The sunny days we had a few weeks ago had a few shoppers looking hopefully for tomato plants. The nursery folks are returning to the market now. They don't have tomatoes but are bringing a good selection of plants that can be put in the ground. Garden Color is back with hellebores, blueberry plants and other perennials. Gales Meadow Farm returns in March with vegetable starts. Graceful Blades has elderberry bushes as well as the citrus. As the days get longer and warmer, you'll see more plants at the market. Talk to the vendors this Sunday for ideas if you want to get out into the garden now.
See you Sunday,
Eamon Molloy
Market Manager
What's Coming to the Market?
Deep Roots Farm returns this week after missing two markets because of the storm in January. You should find a good selection of onions, potatoes, carrots, beets, rutabagas, celeriac, parsnips and leeks. A few less common roots like salsify and gobo (burdock) should be available too. Cabbage (green, red, napa) should be available. Expect to find greens including spinach, salad mixes, kale, chickweed, arugula and a nice selection of chicories including Treviso and Chioggia.
Meadow Harvest (beef and lamb), Pine Mountain Ranch (bison, chicken, elk, and more), and Draper Girls (goat and lamb) Linda Brand Crab and Wild Oregon should have a good selection of crab and other seafood.
Check the availability list for details on what vendors expect to have this weekend. The list is updated throughout the weekend.
IN
Blossom Vinegars
Cherry Country
Graceful Blades
Meadow Harvest
Sungold Farm
Wild Oregon
OUT
Ancient Heritage Dairy (back in March)
Deep Roots Farm (back February 22)
Happy Harvest Farm (back late April)
Salmon Creek Farm (back in March)
Cooking Ideas - Leek Salad
Leeks don't look like an obvious candidate for a salad but the leek's mild onion flavor works really well with a mustardy vinaigrette.
Leek Salad
Ingredients
8 medium leeks
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 T dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1 hard boiled egg
Steps
- Trim the tops and the root off the leeks and quarter lengthwise. Slice the quarters into several strips lengthwise leaving about 1/2 inch at the base. Rinse and soak the leeks in cold water to remove the grit. Remove the leeks from the water and tie into bundles. Cook the leeks gently in chicken stock until just tender. Remove from leeks from the pot, drain, untie strings and cut into two inch lengths.
- If you don't have chicken stock on hand, cook some diced potatoes and then use the potato water as the stock for cooking the leeks. Add the warm potato to the salad.
Thanks to the dry weather, the farms are starting to dry out. Most storage crops (carrots, nuts, beets, parsnips, salsify, sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, apples, pears, kiwi etc) will be readily available. Greens are recovering so you should find kale, collards, arugula, mixed greens and chicories. Sungold Farm has something different this week - popcorn on the cob. The corn is dried on the cob, just add some oil or butter, stick in a microwave and you have popcorn. A fun food item for Super Bowl Sunday.
The snow earlier in the week and now the torrential rain will impact crop availability this week. Most winter greens are pretty hardy and can recover from the cold. Flooded fields can't be harvested though. Most storage crops (carrots, nuts, beets, parsnips, salsify, sweet potatoes, potatoes, winter squash, apples, pears, kiwi etc) should be readily available. Everything else will be limited.
There are various versions of this classic northern Italian soup, Infarinata, that bring dry beans, cornmeal, and kale together with a bit of pork. In a conversation over lunch, Linda Colwell reminded us that La Jota of Trieste is also a variation on this rustic soup, using sauerkraut instead of kale, and fragrant with cumin. Our friend and former neighbor, China Tresemer, helped us put together this recipe.
