Weather and berries willing, Liepold Farms should return to the market this week. Unger Farms will definitely be at the market. Baird Family Orchards is tentatively returning mid-month while Ayers Creek Farm is still set for a July 4th return date. I’ll keep you posted.

Visiting farms this week, the story was the same – give us some sunlight and we’ll have a lot of produce to bring to market. Farmers are an inventive lot, using hoops and greenhouses to keep heat in (or rain out depending on the year), coming up with ways to deal with the weather, or adding different crops to extend their market season. Each has an interesting story to tell. Sarah West, an intern from Clackamas Community College’s Horticulture Program, working at the market for the past few months went with me on the farm tours and collected a lot of information. We’ll have stories about a few of the farms at the market in the coming months.

See you Sunday,

Eamon Molloy
Market Manager

What’s Coming To The Market This Week?

There will be strawberries this week, most likely Seascapes, Albions and Honeoyes. I don’t know about Hoods. I visited several farms over the weekend and it didn’t look like the Hoods would be ready until next week. But the sun is out as I write this newsletter and the berry farmers are in the fields now. Check the website for updates. There will be greenhouse raspberries and blackberries this week as well.

Shelling peas, sugar snap peas and snow peas should be available. A few farms grew green beans under cover and you should find them this weekend as well. Porcini should be available again this week as should morels. Lettuce, chard, kale, arugula, spinach and just about any other green vegetable you can name will be plentiful as well.

Check the availability list for the complete list (link) of who’s coming this weekend and what they expect to be selling. The list is posted Thursday afternoon and updated through the weekend. For Sunday morning updates, check Twitter feed either on our website sidebar or on our Twitter page.

IN
Liepold Farm (probable)
Sungold Farm
Unger Farms

OUT
Ayers Creek Farm (back July 4)
Bigfoot Bread (back next week)
Flamingo Ridge (starting June 27)
Full of Life Farm (back next week)
Kookoolan Farms (back June 27)

Cooking Ideas – Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

I was little worried that rhubarb season would end before the strawberries came into the market. Silly, I know, but the weather has been a bit crazy this spring. Here is a cobbler recipe to use up those stray few pints of berries that didn’t get eaten on the way home from the market. Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler


Ingredients
4 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1-inch pieces (Trim outside stringy layer of large rhubarb stalks (rhubarb leaves are toxic; make sure to trim away and discard any leaves, trim ends.)
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced (about 2 pints)
½ cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. of quick cooking tapioca
1 tsp. of grated orange peel
2 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter
½ cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Steps
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

Mix the rhubarb and the strawberries with the sugar, tapioca, and orange zest in a large bowl. Let sit for 30-60 minutes.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk and egg until just moistened.

Pour fruit into a 13×9 casserole dish. Drop the batter on the fruit. Bake in a 350°F oven for 35 minutes until cobbler crust is golden brown.

Printable version can be found here (link).

Neighborhood News & Events

Nourishing Neighbors Nourishing Neighbors is a group of volunteers who work together throughout the year to help Neighborhood House’s Emergency Food Box Program. We will be at the Farmers Market this weekend collecting food and/or donations as well as sharing information about this much needed program. There is always room at the table for more Nourishing Neighbors! Stop by to say hello and find out how you can help, or contact us at nourishingneighbors (at) gmail.com.

Food Front Hillsdale holds its Market Day at Food Front every market Sunday. From 9am-12, there are free samples of Sunrise eggs from Stiebrs Farm and Beeler’s natural breakfast sausage. Local food artisans will be sampling in the store from 12-3. The outdoor grill will be fired up from 11-3 with Oregon Country Natural Beef hot dogs and hamburgers for sale.

Hillsdale Business & Professional Association 34th Annual Pancake Breakfast will be held on July 25, 2010 from 8:30am to 12:00pm. The breakfast will be held in the Key Bank/Casa Colima parking lot on SW Capitol Hwy. Proceeds benefit the Hillsdale Business and Professional Association.

Hillsdale Community Foundation Book Sale will be held in conjunction with the Pancake Breakfast. Running from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, proceeds benefiting the Hillsdale Community Foundation. Book donations can be made from June 27th through July 11th at the Foundation’s collection tent near the market. For information about the sale or to volunteer, contact Les Jevning, 503-244-7685 or e-mail tjevs (at) cnnw.net.