Farmer's markets and CSAs week of June 23rd
Since the two have so much in common, we are adding CSAs to our weekly check in on what is going on with our local food providers.
It looks like Quincy opened last Friday and Roslindale will open this Saturday.
Quincy
John Hancock Parking Lot (across from the Municipal Court House)
Fridays
11:30 am to 5:00 pm
June 20 - Oct 31
Roslindale
Adams Park at Cummins Highway and Washington Street
Saturdays
9:00 am to 2:00 pm
June 28 - Oct 25
Here's the list of all the markets
http://www.massfarmersmarkets.org/t-allmarkets.aspx
Here's a list of CSAs
http://www.localharvest.org/search-cs...
BostonZest
Jun 23, 2008 07:47AM
Checked out Central Square Cambridge today. Quite small, but a nice selection of veggies. I got farm fresh eggs from Hall Poultry farms and beets from another vendor. In addition to those stalls, there is a Hi-rise stall, Taza chocolate, and another stall of baked goods that looked delicious ... especially the savory pastries.
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Hey - I checked it out today too! I was missing the herb stall and honey folks, but got some gorgeous hot house tomatoes from Dick's.
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I had my eyes open for hounds I knew but we must have just passed like ships in the night. Those tomatoes looked great. Dick's was where I got the last bunch of beets. I'm going to make the ubiquitous roasted beet and fresh chevre salad. :-)
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Waltham Fields CSA pickup today - 2 heads lettuce - choice of romaine or red, a bunch of beets - red or golden, 1/4 lb garlic scapes, 3/4 lb spinach, bunch of radishes, 2 lbs summer squash - various varities. PYO 2 pts sugar snap peas, 1 pt snow peas, 1/2 pt strawberries, various herbs and flowers. This is my first year with the CSA. Last year had Parker farm. So far, Parker has it all over Waltham. The price was better and the shares much larger. And picking your own peas and strawberries in a field trodden by 300 other members and their families often leaves little to fill the pints. On the plus side, the people are really nice as are the other members I've met. And the produce is all in good shape and clean. The spinach they've had is almost buttery. Hopefully the shares will pick up.
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Invariably, the early shares in any CSA are light. That's actually not a bad haul for this early in the season.
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I have been a member of the Waltham CSA for a few years. Agree with Barmy that it is not a bad early output generally, it is a pretty good output based on past years specific to this farm, and it should definitely pick up into July and August. They are also usually pretty accurate with matching the PYO crop output with demand, but if you are finding the rows bare, definitely say something to the staff, since there is a fair amount of guesswork involved. They can probably either help you find the rows that have more, or they can adjust the share accordingly.
To be honest, I never even bother with the strawberries - it is such a small area, I figure let some kids find the last one. You should be REALLY happy when the pounds and pounds of heirloom tomatoes start coming in.
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Allston this week: two new stands, Dandelion Farm and Danish Pastry House, along with everything else that was here last week. My haul: about 3/4 pound of English peas and a lovely bunch of small beets with gorgeous full and leafy greens from Lanni Orchard, a pound of broccoli from Dandelion, and a petit batard from Clear Flour, which in accordance with its wishes I'm calling Serpent. Total expense: $10.70
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"and a petit batard from Clear Flour, which in accordance with its wishes I'm calling Serpent. "
The bread or the bakery?
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The bread.
http://www.assponys.org/lyricserm.htm...
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Actually I think the new stand at Allston is Dragonfly Farms not Dandelion Farm. They also had cheddar cauliflower, spinach, and three different types of lettuce.
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Parker Farm CSA pickup between Davis and Porter Tuesday night. Small share that I remember: beets, small white turnips, kale, carrots, strawberries, broccoli rabe. Nice haul, excellent quality.
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Davis Square market today c. 3:15 pm - lots of greens, as per usual, plus delicious strawberries. I picked up a large bunch of asparagus for $4.50, a pint of strawberries for $3.50, the last of the snap peas, and the most delicious fresh herb spring rolls from the Herb Lyceum for $6. That is worthwhile as I'm addicted to their dipping sauce. Lots of vendors - Taza, the goat cheese people, Breadsong bakery, Hi-Rise... Not too much time to dawdle, but I hope to make it back soon!
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Man, I am just NOT seeing this late asparagus that everyone else is finding...
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There were bushels of it at Brookline yesterday, at least around 2 PM. It was at just one stand, the one just opposite the cheese & egg vendor. They're also my source for those delicious little Armenian cukes.
EDIT: Just noticed you posted that the day before the Brookline market. Did you score some asparagus there?
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1st attempt to post got caught in an infinite loop or something so here goes a 2nd try.
Bedford Farmers Market on Monday 2 to 6. We bought terrific bratwurst from Hardwick Farms, just great. I think it was six links for $8. A quart of lovely strawberries from Busa Farms. They said they are not certified but observe organic practices. The quart was $6, one dollar less than Butterbrook Org. Farms from Acton. Basil, basil, everywhere! Nice, fragrant bunches. We bought a couple quiches from Swiss bakers, the quiches with bacon. We very much enjoyed these. Nicely done w/out being too heavy. There was a fish vendor but we had spent our budget so maybe next week.
One exasperation were the number of unsupervised preschoolers running about. Maybe there was a field trip of sorts. The little ones were ripping off plant leaves, grabbing and tearing at chard and other greens, etc. Not very nice for the vendors to see their produce ruined.
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Here is a related post I made about some stuff I bought at the Belmont Farmer's Market yesterday:
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/533077
They were pretty well stocked across the board, though the fresh ricotta guy had just sold out when I got there.
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It was the launch of the garlic season at Copley today. I found fresh garlic, newly formed into cloves at Keown Orchards. And, I picked up some garlic scrapes to add to a taco tray this weekend.
I also bought new potatoes, salad greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, fava beans and tiny purple onions.
The selection seems to be exploding. I saw patty pan squash, fennel, a wide selection of beets and I heard the first corn question.
I don't know if the corn is "Knee High by the 4th or July" or not, but if anyone passes a field, please let us know.
Blueberries on next on my radar screen. Ed's Birthday is on July 4th and he would really rather have my blueberry muffins than a cake.
I posted photos of green garlic, a garlic scrape and my wonderful new garlic today.
http://www.bostonzest.com/2008/06/a-b...
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Oh so lovely! NOw I know I must get up in the morning. I must have garlic! Thank you for posting those wonderful and inspiring pictures.
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I drove past a cornfield in Tewksbury the other day, and if memory serves, the corn was about 3 ft. tall.
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Stillman's said theirs is "armpit high," although I guess it depends on whose armpit. Four feet?
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Stillman's pick up today, half share:
strawberries (had to pass, I'm allergic, but they smelled awesome)
arugula (I love their arugula!)
kale
swiss chard (haven't paid attention to it yet, but last week's was rainbow chard)
French breakfast radishes (they had other varieties too)
golden beets (other varieties too)
spinach
green leaf lettuce
Pretty good haul considering its still June. I think the full shares got two of everything above, and also some mesclun greens.
They're promising peas next week! Yay peas.
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Oh, they didn't have any golden beets out when Allstonian and I went through -- we picked up an enormous bunch of fist-sized ruby beets with amazing greens, so I'm not complaining. We were also pleased to see the flat tuscan kale, for a nice change.
Felt bad for poor Kate crammed behind that table, though. She could barely move!
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Yeah, I was thrilled with those beet greens too - it's like getting a whole 'nother vegetable.
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