I can’t say much for the weather we’ve
had this week. Freezes? Really? Hopefully we’re done with freezes but they
probably put the kibosh on at least some of the early field tomatoes. Several
of our farmers said they lost their field tomatoes, peppers and squash despite
multiple layers of row cover. They’ll have to start over. On the other hand,
all the cool weather crops came through just fine and the high tunnels also did
well so we don’t need to begin gnashing our teeth yet (except on some of the
best salads of the year).
Speaking of salads, I was visiting with
Vicki Groff over at the Sentinel yesterday about the greens at the market. She uses
market spinach in all sorts of dishes, both cooked and fresh. And she agreed
with my observation of the greens at the market, which is that they keep
wonderfully well. Vicki said her spinach lasts about 10 days. I have found that
the lettuce I buy holds beautifully if I just keep it in the shopping bag it
comes in, add just a bit of cold water, tie it shut, give it a toss or two to
distribute the water and put it in the fridge. Before we began opening on
Tuesdays, I would buy several kinds of lettuce on Saturday and pull it out of
the fridge on Wednesday evening to serve at church. It was crisp, fresh and
beautiful four days after I bought it.
And what choices we have of greens. I
counted about eight varieties of lettuce on Tuesday and four varieties of kale,
plus there was Swiss chard and collard greens, green onions and radishes. The asparagus
won’t be far behind.
(At right, call me obsessive, but I continue to be wowed by Jim Oxley's dresses which will be at the market again Saturday - last chance till next fall! These dresses will be winging their way to Australia next week. Top - size 6 to 9 months dress with panties, socks and hair band - $40, Middle - size 3 dress with panties, socks and hair bow - $23, Bottom - sundress with lined bodice - $10)
There’s a lot going on this weekend at
the market. Both today and tomorrow we should have local produce, honey, kettle
corn and other flavored popcorn, roasted nuts, baked goods (Black Forest on
Friday and Hazel’s Bakery on Saturday!), eggs, and plants – and do I ever mean
plants. Between Braker Farm and Fredrickson Farms we should have about 600
hanging baskets go through the market this spring. Tim Green has big beautiful
tomato plants, as well as cucumber, pepper and onion plants. If you have
children in the family – or the neighborhood - mark down the first Saturday in
May when we have our annual Let’s Plant a Garden Day. Each child will receive
one of Tim’s big beautiful tomato plants and instructions from the master
himself.
But back to plants you can buy. Fredrickson
Farms also has Tumbling Tom tomato plants in hanging baskets that were hugely
popular last year, as well as 20 varieties of herb plants. Josh Flager has many
varieties of heirloom tomato plants as well as flowers for your beds. Fairhaven
will have their custom designed wooden planters filled with cheery flowers.
We expect to have enough Washington
Hawthorn seedlings to give them away today and tomorrow and we still have lots
of seed packets from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company to give away.
Today, when the market is open from 11
to 2, we are delighted to welcome back Terrell Creek Farm, our goat cheese
vendor. They plan to have chevre - plain, herb
& garlic, hog heaven (bacon and chives), smokin' goat (fire roasted
jalepeno), horseradish and chocolate chip, plus feta and feta marinaded in EVO,
garlic and herbs.
We also expect Sunny Lane with
all-natural beef, lamb and chicken and Madewell Pork today, as well as Cottage
Small Coffee Roasters and Endless Bounty energy bars and lotions.
Need to know exactly who’s at the
market before heading our way? Just
check the market facebook page. We’ll post a listing of all vendors on site
within 30 minutes of opening on every market day.
Granny Shaffers at the Market debuts a
menu today with old favorites and what we hope will become a new favorite:
chicken salad sandwiches, spinach and strawberry salad and bierocks. Bierocks,
a specialty of Granny Shaffers Chef Scott Teal, are meat-filled pastries originating
in Germany. They will be sold hot and ready to eat, as well as frozen for
taking home and eating later.
Lindsay Supplee with University of Missouri
Extension will demonstrate a Braised Greens recipe which can use either kale or
collard greens. Stop by her table in the center of the pavilion and try a
sample.
No Strings Attached plays bluegrass,
gospel and whatever else strikes their fancy from 11 to 1.
Tomorrow, when the market is open from
9 to noon, we’ll have Cooking for a Cause the first two hours – biscuits and
gravy, sausage and eggs cooked to order. All profits benefit The Missouri
Fisher House, which is a sort of Ronald McDonald house for the families of
veterans receiving care at the St. Louis VA Medical Center. Volunteers serving
the breakfast are members of the Carl Junction Order of the Easter Star. The
Pommerts play.
Jim Oxley returns for the last time
until fall with his handcrafted dresses for little girls, new-born through 10
years. We’ll also have Copperleaf Pottery, glass artists Rebecca Bristow and
Jane McCaulley, as well as Edith Bayless with her sewn goods.
The sides are coming off the pavilion Monday
so we are officially declaring “No More Cold Weather!” Next Tuesday (don’t forget the new Tuesday
hours – 4 to 6 pm), Dogs on the Roll will serve supper with a menu of all beef
hotdog, all beef chili dog, Frito pie. There will also be chips and drinks for sale. Ten percent of sales to the
Golden Paws Animal Rescue Shelter. Bill Adkins will play golden oldies on
Tuesday.
Freeze or not, the market is going to
have a great season. I hope you’ll join us!
