at BFM Very rare in DC. First of the season CORN and TOMATOES for the early birds! They will go quickly at Garner Hot Peppers Purple and yellow Sweet Peppers Maybe the first Blackberries at SnowBear Last Call for CAULIFLOWER at SnowıBear ( BERRIES AND CHERRIES AT REID Organic, free range EGGS at Greenstone Fields Spectacular Organically grown Flowers at Greenstone Fields with 10 day Vase life! FREE Doggie TREATS-- New Asbury's Lamb, Liver, Heart and Kidneys New Asbury: Stock up this week for July 4th on their delicious, tender, mild but flavorful meadow raised lamb. They will not be here next week....lots of chops, steaks, butterflied lamb for the grill, sausages.... Special: Ground Lamb on sale for $9 per lb. Also have Mutton--same mild flavor as their lamb, but $2 less per lb. Greenstone Fields: shitake mushrooms, organic, free-range eggs, Garner: Summer produce is really here at Garner! Corn (bicolor) and Tomatoes will be there for the early birds...Hot peppers, radishes, green, yellow wax and flat Romano beans ,Swiss Chard, potatoes (red pontiac, superior white), cukes, summer squash and zucchini, eggplants, green tomatoes, squash flowers, okra, radishes, sugar snaps. Reid: strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, sugar peas, and gooseberries this weekend. B SnowBear: Certified Naturally Grown, an organic certification. Jim and Nancy are taking back the suburban land for the farms ARTICHOKES! Last call for Cauliflower. Simpson's Lettuce, mustard greens, leeks, spring onions, scallions, cabbages (Green, miniature and Chinese), Russian and Dinosaur (Lacinato Kale), peas, squash, chard, beets, turnips, bok choy. Keswick: Fresh and aged Jersey cow cheeses (famous for their rich milk and deep flavor). Raised on grass and outside all year long. the now famous DRAGON'S BREATH, Wallaby, Cheddars, Creamy blue cheese, Four kinds of feta, real Italian Ricotta, real German style Quark (a kind of cream cheese). Painted Hand: Want a 13-15 pound goat for your July 4th barbecu?. Call Sandy. Order in advance at sandra@paintedhandfarm.com or (414) 423-5663 by Friday afternoons. Sandy also has terrific eggs, some beef, and her humanely raised rose veal (ask her why you should never buy industrially raised veal). Sausages, too. Stefano's Copper Pot: ms. If you have not yet tasted Chef Stefano Frigerio's home-made pastas and jams, you are missing a Washington DC treasure.... The white fig and balsamic jam is delicious on Keswick's quark and some of the others would make a grilled lamb chop into a masterpiece. Ask him about savory uses for his jams. The pastas should be cooked in simmering... not boiling water....They freeze very well. Panorama: croissants, sticky buns, muffins, olive oil buns, hamburger buns, Rustique (only place you can find it outside of Citronelle, Central and Cityzen!), sliced and whole rye, pumpernickel, whole wheat, sourdough, French country, baguettes... Lots of breads for your July 4th burgers and sausages. ( The rolls and baguettes will freeze very well. To recrisp them, preheat the oven to 400, then toss them in for 2 minutes so they are crisp outside and soft inside.) Common Good City Farm: herbs, plants to sell, lettuces, summer squash...maybe even the first peaches... Harvested just 2 hours before the market opens at their Gage-Eckington City Farm What could be more local or more fresh?! Sales support the growth of the non profit and their educational programs. Truck Patch BEEF! Bryan raises pastured pigs and grass-fed Black Angus cows. The pork is a staple of the Baltimore Woodberry restaurant and the steaks are terrific. I grilled strip steaks for those friends last week and they said: THERE IS NOTHING LIKE AMERICAN BEEF! I salted the meat 8 hours before I grilled it (overnight is even better), took out the steaks for 90 minutes to let them get to room temperature, grilled them over very hot coals for 3 minutes per side, then moved them to a cooler place on the Weber for another 3 minutes per side. Rested them for 5 minutes and served. Perfectly medium rare. You want sausages, he's got sausages, you want steaks, he's got every kind of steak you want. This is July 4th Central for beef and pork. Lots of Pork for your picnics and barbecues: shoulder roasts, tenderloin, baby- back ribs, 1- inch thick bone in and boneless chops, loin roast - bone in and boneless, pork steaks..... plus all of his Italian, Sage, Country, celery, maple and apple sausages. Veggies at Truck Patch: lots of salads and greens, curly Kale, arugula, mesclun, chard, , young collards, radishes, baby turnips and greens, white and red onions...

We also have those wonderful flat Romano beans at Garner at both 14&U and Bloomingdale (Sundays.) Those beans are great cooked long and slow in sauteed onions and tomatoes....or Stefano's tomato sauce with smokey bacon!

This week at 14&U New this week: Service berries (a Native American berry) FAVAS at Mountain View! Summer Squash at Mountain View Garlic Scapes Lois' Zucchini Bread at Pecan Meadow Cherries at Kuhn and McCleaf First of the Eggplants and peppers First of the Cherry Tomatoes Duck Ravioli, spelt agnoletti Cherry Glen Goat Cheese back this week Keswick: the Washington Post discovered Keswick's DRAGON'S BREATH last week and it sold out in an hour. They will have more this week for the Father's Day Burgers. Their write up: "Dragon's Breath From Keswick Creamery in Pennsylvania comes this extra-spicy pepper jack-style cheese studded with jalapeno, habanero and Thai (bird) chili peppers. Dragon's Breath melts beautifully and is right at home atop a grilled beef burger. It is also the perfect fix for a bland turkey burger. Try shredding it onto a vegetarian pizza topped with roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsa...ST2009060901873 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...9060900610.html But that is not the end of this week's cheese story. The WALLABY is really nice now because the bouquet of the spring pasture that the cows have been munching all day adds a nice flavor to the creamy Wallaby. 4 types of feta- plain, chives and dill, Italian herb and tomato and Basil. Plus CHEDDAR, RICOTTA AND BOVRE(the last two are great for stuffing squash blossoms.) Also yogurt,quark, pudding, bovre and ricotta (these two are great for stuffing your squash blossoms). Faucher Meadows: Elaine has beautiful, long lasting Asiatic and Oriental lilies, hydrangeas, snapdragons, delphiniums, butterfly weeds Mountain View: FAVAS - Sugar Snaps, collards, Swiss Chard, beets, garlic scapes, sweet Harkurei turnips (excellent sliced raw into salads). Mountain View is organic in all but the paperwork. Stefano's Copper Pot: NEW:Duck ravioli, beef ravioli, spelt agnolotti plus gnocchi, ham and parmesan, goat cheese and beet, spinach and ricotta,braised rabbit, lamb tortellini, dried pastas, sauces, and all those great jams that go so well with grilled meats! Pecan Meadow: Pecan, Oatmeal, rhubarb pies. Whoopie Pies. Zucchini Bread. Chicken, duck and goose eggs. Lots of grass- fed and finished half Piedmontese beef steaks(filet, NY Strip, Porterhouse, sirloin, flank, T-bone, round cubed steak, skirt). Roasts: - brisket, London Broil, sirloin tip, rump, eye round, chuck, arm and burgers. Short Ribs, back ribs. Stewing cubes, liver, heart, tongue, kidneys, sausage, ground beef, patties, soup bones, marrow bones, shin bones Pre-order your whole Muscovy ducks and VERY tasty Italian-type chickens at: bluemountainbeef@juno.com Truck Patch: On the veggie side, this week is the last call for ASPARAGUS. Mesclun, arugula, curly kale, young collards, radishes, baby turnips and greens, white and red onions. On the meat side: pastured pork in all it glory: chops, steaks, shoulders Sausages to grill (Bratwurst, sage, country, apple). Beef: Steaks and ground beef for Father's Day. Bryan prefers Delmonicos and Rib Eyes to Porterhouse. GARNER: Summer has arrived! Bernard has SQUASH BLOSSOMS, the first of the EGGPLANT, PEPPERS, CHERRY TOMATOES, summer squash, beans (green, yellow, roma), Okra, spinach, potatoes, sugar snaps, basil, parsley, chives,lettuce, turnips, green tomatoes, cukes. Stefano's Copper Pot: NEW:Duck ravioli, beef ravioli, spelt agnolotti plus gnocchi, ham and parmesan, goat cheese and beet, spinach and ricotta,braised rabbit, lamb tortellini, dried pastas, sauces, and all those great jams that go so well with grilled meats! Panorama: lots of olive oil and hamburger buns! (Why let Central get all the good hamburger buns!) Croissants, sticky buns,rye, pumpernickel, multi-grain, rustique etc. McCleaf: cameo, rome, granny smith and golden deliciousl apples. Apple butter, canned peaches, chinese cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower- regular, graffiti and chedder, spring onions with the green on, and as for strawberries... a few... probably the last for them.... Sweet tender Kale - red and green KUHN: Red raspberries,leeks, beets,mint ,dill, cider,canned peaches-buy 2 get one free-,rhubarb, serviceberries( come early) and if it stops raining-- some sweet cherries. Fuji and Goldrush apples. Last but not least: Dolcezza: Try their new Sour Cherry Sorbetti. Plus lots of other seasonal faves.

You can also find Painted Hand at Bloomingdale Farmers Market on Sundays 10-2 at First and R Streets NW. The goat is very tender and flavorful. The Rose Veal is also delicious.

Sat June 6 at 14&U 9-1 *Sugar Snap Peas at Mountain View -- come early because they will go fast *Carrots at Mountain View *Chioggia, Cylindrical yellow beets at Mountain View *Cucumbers at Garner *Okra at Garner (incredibly early) *Baby Summer Squashes at Mountain View and Garner *Shelled Peas at Garner *Spinach *Squash flowers at Garner *7 different kinds of apples from storage including Goldrush at Kuhn and McCleaf Lots of Strawberries Lots of Asparagus Lots of Spring Onions -- the greens make terrific pesto. MORE of the now famous Olive Oil buns that are baked for Central's burgers Cherry Glen is back with Chevre, Monocracy and 4 other goat cheeses -- find them on U Street between Truck Patch and Kuhn Mountain View: Shawna and Atilla and their baby/ charmer, Ruby, farm as organically as you could ask for on an environmental preserve in Loudoun County. Salad Greens, head lettuce, bok choi, young, tender collards, beets and their greens, Hakurei turnips so sweet you can eat them raw in salads, mustard greens, fresh herbs: basil, chives, sage, thyme, oregano, cilantro. Tip: Beets and their greens are delicious. Roast the beets until they are tender. Saute the greens like spinach in some olive oil and then make a beet and beet green salad! We have a recipe at the market. Dolcezza Gelato and Sorbetto: Half the fat and twice the flavor of premium ice creams and sorbets have no fat at all. (A sinless Indulgence for Pride Week? ) This week's flavors include Valrhona Chocolate Amargo, Pistachio di Bronte, Black Mint, Lemon Ricotta Cardamom, Espresso Toscano. Sorbets: Strawberry Tarragon, Lime Cilantro, Cucumber Mint Vodka, Lemon Basil, Pineapple Mint.. Serve the Cucumber Mint Vodka instead of a cold cucumber soup to start a meal. Pair the lime cilantro with fish, the lemon basil with lamb, perhaps.... Garner: Bernard's Northern Neck fields have that warmer microclimate and are already starting to produce the summer crops. Okra, summer squash including 8 ball, gold bar, yellow zucchini, white patty pan, sunburst. Cucumbers this week as well. Red Pontiac and White Superior NEW potatoes that steam in a few minutes and make great potato salads, Red Ace and Chioggia beets, lettuces, red and white spring onions, radishes of several colors, Swiss Chard, arugula, turnip greens, spinach, squash flowers, shelled peas, Elaine's LONG-LIVED flowers this week: Delphinums, Campanulas (Canterbury Bells), Sweet Williams, yarrow, Snapdragon, Peonies. Elaine makes beautiful and unusual bouquets....perfect for your table for a Pride dinner party....or for a dinner guest gift. Pecan Meadow: Whoopie Pies are back-- in chocolate with a peanut butter icing. Try Lois's latest creation. Pecan pie, shoe fly pie, oatmeal pie, strawberry bread. (Where's Lois? Lois is expecting a new baby very soon but she will be back at market again later this summer.) Lots of great grass fed and finished, pastured half Piedmontese steaks: t-bones, porterhouse, sirloin, fillet, Roasts galore: sirloin tip, eye round, London Broil, arm, chuck, rump, round. Sausage, Ground beef, sandwich steaks, stewing cubes and liver. I like mixing ground lamb, ground beef and ground pork for the perfect burger..... Lamb is back! Want Chicken? Daniel's chickens are an Italian breed and they are small breasted and long legged. Very tasty. Stefano of Copper Pot grilled a half chicken a few weeks ago "under the brick" and thought he was back in Italy! EGGS: chicken, duck and goose. Duck eggs make VERY creamy omelettes and scrambled eggs. Truck Patch Farms: MORE Asparagus, of course. Strawberries - both Chandlers and my personal faves -- the deep red, sweet Earliglows. Many seed catalogues call it the best-flavored of all the strawbs for eating out of hand and preserving. Decide for yourself. Arugula, Spring Mix, Lettuces, Red Chard, curly kale,, chives, garlic chives, tarragon, mint. Black Angus grass -fed beef, pastured pork of all cuts and sizes and sausages. Keswick: I asked Melanie: Where's the Blue Suede Moo blue cheese? Here is an interesting response from Melanie about how cheeses change with the season. "When the cows went out on spring pasture the milk changed slightly. The resulting cheese "Scratch Cheese" is good but too high in moisture for the blue to take hold. We are selling it as well, since it is delicious- just not like the blue. (We will have more blue later in the season) . We will have some of that at U St for your customers to try. You could feature our fetas- we have lots of them. Just what your salad wants! Feta." "Fetas: We have plain, herbes de provence, italian herb, tomato and basil and chives and dill or Marinated Feta. The chef from Vidalia was doing a cooking demo at Dupont yesterday at Toigo's stand and he made a very nice salad with arugula, strawberries and our plain Bovre." Plus lots of yogurt, ricotta, quark, cheddars, and all their interesting aged raw milk cheeses. Cherry Glen Goat Cheese: From just 28 miles away, award- winning chevre and aged goat cheeses. Great with salads, with Stefano's jams. Panorama: Loic is in still in France, , but Emmanuel and Abby will have even MORE of the Olive Oil hamburger buns he bakes for Michel Richard's hamburgers at Central. They have been very popular the last 2 weeks after the Post called them SPECTACULAR , but you should be able to try them this week. Plus the breakfast breads, sticky rolls, raisin pumpernickel, sliced ryes, sourdoughs, multi grains and the famous Rustiques that are baked exclusively for Citronelle, Central, CityZen and us! Have you tried the French style Pumpernickel bread they created for me? It is made for cheese, smoked salmon or smoked turkey sandwiches. Good, toasted, with Keswick's quark, for instance. Their Challah makes excellent bread pudding -- and French Toast. (Think brunch!) Orchards: McCleaf: cameo, rome, golden delicious and granny smith apples; kale, spring onions, pac man broccoli, roma lettuce, strawberries, limited asparagus. Kuhn: MORE strawberries, fujis, goldrush, pink lady apples, rhubarb, asparagus, ciders, their own canned peaches. Copper Pot Pastas, Sauces and Jams: Stefano is going to bring MORE of his gnocchi and MORE of his spinach ricotta and beet-goat cheese ravioli this week. The beets are from Garner, the ricotta is from Keswick -- what could be more local? Plus all the other pastas, ravioli including braised rabbit ravioli, sauces and jams.

14&U will have shelled peas at Garner and Sugar Snap Peas at Mountain View but both attract the early birds. The market opens at 9.

This week at 14&U New This Week: *Shelled English Peas -- come early! *Squash Blossoms at Garner *Baby Summer squash and their larger siblings (zucchini, sunburst, , 8 ball, yellow), *Beets and their delicious greens *Broccoli. *Spring Onions *New Dolcezza flavors this week: Black Mint Gelato and Cucumber Mint and Vodka Sorbetto *braised beef ravioli at Stefano Frigerio's Copper Pot *Buttercrunch, red fire, brigette, and romaine lettuces. * Broccoli *Second week for new potatoes... This week we will have a lot of Strawberries and sweet young vegetables at Kuhn, Garner, McLeaf, Mountain View, Truck Patch: MORE Asparagus! Salad greens, head lettuce of many colors and shapes, collard greens,, radishes, sweet Hakurei turnips (eat 'em raw, stew them briefly in butter), Mustard bunches, Bok Choi, Asian Stir Fry Mix, strawberries, rhubarb, , spinach, Stir Fry Greens Mix,Swiss Chard, ruby streaked mustard, green and red kale, red and green mustards, mizuna, red and white spring onions, chives, garlic and regular, mint, oregano, sage, baby collards, new potatoes, summer squash, squash blossoms, Broccoli, Turnips, asparagus.... Beautiful Flowers from Faucher Meadows: Sweet William, peonies, Asiatic and Foxtail lilies, Campanulas Cup and Saucer, Delphiniums, snapdragons. Elaine's meadow- grown bouquets are a very long lived hostess gift or treat for yourself. Pasta by Copper Pot: Stefano is still coming up with new pastas for us. Last week my husband and I had his Virginia ham and parmesan ravioli. Wow. Ham courtesy of a local Virginia ham producer Forgot the name, but the combo of the full flavored ham and parmesan was superb. . We had the gnocchi with smokey bacon and tomato tonight. We savor the fig and balsamic jam with Keswick quark. Keswick Creamery: I have been tasting Keswick cheeses for years and I am really impressed with the depth of taste they now have. Try the cheddars to see what I mean. Rich milk from all Jersey cows that live outside all year round. Great Yogurt, ricotta and feta cheeses, too. German Style Quark. For Pastured Pork lovers: Truck Patch has fresh pork chops and boneless loin steaks , fresh shoulder roast, spare ribs, baby backs, Italian, country, sage, celery, bratwurst, salt and al his sausages-- plus his pastured beef. His bacon is much admired. MORE Beef: Pecan Meadow has grass -fed -and- finished t-bone, porterhouse, sirloin, New York strip, fillet, flank steaks to grill. Lots of roasts as well. Have you tried their unusual Italian breed of chickens? Unlike the typical American bird, they are small breasted with long long legs and lots of chicken flavor) Stefano (our pasta maven) told me he grilled half a Pecan Meadow chicken "under the brick" on his barbecue and loved the flavor. EGGS: Chicken, Duck and Goose eggs at Pecan Meadow. Chicken lovers: You can order chickens and mallard ducks from Daniel at bluemountainbeef@juno.com. His chickens are an Italian breed that pleased Stefano Fregerio last week. He grilled a half chicken under the brick, he told me. Traditional Baked Goods - pecan pie, shoe fly pie, oatmeal pie, rhubarb pie, strawberry bread, chocolate chip cookies baked by Lois Shirk at Pecan Meadow.. Panorama: Loic is in France, perfecting his traditional Parisian baguettes recipe, but we will have many many more of the Olive Oil hamburger buns he bakes for Michel Richard's hamburgers at Central. They ran out last week after that spectacular review in the Post blog, All We Can Eat, but you should be able to try them this week. Plus the breakfast breads, sticky rolls, pumpernickel, raisin pumpernickel, sliced ryes, sourdoughs, multi grains and the famous Rustiques that are baked exclusively for Citronelle, Central, CityZen and us! Triple Treat PLUS Strawberry Dessert: Puree some strawberries with cream, saturate a slice of the strawberry bread with the puree and top with sliced market strawberries. Serve with Dolcezza Strawberry gelato. Delicious. I invented this last year when I discovered that I had a few slices of slightly stale strawberry bread left over At the Orchards: Besides the strawberries, Kuhn and McLeaf will still have apples: fuji, pink lady, and golden delicious. Kuhn's canned peaches are great grilled with Truck Patch's pork chops....apple sauce, apple butter, apple cider...rhubarb... See you on Saturday, RAIN OR SHINE. Saturdays 9-1 14th and U Streets next to the Reeves Center

There should be shell peas at Bloomingdale on Sunday 10-2 as well. See Garner. Perhaps SnowBear as well...

It depends. Loic did not send enough olive oil buns and they sold out by 10:30, a lot of Stefano's pastas by 11:30 today BUT we will have more of both at Bloomingdale Farmers' Market tomorrow Sunday from 10-2 at First and R Streets NW. I saw baby new potatoes until noon. The baby squash were gone by 11:30 but we had strawberries all day.

Highlights of this week's market: We will have Loic Feillet's Olive Oil Buns and the Parmesan hamburger Buns and the 9 Grain multi rolls with Toasted Sunflower Seeds and the Foccaccia sub rolls -- all for grilling. Painted Hand: has tender, young goat, (I roasted goat shanks earlier in the week with lots of chopped onion, carrots, and much fresh oregano... and they were superb), truly humanely raised ROSE veal, beef, pork, Duck and chicken eggs and lots of sausages and burgers. Stefano Frigiero's Copper Pot this week includes: Rabbit ravioli, prosciutto tortellini, beets and goat cheese ravioli, sausage and sage ravioli, gluten free tagliolini, spelt tagliolini, cavatelli, gnocchi, spaghett. Jams with attitude: strawberries and vanilla, figs and balsamic, blackberries and ginger, peach and prosecco, and apple jam. Sauces: smokey bacon and parmesan sauce, tomato, and shallots and barolo. More Strawberries and Asparagus and lots of greens! SnowBear Farm: LOTS of arugula .Simpson's Black Seeded Lettuce (a mild, green leaf lettuce with crinkly edges and a small sweet Romaine called Jericho. Two kinds of spring Onions, spinach, chives, scallions, baby chard, mizuna, kale, radishes, mustards. Plus lots of plant starts: herbs, vegetables and flowers. Reid has an unusually good selection of herbs --although I may never forgive her for not growing Chervil this year as she has in past years, she has many unusual kinds of thymes, oreganos, basils,etc. Garner: Asparagus and strawberries. Beets, lettuces, romaine, red and white spring onions, radishes, Bright Lights multi colored Chards, arugula, turnip greens. And he will have baby new potatoes so young and tender that you can steam them in just three minutes for your picnics. Baby squash as well. I braise them in olive oil and lemon juice with cumin....

Panorama's olive oil buns and Parmesan hamburger buns got a terrifc shout out today in All We Can Eat today: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/all-we-ca...urger.html#more

I am very glad that we have Stefano at market.

Bloomingdale Farmers Market REOPENS THIS Sunday May 17th with lots of new producers: Sundays 10-2 First and R Streets NW next to the Big Bear Cafe: Rain or Shine or Thunderstorms. The SHORT story is that we have more producers than last year. We have pasta and sauces and jams, we have mushrooms and flowers, we have an organic Loudoun County Vegetable grower plus cheese and yogurt and new breads. We will have a few EGGS this week at Painted Hand/Keswick but LOTS more at Truck Patch in a few weeks. Pastured Lamb and beef and goat and pork and humanely raised VEAL. Lots of new breads from Panorama, too. THREE VEGGIE Stands. Tons of Asparagus. Lots of salads and greens. Chard. Spring Onions. Plus Lots of plants for you to grow your own herbs and veggies and flowers. First of the STRAWBERRIES and BEETS. Details: NEW PRODUCER: Stefano Frigerio of Copper Pot This week: a NEW red beets and goat cheese ravioli, rabbit ravioli, prosciutto tortellini, spinach and ricotta ravioli, sausage and sage ravioli, pappardelle, linguini, spaghetti, cavatelli, gnocchi, tomato sauce, bacon and parmesan sauce, roasted shallots and barolo sauce plus strawberry and vanilla jam, apple, blackberry and ginger, peach and prosecco, figs and balsamic. I really loved the rabbit ravioli last week. New Asbury Lamb: This is my favorite lamb in DC -- young, tender and very flavorful but never gamy. Bill and Joan will have every cut of Spring lamb and will have some Sales Stock up for your Memorial Day barbecues because they can only come to market every other week. Special taste treat at their stand: Sample their sausage. Spring Lamb: whole bone legs, whole boneless legs, half butterfly boneless, kebab cubes, shanks,boneless loin roast, loin chops, racks, rib chops, half boneless shoulder roast, stew cubes, sage and Italian sausage,ground lamb and organ meats NB: Loic's NEW BAGUETTE is still being perfected and will be launched NEXT WEEKEND for Memorial DAY.: Panorama Bakery has joined us permanently: Loic keeps coming up with new breads just for us. This week he added 4 new breads: pumpernickel raisin with a touch of molasses, 9 Grain Boule, 9 Grain mini rolls with TOASTED sunflower seeds but his NEW style of baguette that he is very excited about --- sold starting Memorial Day Weekend. "This time is the real Outstanding TRADITION PARISIAN BAGUETTE" "It is made with the dough of the Rustique with a very long time of proofing (12 hours). The bread is absolutely marvelous" I have not tasted it yet. But I am excited by his enthusiasm. Come early if you want fabulous multigrain rolls with Toasted Sunflower Seeds. I waited too long last week at U Street and they sold out. Lots of other breads as well: plain pumpernickel boule, Rustique, French Country, Croissants, Danish, whole wheat, rye, sourdough breads sliced loaves, baguettes (including French, sun- dried tomato, walnut- raisin) Large olive oil rolls. His breakfast challah..... His breads FREEZE very well for later in the week. Lots of free samples.... NEW PRODUCER: Jim Dunlap of SnowBear Farm, a Certified Naturally Grown Vegetable Farm. I think he is doing something great by farming in the suburbs..... "SnowBear Farm was started in 2007. I retired from working for the USG in 2005, and following a trek of the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine in 2006, I decided to fulfill a dream of having my own farm. Both Nancy and I grew up in ranching country in Wyoming. We looked at large farms of up to 540 acres in rural locations around the USD, but ended up deciding to see if our small place here in Virginia could make a go of it. Our farming interests are oriented towards Organic methods, but we settled on a private farming organization -- the National Organic Program due to the high costs of being in the NOP. The organization we joined, and are certified by, is called the Certified Naturally Grown organization. It is easy to find on the web http://www.naturallygrown.org/ and we are listed under the Virginia farms. The CNG program follows all the same rules as the NOP in terms of no pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or use of synthetic fertilizers. CNG also emphasizes sustainable agriculture practices. We hope to provide something of a model to show other landowners in the far suburbs that it is possible to use their large plots of land productively, rather than just let it sit there as giant lawns or as pet horse facilities. Virginia should be the breadbasket for the Metro area during growing season. " SnowBear Farm: This week Snowbear will have Simpson's Black Seeded Lettuce (a mild, green leaf lettuce with crinkly edges and a small sweet Romaine called Jericho. Two kinds of spring Onions, arugula, spinach, chives, scallions, baby chard, mizuna, kale, radishes, mustards. The groundhogs breakfasted on the turnips and beets so they will be a little later in the month. Plus lots of plant starts: herbs, vegetables and flowers. New Producer: Barbara and Dennis of Greenstone Fields who visited us briefly last Fall have joined us with their delicious mushrooms and lovely flowers. Reid: This weekend Caitlan is bringing Fuji and Pink Lady apples -- very crunchy and flavorful, she wrote. Apple cider, apple sauce, apple butter, pumpkin butter and lots of PLANTS for gardens and containers. In fact, she is bringing a whole little garden nursery of bedding herbs and vegetable/flower plants. Reid has an astonishing variety of herbs..... basil, chives, cilantro, dill, french tarragon, lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, mint, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, winter savory Garner: Come early to snag the first of his Strawberries. Asparagus galore! The first of the beets with their greens. Salads: green and red and romaines, spring onions, chard. And a huge variety of herbs, veggie and flowers you can plant yourself in your garden or containers for your deck or kitchen windows. Plus beautiful hanging flowering baskets, planters and containers. Keswick: NEW: Keswick has been tinkering with their Blue Suede Moo -- it is really silky! By the way, our new pasta chef Stefano says their Ricotta is the real Italian kind --he loves it and uses it in his stuffed ravioli. My favorite yogurt in the world. Cheddar, Wallaby, Lesher, Vermeer, Fetas. I had the Special Reserve Vermeer- aged at least 7 months, it has a nuttier flavor than the younger Vermeer. Bovre, German style Quark and..... pudding. Painted Hand Farm from Pennsylvania will have VERY humanely raised, grass-fed ROSE veal and goat meat. All cuts: shanks, chops, ground, veal scaloppini (a thin cutlet), breakfast link goat sausage , hot and sweet Italian veal sausage, traditional German-style Bratwurst (veal and pork) . Truck Patch: ASPARAGUS- mesclun, lettuce mix, arugula, spinach, radishes, brassica mix, stir fry and braising greens., mint, cilantro, chives, garlic chives, spring onions. I love their chives and garlic chives slivered over asparagus soup. Bryan reminds me that he has asparagus seconds that are perfect for soup. Brian's pastured pigs root around in shady Maryland groves. Try his thick fresh pork chops for dinner , bone-in and boneless pork loin roast, pork shoulder roast, Boston butt roast, baby back ribs, spare ribs, sausage, hams, bacon. Try their hams if you want to remember what Ham should taste like. Pastured Beef: Truck Patch has every cut of Black Angus pastured beef. Common Good City Farm (Formerly 7th Street Garden) They visited us frequently last year -- and they will be joining us permanently this year. You may see them wheeling their produce over to market from their new home at the Gage-Eckington Schoolyard! They will have lots of fresh herbs and plants for your gardens and containers. The Garden Centers at BFM: Whatever you want for your urban garden, all at Reid, Garner, SnowBear and Common Good City Farm Just a few of the selections: Lettuce gardens, herb gardens, heirloom tomatoes of every shape and kind, red & green sweet pepper plants, red & yellow sweet italian heirloom stuffing peppers, eggplants, cucumbers, watermelons some hot peppers, "Titan" sunflowers with edible heads, marigolds, phlox, lobelia, shasta Daisy, Dahlia, Petunia, Columbines. crookneck squash plants, heirloom zucchini plants, pattypan plants, broccoli plants, and some arugula plants. Herbs this week: 5 kinds of basil, catnip, chives, cilantro, dill, 9 kinds of lavender, lemon balm, lemon verbena, 6 kinds of mint oregano, parsley, 8 kinds of rosemary, green & purple sage, summer&winter savory, french tarragon, 10 different thymes for culinary landscaping uses, chocolate mint

My husband and I went last night. They seem to be doing interpretations of classic dishes. For instance, the hushpuppies were as light as a puff pastry shell .. and flavorful. The gumbo soup was not thickened much but had good flavor and etouffie (their spelling) was NOT classic and more of a rice stew or a soupy risotto than a sauce over rice ...but delicious. Service was friendly but slow. Liked the space a lot. We will definitely go back.

I stopped by earlier today. The official opening is next week but they are open now. Something of a busboys and poets feeling to the decor. Anyone eaten there yet?