marketfan

Hi Everyone: This Saturday at 14&U on Saturday 9-1 and Bloomingdale (sunday 10-2)Farmers' Markets Well, the big story is CORN this week at Garner. lots of Corn. New: Sweet Corn!!! Tomatoes -- Tomatoes -- New Girls, Nyagous and Sungolds at Mountain View Basil Chocolate pudding for the kids at Keswick Carrots Eggplant at Mountain View Black and Red Raspberries at Kuhn and McCleaf Boothby Blond cucumbers at Mountain View More varieties of Sweet Cherries at Kuhn Green, Yellow, Purple bell peppers Green Italian Frying Peppers Cherry tomatoes Baby summer squash at Truck Patch bunches of collards and chard at Truck Patch Eggs at Truck Patch Just Dug Up New Potatoes-- Yukon, Pontiac Red. Hot Peppers Raspberry Frangipane at NanBon Zucchini Bread And just a reminder that we have Keswick Cheese in the Market now Marinated Feta Cheese in olive oil 11 different hard cheese-- cheddars and Fetas and Wallabies and Vermeer Fresh German style or Central European soft curd cheese (Quark) and Bovre Fresh Ricotta and Italian Style Pressed Ricotta Fresh Cream Cheese with herbs and lots of Truck Patch's pastured pork, of course. I have been using Keswick's yogurt in my cooking all week. I sauteed some Mountain View chard with spring onions in olive oil and garlic, mounded the chard on a plate and sauced it with yogurt. I let it stand for a few minutes while the yogurt mixed with the juices from the chard. What a great mixture. I also made braised stuffed savoy cabbage with Truck Patch's ground pork and served that with the yogurt seasoned with mint and garlic. Another keeper. It was delish on roasted beets, too, by the way.... Truck Patch: Lots of Pastured Pork for your July 4th 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. Vegetables include baby and regular summer squash: yellow, zucchini, pattypan, arugula, bunches of swiss chard and collards, salad mix, Mountain View: Tomatoes (New Girls, Nyagous and Sungold)--come early, they will go fast. As will the eggplants - first of the season. (Grill them and serve them with Keswick Yogurt seasoned with chopped chives and parsley) Heaps of squash-- zephyr, Geode, Seneca, Yellow Crookneck. If you love collards, this is the last week until the fall. Lovely salad mix. Green cabbage for cole slaw. Red Ace,Golden and Chioggia striped beets. Bunching onions. Hakurei Turnips, picking and Boothby's Blond Cukes...and the Basil. In fact, chop up the basil over that eggplant and yogurt. Kuhn : lots of red raspberries this week and five or six varieties of sweet cherries. Blueberries, gooseberries, beets, leeks, cider, honey and a buy one-get one free sale on their canned peaches. McCleaf's tender, sweet kale. Sweet cherries. Black and Red raspberries. Sugar Snap peas, Snow Peas, red and heirloom golden beets, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini. Garner: SWEET CORN! tomatoes, cukes and squashes, sweet and hot peppers, cherry tomatoes, cabbages (red , savoy, green ) colorful bell peppers ( purple, green, yellow) , green beans, green frying, field tomatoes, carrots, new Yukon, Red Pontiac and white potatoes, baby beets, arugula and radishes. NanBon: lots of Aisha's homemade sweet things. New this week: Raspberry Frangipane and Zucchini bread as well...Pound cake, brownies, bread pudding... Breadline: 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 3 minutes so they are crisp outside and soft inside.) Plus your usual favorites: scones, muffins, croissants, breads. BLOOMINGDALE ON SUNDAY: REID has apricots, yellow nectarines, those fabulous cherries, blueberries, some strawberries, and herbs. New Asbury has lots of lamb and shoulder chops --new cut for them. Plus Garner, Truck Patch, NanBon, Breadline and 7th Street Garden. Enjoy the Fireworks on Friday. Robin

One of the Farmers at 14& U would like to pick up your used cooking oil..... The Mountain View Farm is a small family farm providing naturally grown produce for the Saturday farmers market at 14th and U St. As part of a plan to be more environmentally responsible and economically viable, the farm set up a facility to convert waste vegetable oil into biodiesel fuel for its tractors and vehicles. Any restaurants interested in an easy way to get rid of their used cooking oil for free while helping to create a cleaner burning fuel for this farm are encouraged to contact Orion Baker at orionb32@hotmail.com or by phone at 206-817-5443. ((The phone number is correct. It is his cell)

Correction: Keswick is NOT at Bloomingdale on Sunday. Robin

Hello, Here is what we will have a 14&U on Saturday and Bloomingdale on Sunday CHEESE and YOGURT: Keswick Creamery is joining 14 & U on Saturdays! *My favorite yogurt-- *11 different aged raw milk cheeses-- cheddars and Fetas and Wallabies and Vermeer *Fresh German style or Central European soft curd cheese (Quark) *Fresh Ricotta and Italian Style Pressed Ricotta *Fresh Cream Cheese with herbs I am addicted to her Quark and I shamelessly adore Melanie's yogurt It is great with fruit, wonderful with cereal. I use a dollop of it on my zucchini soup and mix it with new potatoes or sliced roasted beets and mint. I used it all last summer on slices of roasted or fried eggplant. Lots of samples for you to try! What else is NEW this WEEK at 14&U Farmers Market. Saturday June 21st? Tomatoes at Mountain View cherries at Kuhn and McCleaf Carrots at Mountain View Raspberries at Kuhn Purple peppers at Garner hot peppers at Garner and Mountain View green beans at Garner yellow wax beans at Garner roma beans at Garner eggs at Mountain View and Truck Patch leeks heirloom gold beets at McCleaf and Mountain View garlic at McCleaf NanBon's new Pound Cake Snow peas Basil Sage Rosemary LAST of the Strawberries. Last of the rhubarb Mountain View: Come early for their eggs and the first of their Tomatoes I have been eating their sugar snap peas all week. Normally, I eat them like edamame, but someone made me a raw sugar snap pea salad last week (slice them finely and diagonally across the pod and dress with a vinaigrette with lettuce and spring onions. The contrast of the onions and the sweet, fresh pods was unexpected! Also look for their Swiss Chard, Kale, Collards, salad greens, carrots, beets, cabbage and turnips. Basil, Sage, Rosemary. LOTS OF squash. They are "organic" but not certified. McCleaf's: kale is becoming known as a U Street Treasure. It is very tender and sweet. And so are their sweet cherries. More Sugar Snap peas, Snow Peas, red and heirloom golden beets, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini Truck Patch: Brian just came back from the butcher with lots of pastured pork of all cuts (chops of all size, bone in and out, roasts, steaks, ribs, baby backs, sausages: (Italian, Sage, Country, celery, maple, apple), ground and pork steaks). Grill. Grill. Grill. Although it HAS been cool enough for me to roast a shoulder as well. I do it with a spice rub in a slow oven (250 degrees) for hours until the pork reaches at least 140 degrees. Or use indirect heat in the Weber. Great picnic food, wonderful cubed and stir fried with snow peas or served over sauteed greens. Brian is a mint man, too: 3 different varieties for Mojitos. I like to dry mint for a few days and crush it over cucumbers and yogurt. Home-dried mint is so much more flavorful than anything you can buy commercially. Ask Paul B. for recipes tips when you buy.... He always has great ideas. Garner: Purple peppers, hot peppers .skinny French- style green beans wax beans, Roma beans ( THREE BEAN SALAD this week). Summer Squash of all kinds, shapes and colors, chard, romaine lettuce, spring onions, cucumbers, turnips, new potatoes (Yukon Gold, Red Pontiac and white. Sunflowers, bouquets ....and our market favorite----Squash blossoms. For me, Squash blossoms are Nature's way of providing me with superthin ravioli skins without having to roll out the pasta. Stuff them with some of Keswick's ricotta mixed with chopped fresh herbs, then saute them or fry them or roast them. NanBon: Aisha has a brand new pound cake. Just in time to serve under those strawberries and raspberries (and Blueberries on Sunday in Bloomingdale) Cut up the berries and let the juices mingle with the pound cake. ( Try a little yogurt on it) And of course, she will have her famous bread pudding and pecan pie as well.... And Breadline has the bread you want to go with all of Keswick's cheeses. Don't forget to stop by Faucher Meadows for a bouquet that will last you at least a week. Mine is still blooming happily. See you Saturday. Robin

H i everyone, Here is your list of what the farmers expect to bring to 14&U Farmers market on Saturday, June 14th 9-1 in front of the Reeves Center. Hope to see you at market. NOTE: If you miss Saturday, many of these producers are at Bloomingdale on Sunday, First and R, next to the Big Bear Cafe, 10-2. Robin NEW this WEEK: green beans, pretty and small at Garner carrots at Mountain View leeks at Kuhn gold and white and Italian cylindrical beets at Kuhn snow peas at Truck Patch baby arugula at Truck Patch fresh green cabbage at McCleaf, Mountain View and Garner Italian red and white and cylindrical beets at Kuhn and Mountain View baby arugula back this week at Truck Patch NEW Pound cake at Nanbon Large Squash blossoms for stuffing at Garner last week for Garlic Scapes at Mountain View Also note: Shelled Peas at Garner Mountain View Sugar snap peas: Garlic scapes: LOTS. Mustard Greens: Hakurei turnips: Purple top/white globe turnips: Squash: Collard Greens: Kale: Swiss Chard: Spring onions: Salad Greens: Braising mixed greens: Beets: Carrots: Garner: reg cukes pickled cukes cabbage broccoli Vidalia onions beets-- choggia and red turnips -- purple tops summer squash-- mixed baby and adult new potatoes red and yellow squash flowers swiss chard red and green spring onions: red and white shelled peas, unshelled peas and sugar snaps romaine, green leaf and red leaf lettuces sunflowers, lilies at sunday market turnips some raspberries Kuhn: strawberries asparagus gold beets blanca white beets Italian cylindrical beets Chioggia beets McCleaf kale-- extremely tender and sweet spring onions broccoli -- very good raw cauliflower cabbage -- green tomatoes from greenhouse apples Truck Patch Salad Greens Mesclun Pastured Pork baby arugula Snow Peas, last week of strawberries, braising greens (their mix includes baby spinach, mustards, ruby-streaked mustard, tatsoi, baby kale and chard. And for you pastured pork fans, lots of fresh loin chops, boneless chops, and many kinds of sausages, great for the grill including bratwurst, kielbasa, Italian, Maple, sage, country. Flowers at Faucher Meadows: Lilies, delphinia, larkspur, peonies, campanula's, yarrow. Breadline breads Nanbon's pies and bread puddings and fruit breads and for the first time, her pound cake. She is very excited about this new pound cake and I bet it will be even better with sliced strawberries. Robin

New this Saturday at 14&U Farmers Market 9-1 Corner of 14th and U outside the Reeves Center: garlic scapes at Mountain View -- makes great pesto and wonderful sliced into sautes raspberries at Garner (at the start of the market ) cauliflower at McCleaf broccoli at McCleaf and Garner leeks at Kuhn zephyr summer squash at Mountain View LOTS OF STRAWBERRIES English peas (shelled and unshelled) (Garner) sugar snap peas (Mountain View and Garner) baby new potatoes -- Pontiac Red and Yukon Gold (Garner) asparagus baby mixed squash (zucchini, one ball, 8 ball, sunburst, pattypan, Lebanese_) 6 inch summer squash (zucchini, one ball, 8 ball, sunburst, pattypan, Lebanese) Vidalia-style sweet onions (Garner) spring onions chioggio beets red beets broccoli cauliflower rhubarb leeks Salad green: Braising greens: Kale: Collards: Chard: Beets: Hakurei turnips: Purple-top/white-globe turnips: Spring onions: Sugar snap peas: Small amount of summer squash: Zephyr mostly Garlic scapes: LOTS Pastured Pork from Truck Patch. Breadline Bread Aisha's strawberry bread!!! Stop by and say hello Robin

New At 14&U Saturday May 31st. Small Vidalia style onions Squash Blossoms, mixed baby summer squashes, teenage summer squashes (zucchini, sunburst, 8-ball, yellow) English Peas, shelled and unshelled Sugar Snap Peas Chioggio Beets Broccoli Lots of New Potatoes (Pontiac Red, Yukon Gold, Superior White) Truck Patch salt brined, long smoked, hams Plus: Walnuts in Shells lots of asparagus rhubarb salad greens and lettuces bunches of salad greens, chards, kales, mustards baby collards, Stir fry greens ASian Stir Fry greens Bok Choy Sweet hakurei Turnips Purple Top Turnips radishes Pastured Pork -- chops, ribs, roasts, sausages Breadline Bread Kuhn's canned peaches Lots of unusual herbs and veggies starts including both 24 inch and 8 foot okras. NanBon's Strawberry bread, bread pudding and pie

There will be lots more sugar snaps AND English peas next week. We did have baby summer squash and zucchini attached to their flowers and they will probably have grown into adolescent squash by next week.

You can get another loaf at Bloomingdale Sunday 10-2, First and R Streets. Aisha will be there.

Aisha will have MORE strawberry bread, pecan pies and bread pudding this weekend. We will also have tiny Yukon gold and Pontiac Red new potatoes, LOTS of strawberries, LOTS of asparagus, the first of the Sugar Snap Peas (and they will go fast), MAYBE the first of the zucchini but no promises about that one. Truck Patch will have every cut of pork you could want for your barbecue. GREAT GREENS... and the first of the SUGAR SNAP PEAS (come early for the peas):Salad Greens, Romaine, Purple Head Lettuce, Mustard bunches, Swiss Chard (Green, RubyRed and Silverado Yellow) , Bok Choi, Kale, Hakurei turnips (so sweet you can just cut them into a salad. , Radishes, Green Garlic. The first of the Sugar Snap Peas. Mizunabunches, Mesclun, Baby Spinach, Stir-fry greens. Spring Onions and oversized spring onions with the big bulb are great on the grill. Mint, Chives, Garlic Chives. Parsley, Chocolate Mint,honey, apples, cider, rhubarb, honey. Truck Patch Pastured pork chops you can grill Saturday night, spare ribs, loin roast, shoulder roasts, baby back ribs, bratwurst and kielbasa sausages, scrapple, ham, bacon. Lots of bedding herbs and veggies and flowers. Breadline baguettes, breads, croissants.

It is still early in the season. They will have lots more week by week.

Glad you liked them and we will have lots more next week if the sun comes out to play. Robin

actually, please convert the AT and the DOT to the @ and . when you email me. Writing out the AT and DOT in words in public prevents sweeperbots from grabbing the address and using it for spam. But anyone writing to me should convert it to the usual @ and . or it won't get to me. Many thanks. robin

And we also have Reid at little Bloomingdale on Sunday as well. First and R Streets NW

And it had been pouring rain so the strawberries may have been a bit watery....dry weather is always best for fruit.

This week at 14&U: Come meet our NEW BAKER: AISHA Wilson Bond lives in Bloomingdale and wins the award as our most local of local producers. She makes pies and bread puddings from her Great Grandmother and Great Aunt's recipes.... this week she is bringing her strawberry bread made from local strawberries. Hers are the best bread puddings I have tasted: custardy, light, almost like a souffle-- and seasoned with freshly ground spices. Lots more STRAWBERRIES. . And ASPARAGUS purple and green at Kuhn, McCleaf, Truck Patch, Garner. Also lots of plants for your gardens and container: of herbs, vegetables, flowers. Our Orchards, Kuhn and McCleaf will have rhubarb to cook with those strawberries and lots of good recipes. Apples include Fuji, Goldrush, Pink Lady, Red and Golden Delicious and maybe Braeburn apples, asparagus, cider , mint and chocolate mint, honey. Also, asparagus, aloe plants, and some lettuces: Romaine, Prize head, and Butter Crunch. Garner: strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, radishes, spring onions, arugula, turnip greens, swiss chard, possibly beets .Also, herbs, veggie plants, very pretty hanging. baskets and bedding plants. Mountain View : Try their spicy spring salad greens, Mizuna, bunches of Mustard Greens (Osaka Purple, Green Wave, Ho MI Z, Swiss Chard, Kales, Collards, Baby white Haukrei turnips withi their greens, green garlic, radishes, thyme, parsley, sage. Plant starts: Tomatoes, Peppers, hot peppers, flowers,lettuce, chard, and herbs Truck Patch has a variety of salad: mesclun, arugular, lettuce mix, baby spinach brassica mix, stir fry mix and braising greens and pastured pork: thick chops bone in and bone out, loin and shoulder roasts, Boston but, spare ribs, baby backs, hams, scrapple and bacon. LOTS of Asparagus. Brian's pigs root around in shady groves. Very pampered. I visited several times. Breadline's stand is between Truck Patch and McCleaf now. They will have lots of croissants, baguettes, muffins, and breads. See you Saturday, rain or shine! DAte: Saturday May 17th Time: 9 am - 1 pm Where: 14th and U Streets NW (sidewalk of the Reeves Center) Anne, Our web site will be up in less than two weeks

14&U had great Virginia strawberries on Saturday lots of rhubarb and will have them again this Saturday.

My husband and I were there on Sunday. We had the fried oysters which were the best I have had in DC. The bluefish was excellent, the grilled asparagus very good and the collard greens were tasty. But the cole slaw needs salt and spice. Right now it is a miss.

The 14&U Farmers Market reopened today for the season--for your SATURDAY night dinners. None of the farmers are at Dupont and there are several who do not come to any other DC markets at all. Today we had Strawberries, asparagus, many kinds of greens and salads, walnuts, pastured pork, green garlic, Breadline bread, apples, honey, canned peaches, lots of herbs and vegetable plants, container gardens of lettuces and herbs and tomatoes.

I really like the espresso at Big Bear Cafe, although I mostly drink it as a machiato. It is Counter Culture Coffee, same roaster as Murky's. First and R Street NW. My favorite coffeehouse in DC. Simple, friendly place -- dark wood interior, LOOOONG espresso bar, huge windows, good sandwiches.

I stopped by yesterday (because I saw people sitting at tables) , hoping they would have a soft opening. Instead, they were having a (closed) trial dinner It looked very inviting.

Reid's Orchard has always been an anchor of the MtP market ever since it started. Caitlan Reid runs the stand at Mount Pleasant.

An interesting snapshot in time. Worth repeating several times to see if the results hold. I have had undercooked pizzas at 2 Amys once or twice (out of dozens) and awful pizzas at Comet twice but I have not been back after the second. The first time the dough tasted of chlorine and I suggested that they triple filter their water. I found the tomato sauce slightly bitter both times.

Smith Meadow is also at the 14& U Farmers Market outside the Reeves Center on Saturdays, 9-1. Nancy's pasta is remarkably good. I don't normally like whole wheat pastas but she has converted me! And it is made with their grass range eggs. IF you like Breadline Bread, you can now find it at the Bloomingdale Farmers' Market on Sundays, 10-2 pm at First and R Streets NW And Sunnyside will have its remarkable bargains on heirlooms (pile up a mix and match basket) and cases of 30 pounds of Early Girls at Bloomingdale as well. And lots of squash blossoms, leeks, fennel, cucumbers, garlic, summer squash.... New Asbury Farm lamb (this week) is very tender, very flavorful. Reid has lots of tomatoes, peaches, nectarines, blackberries and early apples .