marketfan

That is a good price and this new certificate program for on farm slaughter should keep prices reasonable

Victoria The restaurant scene in Victoria ( I visit three times a year to see my grandkids) is not as good as DC and certainly nowhere as good as Vancouver or Seattle. Zambris is good -- Italian, for lunch it is a bit like the antipasti bar at 2 Amys. No decent Chinese. Red fish/Blue fish is the equivalent of a food cart except it is good quality fish tacos in a renovated freight container by the dock. Definitely go. The Moss St FArmers market on Saturdays has lots of food stands and a very very good sausage stand that grills many different sausages.

I agree that Vace's is strangely compelling, as you say. And always goes on my list.

and were there cherries?

I know. Julie from Groff Content caps her prices at 20 dollars a bird for that reason.

A USDA plant can charge 6 dollars per bird just for slaughtering. That adds 1.50 a pound for a four pound bird. We need a lot more small, community based USDA plants so that small chicken farmers can slaughter at reasonable prices.

I am glad you like it!! I can ask Mountain View to bring nettles if they have more and I will post it on the Board if they do. They thought LAST week would be the end of the nettles, so I was surprised they had them this week. There are always surprizes that the producers don't expect. Crops that are ripe Friday that were not on Tuesday when I get market emails from them, other things that ripened too quickly or slowed by a cool night. That is why whatever I post can only be a partial snapshot, not a detailed promise of what will be in the market. This week Garner had tiny string beans he did not expect to have for one or two weeks yet.

yes, Mountain V had the nettles in bags to lessen the pain of cooking with them!

Not sure if this is the right place for this, but Cheesemaker Mark of Keswick cheeses is creating very interesting cheeses to pair with beer. Not just to pair with beer, but rind washed weekly WITH local PA craft beers. I don't know anyone else doing this in DC and I think it is a wonderful t hing. He will be at the Bloomngdale Farmers Market this Sunday to sample the cheeses and to talk about them. First and R Streets NW 10-2 Bloomingdale Farmers Market The beer cheeses are described below: "Our line of Alpine peasant-style cheeses. All of our tomes share a sweet buttery beginning with a slightly nutty finish. However, our partnerships with local breweries and vineyards enable us to wash the rinds of some tommes to produce cheeses are uniquely local. Tomme Sweet Tomme Our Tomme cheese that we allow to grow a natural rind that we brush weekly for two months. This encourages the natural flora in our aging room to impart a lovely mushroomy odor to the rind. A classic tomme with a sweet, butter initial flavor followed with a nutty finish. Pairs well with Roy Pitz Brewing Gobbler Lager or Troegs Brewing Pale Ale. Wash You Were Here We wash our tomme cheese with a mild salt brine the give the rind a lovely straw color with some pink and orange highlights. The rind has a rich beefy aroma and the cheese has a strong walnutty flavor with a wonderful creaminess. Pairs nicely with Troegs Brewing Pale Ale, or for some extra punch try Troegs Hop Back. Tommenator We take our Tomme cheese and wash it weekly with Troegs Brewing Company's Trogenator, their classic double bock. The washing gives the rind a deliciously sweet, malty aroma and imparts a wonderful hoppy finish to the cheese. Like all our Tommes, the rind is edible and this rind is especially tasty. Pairs perfectly with Troegs Brewing Troegenator or Roy Pitz Brewing Company Old Jail Ale. Happy Jack Wash our tomme cheese with a traditional English style cider made with Adams county apples and the result is Happy Jack. The apples highlight the sweet fruitiness of the cheese while bringing out a warm earthy finish with notes of hazelnut. The rind has a nice light golden color with hints of pink and red. This cheese complements Troegs Sunshine Pils or Dream Weaver Wheat quite nicely. Mad Tomme Our Mad Tomme is creamy, with small eyes and aged for three months. We wash it weekly with Mad Elf Ale, Troegs Brewing Company's one of kind holiday cherry brew. With a tart, spicy aroma and a lactic fruitiness this cheese is a welcome addition to your cheese plate. Makes for a great picnic lunch with a loaf of bread, some apples and Roy Pitz Brewing's Best Blonde Ale, Troegs Brewing Sunshine Pils, or go for the crazy mad experience and have a chalice of Troegs Mad Elf Ale."

New or Notable Truck Patch's home made scrapple, made by Bryan himself. Chez Hareg pies and cupcakes, choice of Vegan or Classic Butter 7 Varieties of Strawberries-- do your own strawberry tasting. Sugar Snap Peas Squash Blossoms Summer Squash Cherry Belle Radishes Copper Pot SOUPS Chez Hareg: And now she is doing cupcakes, Vegan and classic. The She may even have a rhubarb strawberry crisp this week.... lots of cookies, pound cake, cupcakes, maybe some pies. vegan and classic Truck Patch Farms: Strawberries: Has the sweet, old-fashion flavor of the smallish Earliglows, brilliantly red Chandlers, the large French Darselects (used in French jams!). Asparagus, radishes, lettuce, Spring mix, arugula, Swiss chard, kale, herbs. Have you tried the Scrapple? the Baltimore Sun wrote it up a few weeks ago. It is made from his premium pigs and organic cornmeal. salt and pepper and served at the Woodberry Kitchen. An artisanal traditional treat without the chemicals you see in a lot of scrapple. Amber hams. All the pastured pork cuts and sausages. Grass-fed Angus Beef. EGGS. Did you know that TP hopes that their organic certification will come through in the Fall? <http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/2010/04/scrapple_without_the_scraps.html>http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/2010/04/scrapple_without_the_scraps.html Copper Pot: I can't tell exactly what Stefano is bringing this week because he wasn't sure when I spoke to him today, but there is likely to be duck ravioli with egg, nettle pappardelle, braised beef or lamb pasta, cavatelli, spinach and ricotta tortellini and lots of other choices. There MAY BE mushroom ragout. There will definitely be ASPARAGUS SOUP. Lots of jams to pair with Cherry Glen Goat Cheese and his sauces. Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Company: Handmade, artisanal goat cheese. Fresh chevre and ricotta cheese and delicious crottins and brie-like wedges of creamy, soft-ripened cheese. Mountain View: Never any pesticides. Salad greens, braising greens, radishes, kale, chard, beets, mustards, collard, spinach, bok choi, sage, chives, garlic chives, thyme, sweet marjoram. Lots of the best varieties of bedding plants: herbs and vegetables. Faucher Meadow: Elaine's long lived beauties this week include peonies, sweet william and Dutch iris flowers. Garner's Produce: Squash Blossoms! Sugar Snap Peas! First of the Summer Squash! Sweet Charley Strawberries. Beets with their greens. Kohlrabi, the "alien vegetable" Salads: green and red and romaines, spring onions, chard. Broccoli, squash blossoms. Red and White Turnips. Blue Kale. And a huge variety of herbs, vegetables 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. Pecan Meadow: EGGS: Free ranging chicken, duck and maybe some Goose. Grass fed and finished half Piedmontese beef in all cuts ( t-bone. porterhouse, NY strip, sirloin, sandwich, brisket, London Broil, sirloin tip, rump, eye round, chuck arm, soup bones, liver, heart, kidney, tongue,sausages. Grass -fed Lamb or Goat loin and shoulder chops, leg roasts, leg steaks, shanks. Lois' traditional Pennsylvania baked goods: pumpkin whoopie pies, pecan, oatmeal, rhubarb pies, pumpkin breads. Pre order your chickens and ducks at <mailto:bluemountainbeef%40juno.com>bluemountainbeef@juno.com. Dolcezza: Made with local milk and cream from a small Maryland dairy. Free samples of every single flavor. This week's flavors: Valrhona Chocolate Amargo, Bananas Foster, Mexican Coffee, Lemon Ricotta Cardamom, Dulce de Leche, Strawberry Tequila, ChampagneMango, Avocado Honey Orange, Sicilan Blood Orange, Golden Margarita. Half the fat and calories and TWICE the taste of American ice cream. Kuhn: very sweet asparagus, Fuji, goldrush, pink lady, braeburn apples. Rhubarb to cook up with strawberries. Honey, canned peaches, jelly, cider, flowers, mint, jerusalem artichokes. McCleaf: Strawberries, rhubarb , purple and green asparagus, red and green kale, 3 flavors of apple butter, cameo apples. Panorama Artisanal Bakery: new Breton Baguettes, croissants, sandwich breads, Rustiques, muffins, and twenty other kinds of breads: whole wheat, pumpernickels with and without raisins, ryes, sour dough, challahs, ciabatta, multi-grain rolls, olive oil buns (baked for Central's fancy hamburgers-- and us!)

He has earliglows, Chandlers and the French jam strawberry, Darselects.

BFM reopens Sunday May 16t, 10 am at First and R Streets NW next to the Big Bear Cafe. I am very excited about our opening. Dolcezza has joined the market. Made from local MD milk and cream, lots of local fruits and herbs. Try the STrawberry Tequila Sorbet this week. Chez Hareg has returned after a year off to move her bakery from 9th to Edgewood (4th ST NE) and to become the Vegan baker for Whole Foods. But the good news is that she she has not forgotten her roots in Classic French butter baking, either. So, good stuff for your Vegan friends and good stuff for you. Cookies, cakes and now, cupcakes, too. Truck Patch is making its own scrapple and Baltimore has been going crazy about it. Woodberry Kitchen serves it at their Sunday Brunch. The Baltimore Sun raved about it. Squash blossoms at Garner already. Keswick is very exciting at BFM. Mark has created a new line of Tomme cheeses to pair with beer! Not only do they go with beer, they are rind washed in local PA microbeers and ciders. DC has become so appreciative of artisanal beers and Mark has the first cheese intended to go with those beers. H he will be at BFM on Sunday to tell you all about them. They start as a peasant style Alpine tomes, but all the beer washing transforms them into something special. What else? Stefano is making soups as well as some unusual pastas, his sauces and jams to go with Keswick's cheeses. Snow Bear is back. Nancy quit her day job and is working on the farm full time so they doubled the size of their Loudoun Country farm to four acres and planted a LOT More certified Naturally Grown plants and flowers for us. And Nancy is baking her own farm- style bread. Try it. Lettuces: mild, crinkly green leaf Simson, bright red Antaago, loose leaf Outredgeous and sweet, smallJerico romaine. Pure Oasaka Mustard and hot Yukina Savoy. Russian and Dinosaur Kale. Red, Yellow, White Chards. Spinach, arugula, Tatsoi, scallions, radishes, collards and my favorite: Broccoli Raab. Reid: This weekend Caitlan is bringing Pink Lady apples -- crunchy and flavorful, Apple cider, apple sauce, apple butter, pumpkin butter and lots of PLANTS for your 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.... This week's tomato plants include: Beefsteak, Box Car Willie, Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, Juliet Grape, Pantano Romanesco, and Super Sweet 100. *new things this year: stevia, vietnamese coriander, sweet woodruff, santonlina, fragrant ornamental curry, bronze fennel basil (African Blue, Genovese, Sweet); chives and garlic chives; cilantro; lavender (Fern Leaf, Goodwin Creek, Hidcote, Munstead, Provence, Sweet); lemon balm; lemon verbena; oregano (Greek, Hot & Spicy, Italian); curly and italian parsley; rosemary (Arp, Creeping, Gorizia, Mrs. Howard's Creeping, Tuscan Blue); sage (Berggarten, Grower's Friend, Pineapple, Purple, Tricolor); Sweet marjoram, french tarragon, thyme (Coconut, English, Golden, Lemon, Lime, Silver Edged, White Flowering); winter savory, mint (choose from Julep, Kentucky Colonel, Chocolate, Peppermint, Pineapple, Spearmint) Garner: Strawberries. Asparagus galore! The FIRST of the summer squash. Sugar Snap Peas! Squash blossoms. Beets with their greens. Kohlrabi, the "alien vegetable" Salads: green and red and romaines, spring onions, chard. Broccoli, squash blossoms. Red and White Turnips. Blue Kale. 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. Truck Patch: EGGS, 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. New Asbury Lamb: Young, tender, pastured Loudoun County Lamb. Bill and Joan will have every cut of Spring lamb and will have sales on Sage and Italian sausage and Whole lamb roasts. Start stocking up for your Memorial Day barbecues. 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. Painted Hand Farm from Pennsylvania will have 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). This is Sandy's only DC market. Panorama: Loic is still changing his Breton Baguette and he has 20 other breads as well as muffins, croissants, etc. See you Sunday, Robin, Ted, Kate and Kate .

I Yes, Keswick dropped their Saturday markets -- staffing problems and Melanie very much needed one day off a week. But we will have other cheese producers. I t hink t he small strawbs are earliglows but I will confirm that.. They are very sweet . Robin

Sorry for posting this so late. Mother's Day Goodies at 14&U FM Sat May 8th NEW or Noteworthy: Cherry Glen is back with ALL of their very local (28 miles away) Boyds, MD cheeses. Chez Hareg rejoins the market She bakes TASTY Vegan French style cookies, real French Butter cookies, pound cakes. Looking for long-lasting Mother's Day flowers? Elaine Faucher will make up gorgeous bouquets of her meadow-grown beauties including: Dutch Iris, Alliums, Peonies, Sweet Williams, Hellaborus, Baptiste LOTS of Strawberries! You don't have to be an early bird this week. Sugar Snap Peas at Garner -- come early if you want these-- they are first- of- the- season. Arugula Pappardelle and Asparagus Soup at Copper Pot Remember we are open RAIN OR SHINE OR THUNDERSTORMS. It is dry under the tents! Just a few Mother's Day Menu Ideas: Strawberries Three W]ays. Plate a scoop of Dolcezza's Virginia Strawberry Tequila Sorbetto with Virginia Strawberry & Cream Gelato over red, juicy sliced market Strawberries. You COULD do all this over Chez Hareg pound cake or a Panorama croissant....Some people might even want to add a dollop of Dolcezza Lemon Ricotta . I would. Is this dessert or the first course? hmmm. Fresh Market Salad -- Mixed lettuces, arugula and/or watercress with sliced apples and Cherry Glen Chevre sprinkled with fresh chives. .Or if you prefer an Asian theme: Mountain View Pea Shoots and Garner Snow Peas parboiled and tossed with sesame oil, sherry vinegar, garlic and ginger. Asparagus duck egg frittata....... with Truck Patch's bacon Or make an herby omelet and serve separately: Asparagus with whipped Chevre, olive oil and sherry vinegar (I stole this delicacy from a recent meal at Birch and Barley) Copper Pot light Gnocchi or pasta with whatever sauce Stefano tells me to make with it! Panorama Multi-grain rolls with toasted sesame seeds Sweets: Chez Hareg cookies, Pecan Meadow pies (pumpkin whoopie pies, oatmeal, rhubarb. A centerpiece of Elaine's meadow-grown flowers Truck Patch Farms STRAWBERRIES. produce, pastured pork, grass -fed Angus beef and eggs. Tons of purple and green asparagus. including the extra tender, deeply flavorful, thick stemmed stalks from older roots. Lettuce, salad mix, arugula, radishes, Bright Lights and red Swiss chard, curly kale, cut herbs: sage, chives, garlic chives, and mint. Asparagus Tip: Did you know that the thick- stemmed stalks are more tender and more flavorful than the skinny ones? -- the fat ones are from the older rootstocks. Bryan told me this last week Mountain View: Organic practises but not certified. Bok Choi, Tatsoi are back. Hakurei Turnips. And come early for the baby beets! Kale, mustard bunches, spicy salad greens, braising greens, arugula, watercress, collard greens, spinach, radishes, nettles for nettle soup (or ask Stefano about Nettle gnocchi), thyme, sage, oregano, chives. And lots of plants for your own garden: tomatoes, peppers, herbs, lettuces, chards, mustards Garner: LOTS of Strawberries this week. Come early for the Sugar Snap Peas. salads: green and red and romaines, spring onions, Oriole and Ruby Red chard, beets and lots of asparagus. 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: geraniums, verbena, lantana, gerber daisies, marigold Kuhn and McLeaf Orchards: Fruit: Cider, Goldrush, Fuji, Granny Smith, Pink Lady apples, apple butter and canned ripe peaches plus rhubarb at Kuhn and McCleaf. Sunchokes and jams at Kuhn. Asparagus at both. Panorama: Loic keeps coming up with new breads and muffins and pastries for us. Lots of his classic breads as well: Breton baguette, 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. EGGS MORE EGGS This week Truck Patch has chicken eggs and Pecan Meadow will continue to have Chicken and Duck and Goose Eggs. (Mountain View will also have lots of eggs in a few weeks... Pecan Meadow : Italian quality, half Piedmontese, 100% grass- fed AND grass -finished beef: lots of different steaks, roasts and stew meats. Goat, Lamb. Talk to Daniel or Lois about ordering Chicken or Duck or Goose. If you want Chicken or Muscovy ducks for delivery on Saturday, contact Daniel and Lois: Email: bluemeadowbeef@juno.com or call: 717 423 5365 Home Made Farm Baked Goods: Lois at Pecan Meadows sends her legendary pumpkin whoopie pies and other seasonal pies and breads: pecan, oatmeal, rhubarb this week.

Yep it depends on where they are growing. Garner will have strawberries this weekend at 14&U, but his Northern Neck farm is also weeks ahead of everyone else. Truck Patch in Maryland has had tons of asparagus for weeks.

there will be nettles at Mountain View on Saturday at 14&U FM.

I am waiting for a few more reports from the farmers/producers and then I will post my first market report of the season. Yes, the market IS opening this Saturday May 1st - with NETTLES at Mountain View and First of the Season Strawberries at Garner who will have some this week and tons next week. And rhubarb for those early birds who want to make a strawberry rhubarb crumble.....

I am afraid that my MAYBE has now become a No for tonight. Sorry for the delay.

Cork Market has French oils, Heather.

Gennaro, I am a definite Maybe +1

How is it going, Heather???

kohlrabi is great three ways and the taste is quite different in each preparation. Raw and shredded, it is the perfect slaw. Peeled and sliced and sauteed, it tastes like turnip. Cubed and Sauteed with onion and then simmered with water, it is a dead ringer for potato cabbage soup -- but no potatoes or cabbage enter the pot. I think it is an amazing veggie.

Pei mussels from Black Salt -- plump and sweet in abarino, shallot, garlic, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and coconut milk The liquid then served over alight chowder of shredded sauteed fennel, celery with leftover mackerel and broccoli.

We had a similar experience with Adam. He is a wonderful, thoughtful and articulate server. ( Of course it did not hurt that Gennaro was working that night, too). Order the Pan Roasted Skate in Parmesan Broth with grilled radicchio and Yukon Gold potatoes. I love skate and this one was cooked perfectly -- and the broth was fabulous. We asked for spoons so that we could finish it. Very umami -- deeply flavored with ham hock and parmesan. The Striped Bass with baby fennel, artichoke and olive was good but the skate was excellent. Someone mentioned that the Crispy Duck Egg appetizer was not runny enough to season the frisee. It is now.

SnowBear Farm still has shares in their CSA. They also come to Bloomingdale Farmers' market on Sundays May-November. They are certified Naturally Grown, an organic certification for small farms and I have been very impressed by the quality and taste of their produce at the market-- I have not been part of the CSA so I cannot speak to that. Their farm in in Loudoun Country. Contact: Jim Dunlap: StriderSnowbear AT aol DOT com