Thursday, March 19, 2009

Grapevine March 22 2009 Market

this week
- What's Coming To The Market?
- Getting Your Garden Ready
- Cooking Ideas - Potato, Green Onion and Parmesan Frittata


Spring officially starts this weekend. Perhaps the weather will cooperate. (I'm not holding my breath on that though.) And since spring is here then that means the nursery folks are coming back. Farris-Seaman Plants, Gales Meadow Farm, Garden Color and Sungold Farm are all returning this Sunday. Vanveen Bulb should be back in April.

We have an additional feature in the Grapevine for the next few markets. Getting Your Garden Ready will highlight each of our nursery vendors. This issue is written by Anne Berblinger of Gales Meadow Farm. The other vendors will be highlighted too, each offering their own take on getting your garden ready for the year.

So get those garden tools cleaned up. Edgemaster will be at the market Sunday to sharpen your tools.

See you on Sunday!

Eamon Molloy
Market Manager

What's Coming To The Market This Week?

There are quite a few greens available this week - kale, chard, spinach and several kinds of salad and braising mixes. You will also find a nice variety of carrots, parsnips, beets, potatoes and more. You'll also find a wide variety of apples and pears. There should be a good supply of kiwifruit too.

It's not too early to think about your garden either. Gales Meadow Farm and Sungold Farm will have a nice selection of vegetable starts. You find a nice variety of hellebores, peonies, tree peonies and other plants from Farris Seaman Plants and Garden Color.

Check the availability list for the complete list of who's coming this weekend and what they expect to be selling.

IN
Farris Seaman Plant
Gales Meadow Farm
Garden Color
Kookoolan Farms
Salmon Creek Hydroponics
Sungold Farm

OUT
Ayers Creek Farm (back in July)
Savory et Sweet (back in May)
Vanveen Bulb (back in April)


Getting Your Garden Ready
by Anne Berblinger of Gales Meadow Farm

There is no need to wait until June or July to enjoy fresh vegetables from your garden! We will be bringing many kinds of hardy vegetable starts, the kind that can be planted right now.

Here is what we will have:
A hardy lettuce mix, including ten kinds of lettuce - red and green leaf, romaine, and butterhead
A mix of Bulls Blood, Detroit Dark Red, and Golden beets
A mix of endive and escarole
Hardy bulb fennel
Catawissa Topsetting onions
Broccoli
A mix of yellow, white, and red full season onions, mostly sweet varieties
Little Marvel and Dwarf Gray Sugar Peas, both of them suitable for planting in the ground or in containers.
Marjoram
Curly Parsley
Italian Parsley
Sage
Chives

You might not be familiar with the topsetting onions. Each of the tiny bulbs we planted in January will turn into 5-10 red spring onions, But you don't want to pull them all. As they mature, tiny new onion bulbs will grow at the top of succulent stems. Let those harden a bit and replant them for a super abundant crop next year.

We will also be bringing a few "mini-gardens." These are gallon pots with hardy greens, lettuce, and/or peas. They do not need to be transplanted - just keep them in a sunny spot and pluck off a few leaves or pea shoots at a time for a salad or garnish. As a bonus, the arugula seeds we added to them a few days ago will provide baby arugula leaves in a couple of weeks.

Visit our website for more information about our vegetable varieties and herbs.

Cooking Ideas - Potato, Green Onion and Parmesan Frittata

A frittata is basically a big omelot with the fillings stirred in. The basic method is straightforward - cook your filling and cool, beat eggs, prep an ovenproof skillet with oil or butter, add the egg mixture and cook. There are three ways to finish your frittata - flip the frittata and cook on the stovetop, broil, or bake in a 350 degree oven. I prefer to bake but the choice is yours.

The recipe below is from Kelly Myers of Market Chefs and can be found on Culinate. Kelly suggests several good variations in her introduction. You can find the recipe with her notes here.

Potato, Green Onion, and Parmesan Frittata
(from the Kelly Meyers collection on Culinate)


Ingredients
3/4 lb. small, firm red potatoes (1 1/2 cups sliced)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup thinly sliced green onions, greens included
1/4 tsp. salt
~ Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 large eggs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Steps

1. Boil potatoes in lightly salted water until just tender, or until you can easily insert a paring knife into one, about 10 minutes. Drain. When cool enough to handle, cut into very thin slices, about 1/8-inch to ¼-inch thick. Set aside.

2. Preheat broiler.

3. In a small pan over medium-low heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. When the butter foams, add the green onions, and sauté until they wilt, but are still bright green. Scrape the onions onto a plate to cool. Set aside.

4. Set a 10-inch nonstick skillet with a heat-proof handle over medium-low heat. Lightly beat eggs in a mixing bowl with salt, pepper, and Parmesan. Add potatoes and green onions and stir gently to mix.

5. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to the skillet. When it foams, add the egg mixture and shake the pan gently until the mixture lies evenly in the pan.

6. Turn heat to low. Once the edges and the bottom of the frittata have set, and only the center is runny, run the pan under the broiler until the eggs are just set. Immediately slide the frittata out of the pan and serve.

Printable version of this recipe may be found here.


Reminder - Winter Season Schedule

It may not seem like it yet, but winter is coming to a close. The market goes back to its weekly schedule on Sunday May 3rd. The remaining winter dates are:

March 8, 22
April 5, 19

Dogs on a leash are permitted through the April 19 market.

The market will go back to its no-pet policy during the weekly season (May 3 -Nov 22).

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Grapevine March 8 2009 Market

this week
- What's Coming To The Market?
- Cooking Ideas - Mache Salad


Spring is coming and a few more regulars are coming back. Creative Growers, Copper Crown and Garden Color return this week. Farris-Seaman Plants, Gales Meadow Farm and Sungold Farm return on March 22nd. Ayers Creek Farm finished up their winter season last week but will be back in July with berries, frikeh, preserves and more.

Daylight Savings Time starts at 2 AM on Sunday. Don't forget to turn your clocks ahead one hour this weekend.

See you on Sunday!

Eamon Molloy
Market Manager


What's Coming To The Market This Week?

There are quite a few greens available this week - kale, chard, spinach, mache and several kinds of salad and braising mixes. You will also find a nice variety of carrots, parsnips, beets, potatoes and more. You'll also find a wide variety of apples and pears. There should be a good supply of kiwifruit too.

It's not too early to think about your garden either. You find a nice variety of hellebores, peonies, tree peonies and other plants too.

Check the availability list for the complete list of who's coming this weekend and what they expect to be selling.

IN
Copper Crown
Creative Growers
Garden Color

OUT
Ayers Creek Farm (back in July)
Farris Seaman Plant (back March 22)
Gales Meadow Farm (back March 22)
Kookoolan Farms (back March 22)
Salmon Creek Hydroponics (back in March)
Sungold Farm (back March 22)

Cooking Ideas - Mache Salad

Mache is tender winter green. Also known as lamb's lettuce, corn salad or soncino, mache is characterized by its rosette of rounded leaves. Mache has a mildly sweet taste. While it can be cooked like spinach, its flavor makes mache a great choice for a late-winter or early spring salad.

Here is a very simple recipe. If you are a beet lover, consider adding a boiled or roasted beet cut into strips. Like spinach, mache works well with bacon. Instead of egg, add bacon instead. Enjoy!

Mache Salad

Ingredients
4 cups mache
1 hardboiled egg
4 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
salt
pepper

Wash mache and dry gently with a towel or allow to air dry. Place in a salad bowl when dry.

Drizzle olive oil and vinegar over greens. Toss salad gently to mix.

Crumble hard boiled egg over greens, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

You can find a printable version of the recipe here.