July 12, 2011

Market News - July 12, 2011

From the Market Manager

 

   Trinity on Sumner Avenue is having a neighborhood party this coming Saturday at 4:30. Everyone is invited to this free event. There will be activities for the children, food and more. Pick up a flyer on the market table for more details. The rain date is Sunday the 17th.
   Blueberries are in season and there are many places to pick your own. They freeze beautifully, and this way you can make blueberry pancakes, muffins, cakes, jam, sauce, and more throughout the year. Val’s Berry Farm at 81 Parker St. in East Longmeadow is open every day from 8-noon and from 3:30-6:30. They are $2.35 per pound. Two quarts is about 2#. Pick up a copy of CISA’s Locally Grown publication at the market table, or go online to buylocalfood.org and look for where to go for any farm product in Western Mass.
   As many of you know, for food to be certified kosher, it has to be prepared in a certain way, some animals or parts of animals can’t be eaten, and there are rules about not mixing dairy and meat/poultry products. These rules were established many, many years ago.
   Today there are discussions that we call eco-kashrut--expanding what is kosher—pure. To the best of our ability we should be thinking about how animals are raised, how farm workers are treated, and what we can do individually to eat more sustainably. Eating less commercially raised meat is one of the ways some people are changing their diets. If you speak to our two meat farmers, Chicoine Family Farm or Wild Mountain Farm, you can learn how they raise their animals. You will learn that they are raised very differently than commercially raised animals.
   Many of you patronize our market regularly, so you are already thinking about what you eat. It is easy to take our food for granted since we are fortunate to live where it is plentiful for most of us. At the very least, we should all thank the farmers for their hard work in bringing us food.

Tokens

   It’s interesting to me that no matter how often I write about being able to buy tokens to use just like cash at our market, or how many signs we post, there are still folks who are regulars who haven’t picked up on it yet. You don’t have to go to an ATM before you come to the market. Use your debit or credit card (or if I know you) a check, and purchase tokens. If you don’t use them all in one week, hang on to them because they’re good all season long. EBT uses the same process.

WIC/Elder Coupons

   Many farmers’ market WIC coupons aren’t used. I’m sure that’s because some recipients don’t have a farmers’ market close enough to where they live. Or others don’t have transportation. So this year the system is different. They are being handed out at the WIC offices on a first come, first served basis. The WIC coupons are only for produce, and the Elder coupons are for produce and honey.

Speaking of Honey

   Tom Flebott is our new honey vendor. Don Mayou, our previous vendor for many years, was Tom’s mentor, so those of you who liked Don’s lip balms and creams will like his also. All of Tom’s honey is raw; he makes creamed honey (both flavored and non-flavored) and sells candies and sips that he doesn’t make. He also sells beeswax candles and beeswax. As he still works a full-time job, he won’t be here every week, but will make it as often as he can. He has about 25 hives.

Garlic

   Those of us who like garlic can follow the progression of it through its growing season. First we have green garlic that looks very much like green onion and has a mild garlic taste. Then it grows into the bulb, but it is still evolving, as it is still fairly mild. When it is mature it has the papery covering on the bulb and it has its full flavor. There are many varieties of garlic. Most of the garlic found in grocery stores is from China or Argentina; it has little flavor. Local garlic is fabulous.

Neighborhood Walks

  Mayor Sarno and various City officials will be walking around some of our neighborhoods this summer. The purpose of these walks is to identify public safety concerns and other issues from residents. The first walk is TODAY, July 12th at 7:30 PM here in Forest Park. Meet at the corner of Belmont Ave. and Oakland St.

 

“Haycation”

      A really enjoyable place to have a vacation especially with young children is to go to a farm and stay there. Go to farmstayus.com for listings of farms that welcome overnight guests. My husband and I did that when our children were young, and it was a real memory maker. We didn’t go far either. We were living in New Hampshire and we went to a place in NH.

Recipes, etc.

   The market table has all sorts of interesting items for you to take free of charge. There are recipes with items that are in season, brochures from our Mass Department of Agricultural Resources, community information, and the weekly newsletter. Also, on the table nearby where you can sit and enjoy a visit or something to eat, check out the cookbooks that people have brought to give away. Bring some yourself, take one or more, or take some even if you don’t bring any.

Riverwalk

   Reminder that each Wednesday at 12:15 a group meets at the fountain at the corner of Boland Way and Main Street Downtown, and walks to and on the Riverwalk. It’s takes about an hour.

A Little Night Music

   Once again Trinity United Methodist Church is having its Thursday night musical performances followed by supper throughout July. Music is at 6 in the sanctuary, and supper (weather permitting) is outside. If the weather is lousy, supper is inside in Asbury Hall. The carillon plays during dinner. A $5 contribution for dinner is requested. Everyone is welcome.

Have any Recipes You’d Like to Share?

   Bring them to the market manager at the market table and they’ll get copied and put in the green crate.

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July 06, 2011

Market News - July 5, 2011

From the Market Manager

   An announcement from the Park Department—evidence of coyotes are in Forest Park, so it is recommended that all dogs be on leashes while in the park, leave no garbage around after you picnic; if you live near the park don’t let cats or small dogs out by themselves.
   Last week two of our regular customers (husband and wife) were upset with me. They told me that they think that I am running a closed market, that we are elitist, and that we should have more produce farmers. I explained that all of our farmers (and other vendors as well) have the capacity to bring more of what they have to sell to our market. And, just about everything that grows in Western Mass is represented at our market especially since we aren’t a producer only market. None of our farmers ever leaves the market with an empty truck. I explained that while I do receive many requests to join our market, I only add new vendors if we need what they have to sell. It’s a delicate balance to make sure that we have variety at the market and that we not have so many vendors selling the same things that no-one earns sufficient income to make it worth their while to come here.
   As you are aware, our long-time honey vendor, Don Mayou isn’t here this year. He had surgery and won’t be back. I have been trying to get a honey vendor, but they are scarce. Hickory Dell Farm has honey from hives on their farm when it is available. The wet spring has made honey scarce. If there is something you’d like to have at our market that we don’t already have, let me know.

 

This ‘n’ That

   South End News: Mom & Rico’s will be re-opening today. Milano’s hopes to be open in about 2 months bigger and better they say.
   Corn should be at our market within 2 weeks. I was told that someone in Windsor, CT already has it.
   Pick up a copy of the Bing Bulletin with all of the summer information in it.
   We don’t want anyone to run out of money at our market, so you can come to the market table and purchase wooden tokens with your EBT/debit/credit card. And, if you use your EBT card at our market for $5 or multiples of $5, you will receive a 40% bonus. We have grant money for this special program this year. 
   Last week’s cooking demo was very simple—sautéed cabbage, onions, and Outlook Farm’s kielbasa. I sautéed everything together using a neutral oil, added some salt and pepper and that was it. If you add cooked noodles, you will have lazy pierogies. You can use any kind of cabbage, but I used the cabbage that is in season now. It is delicate and cooks quickly.
   Something that makes me wonder—how can anyone live someplace and not pick up the trash that is in their yard, or in front of their house? There was an article in   Sunday’s Boston Globe Travel section about people who visit Boston. They are from all over the world as you might think, and two things that were mentioned several times were the friendliness of the people and the cleanliness of the city.
  

Integrated Pest Management, cont.

·         IPM principles can be applied wherever pests are found. Programs have been developed throughout the world for use in schools, hospitals, golf courses, restaurants and home gardens.
·         To grow quality produce, farmers compete with many types of pests including weeds, fungi, bacteria, viruses, insects and other animals.
·         One acre of soil can contain more than 100 million weed seeds. Most of these will live for only one year, but some can survive for more than 80 years.
·         Since ancient times, ants have been used in China to eat pests in orange trees. Farmers provide rope bridges to help ants move from one tree to another.
·         Starlings were introduced to this country by a group attempting to bring all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays to Central Park. 100 birds were released in the 1890s. Now over 40 million starlings live in the U.S.
·         Imported pests (including chestnut blight, Dutch elm disease, Gypsy moth and 70% of our weeds) are responsible for some of our greatest agricultural losses. In a single year, 16,000 potential pests are confiscated from tourists at U.S. borders.

Nationally, Massachusetts is ranked 2nd in cranberry production, 10th in sweet corn, and 14th in apples.

·         Massachusetts farmland is ranked 4th in its value per acre.
·         The 5,600 farms in Massachusetts keep over 500,000 acres of land in productive open space.
For further information contact: UMass Extension IPM Program (413) 545-1044 or umass.edu/umext/programs/agro/ipm.

Gifts from the Market

   A nifty way to give a gift from the market is to purchase some wooden tokens. Enclose them in a greeting card and then the recipient can come to the market and purchase what they’d like.

Kohlrabi

   Kohlrabi is that funny looking round vegetable that has things sticking out of it. You eat the round part. Peel it and then either steam, or stir-fry it, or cut it up and put it raw into a salad or use it as a dipper for a dip. It is crunchy when raw and it tastes sort of like a mild turnip or broccoli stems.

Attracting Birds to Your Yard

   Flowers for birds—Aster, coneflower, coreopsis, sunflower.
Nectar plants for hummingbirds—hummingbirds are typically attracted to red and yellow tubular flowers, although they frequently visit others as well. Bee balm, columbine, delphinium, fuchsia, honeysuckle, jewel weed, lobelia, penstemon, phlox, salvia, trumpet creeper.
Vines for birds—American bittersweet, native honeysuckle, strawberry, trumpet creeper, Virginia creeper, wild grape.
Trees for birds and other wildlife—American beech, American holly, apple, balsam fir, black cherry, black gum, cottonwood, crabapple, flowering dogwood, hawthorns, hickories, live oak, oaks, red mulberry.

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Market News - June 28, 2011

From the Market Manager

   8 years ago I participated in a citizen’s panel on the Future of Food in New England through UNH’s Department of Sustainability Programs and Cooperative Extension. It consisted of people from all over N.E. who had something to do with agriculture. It was a very interesting process. As I read over our findings again, I see where some of our recommendations are coming to fruition, and where some of the problems that existed then, are still serious problems.
   One place where I particularly see improvement is in the buy local campaigns where many more schools and businesses that have cafeterias are sourcing more of their food from local farms. It’s called the “farm to cafeteria” movement. While I can’t speak for the other N.E. states, I know that our Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) is VERY pro-active in helping farmers with marketing both at farmers’ markets and at their farm stands.
   I encourage you to go to the Internet and look up Citizen Panel on the Future of Food in New England and read it for yourself. It isn’t long, and every time I read it, I am impressed with what we accomplished. It is as timely today as it was 8 years ago.

 

This ‘n’ That

   If you have cookbooks that you don’t want, bring them to the market and leave them on the table next to the market table. You can take one or more home with you, or not. You don’t have to donate books to take one or more.

Beat Management Team

   The Sector H Beat Management Team will be meeting in July and August at the Jewish Community Center, 1160 Dickinson St. on the first Wednesday of each month at 6:30. You don’t have to have a problem to go to the meetings. You can find out what’s going on in our neighborhoods of Forest Park and East Forest Park. You can also pick up lots of information and meet our sector officers.
   It’s interesting to hear the reports because sometimes the crimes are crimes of opportunity such as someone leaving their car running in their driveway while it warms up, or having doors and windows unlocked. I am not forgiving the crooks, but why make it easy for them?! Keep your front light on at night; a lighted neighborhood is a safer neighborhood. If you see something that you think is not right, call 911. The cops would rather you were safe than sorry. If you see something during the day that looks “fishy” go out and sweep your sidewalk or porch. The crooks don’t want anyone watching them. Let your neighbors know when you’re going away. Do the usual—stop the paper, have your mail picked up by someone, have some lights on timers. Don’t advertise that you’re not home.

Summer Squash

   Summer squash isn’t an unusual vegetable, but there are some varieties that you may not be familiar with. Pattypan comes in 3 colors, dark green, pale green, and yellow; zucchini is dark green, light green, or yellow; there is an Italian variety that is ribbed, yellow squash is straight neck or crookneck. They all taste fairly similar, so you can mix or match easily. It’s pretty to cut up different types of squash and sauté them with onion, garlic and olive oil. Small squash are much more tender than large ones. Use the larger ones for relish or soup. I know that The Kitchen Garden often has baby squash with the blossom still on them. Those have to be cooked very carefully, but it’s worth the extra care because they look beautiful on the plate. They often have zucchini blossoms also. You have to use those up quickly as they are delicate.
   Caroline once told me that they are picked very early in the morning before they have a chance to open up so that the bugs don’t get into them. The things you learn from hanging around a farmers’ market.

What is Integrated Pest Management?

   I think that everyone knows in their heart of hearts that using too many chemicals isn’t great for the environment. Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is an approach used to control pests in an environmentally responsible manner.
   IPM uses a combination of pest control practices in concert with naturally-occurring controls. By combining a number of practices, pest damage can be prevented without harming the environment.

IPM techniques include monitoring, maximizing the effectiveness of natural enemies and cultural controls, as well as the judicious use of pesticides.

Examples of IPM research and implementation from the UMASS IPM program.

Apples—developed a method to trap apple maggot fly using imitation apples made of wood and plastic. This technology has been adopted throughout New England result in better control of the fly with the use of less pesticide.
Cranberries—refined methods of flooding cranberry bogs to manage insects, diseases and weeds with less dependence on pesticides.
Sweet corn—developed a system to protect sweet corn from corn-infesting worms using organic farming methods on a commercial scale.
Strawberry—demonstrated to growers how to control gray mold on strawberries by using fungicides on strawberry flowers early in the season, eliminating sprays on the berries themselves.
Poinsettia—developed a technique to use parasitic wasps from the Middle East for the control of whitefly in greenhouses.
Wine grapes—introduced the use of mating disrupting pheromones to eliminate insecticide use for grape berry moth.
Our tax dollars at work!

We have T-shirts for Sale

   We have snazzy new t-shirts with our new logo on them for sale for just $10 each. We have sizes from child’s large to 3X.

Health Bucks—Tokens

   We are doing our part to help folks eat healthier food. If you have SNAP/EBT, use your card at the market table for $5 or more and you will receive $2 tokens to be used for fruits and vegetables at our farmers’ market.
   Also, I learned recently that the farmers’ market WIC coupons are on a first come/first served basis. They want them to be used, and when they’re sent to everyone, they’re not...

 

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Market News - June 21, 2011

From the Market Manager

   Hickory Dell Farm has fresh apple cider this week from Bashista’s Orchard in Southampton.
   Last week I put a recipe for Swiss chard cheese casserole in the green crate. I made it again and this time I used some smoked cheddar cheese in addition to other types of cheese. It was fabulous. I used half smoked cheese. The slight smoky flavor was so good. You can make this with spinach also, but I like Swiss chard because it has more texture. I sauté the stems with onions and garlic, or just onions, then add the green part of the chard. I don’t make it with a crust because it isn’t necessary.
   I was reading the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report from the Springfield Water and Sewer Commission. In addition to other interesting information, they had a picture of a sewer pipe that was partially blocked by congealed fat. I never thought about that even though I don’t put fat down the drain. You may pour it down the drain and use hot water, but once it gets to the sewer pipe, it’s cold, so it congeals.

 

Music Surrounds us

   We are so fortunate to have many places to enjoy music free of charge. The East Longmeadow Rotary Club’s 2011 concerts begin June 22nd at the East Longmeadow High School campus field at 7PM and continue each Wednesday (rain date the next day) through August 10th.

   Stanley Park in Westfield has already started its Sunday night concerts. They are at 6PM and they continue into September. Although the pavilion where the concerts are held has been torn down, they have a large tent instead, so the concerts are held rain or shine. Bring a picnic and enjoy the park and the concert. No dogs allowed.

 

Theatre

   Check out New Century Theatre, Majestic Theatre, and Chester Theatre Company online for their schedules for this season’s performances. Chester is about an hour from here, New Century is in Northampton, and the Majestic is in West Springfield.

From Dara Bartlett, Registered Dietician

   Want to eat healthfully, but frustrated by the long list of dos and don’ts? Organizing your thoughts can help.
  1. Take baby steps as you make small healthy changes.
  2. Preparing food for you and your family can be made into a fun activity.
  3. Meal planning will help you meet both your nutrition and budgetary goals.
Stay positive and open to new ideas. Something you haven’t thought of yet may really be the key to
  1. overcoming a challenge.

Organic Land Care, cont’.

   How does one do organic land care?
 Regular soil tests—The basis of an organic landscape is healthy soil. It contains the proper balance of minerals, nutrients, organic matter, air, and water. Soil tests are the first step to creating healthy soil. Use them to determine exactly what nutrients and organic materials are available to the plants in your landscape and identify deficiencies, excesses or imbalances that can be corrected with approved organic cultural methods, amendments or compost. Unnecessary applications of ANY fertilizer of soil amendment can cause mineral nutrients to build up to excessive levels in the soil or escape to nearby waters and cause pollution problems.
   In order to get useful information from a soil test, it is important to sample the soil correctly. Lawns, vegetable gardens, and trees and shrubs all require slightly different soil sampling techniques.
   The Master Gardeners are at our market most weeks from 12-4; they will test your soil for $1. Take samples from several parts of your yard and mix them together and bring that to the market.

Grilled Stuffed Pork Chops

From Cook’s Country—Recipes that Work
1 cup shredded smoked gouda or cheddar cheese (Hickory Dell Farm has these)
1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced thin
¼ cup barbecue sauce
4 boneless loin chops, about 1 ½ inches thick, about 8 oz. each.
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Cook onion until soft and deeply browned, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to bowl and stir in barbecue sauce and cheese.
2. Using sharp paring knife, cut 1” opening into side of each chop, then cut pocket for stuffing. Place 1/4th of stuffing in pocket of each chop. Seal chops with toothpicks and season with salt and pepper. (Chops can be stuffed and refrigerated up to 1 day in advance.
3. Prepare charcoal grill, wait until coals are covered with fine gray ash. Pour coals into pile on one side of grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and let heat for 5 minutes.
4. Grill chops directly over coals until browned on both sides, about 2 ½ minutes per side. Transfer chops to cooler side of grill, cover with disposable aluminum foil pan, and cook until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees, 6-8 minutes longer. Transfer chops to platter, cover with foil pan and let rest for 5 minutes. (internal temp. should rise 5 degrees.) Serve.
(Those of you who have gas grills can figure out how to make this on one.)

Jam, Salsa, Applesauce, etc.

   Last week a young woman said she wanted to buy strawberries at our market to make jam and she also said something about making salsa. I told her that she should use the berries from our market for eating, and either pick her own berries, or buy jam berries at a place that has pick your own. You don’t need to use perfect fruit or vegetables when you’re going to turn them into a sauce, or jam, etc.; it’s too expensive that way. You do need perfect cucumbers for dill pickles though. If they have blemishes they don’t cure properly.
   You want to wait until you can buy tomatoes, etc. when they are plentiful and inexpensive for this kind of cooking. Buy utility apples and peaches; they have small blemishes that are easy to remove, and you’ll get perfect final products just the same. There are many places where you can pick your own vegetables and fruit, so you can have perfect produce at a reduced price because you’ve done the labor. Pick up a copy of CISA’s Farm Products Guide.

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Market News - June 14, 2011

From the Market Manager

   This comment was relayed to me last week “If Springfield can have a farmers’ market like this, there is hope for Springfield.” She said that this was said by a friend of hers who used to live here who now lives in Illinois.
   There are many things that make up the fabric of a city. The tendency is to concentrate on the negative and not the positive. We have all seen examples of the positive as a result of the tornado that hit our city. Sure, this is some negative news, but most of it is positive.
   I think the people who complain the most about Springfield are the folks who have never lived anyplace else. If they had, they would know that no place is Utopia; every place has problems. It is up to each and every one of us to do something to improve where we live even if it’s nothing more than picking up some litter, or keeping our property neat and clean.
   Join your local neighborhood association. Don’t leave it to the few folks who seem to do everything. Take an interest in what is going on in your neighborhood. Whether you own your home or rent, it’s up to all of us to improve where we live.
   Last week CISA did the dot survey that many of you participated in. They will send me the results in a couple of weeks and I’ll report them to you.
   I did notice that many of you put a dot in the section that said you’d like more variety at our market. What else would you like to have here? We are not going to have any produce that isn’t grown in western Mass or northern Connecticut. If you go to California you will see citrus, nuts, avocados, and more. That’s because it grows there. We won’t have fish because we aren’t a seaport. Sometimes we don’t have something because we can’t make the connection. So, let me know what you’re thinking, and if it’s doable, we’ll do it.

Vote for Your Favorite Farmers’ Market

   Go to our website listed above and click on the logo for voting for your favorite farmers’ market. It’s a contest run by American Farmland Trust. I will try to change the name of our market on their site, but for now it’s still The Farmers’ Market at the X. If we win, we get some sort of prize.

 

Organic Land Care, cont’.

   Isn’t organic land care more expensive? If your landscape is already chemically dependent, organic land care will initially be more expensive. It will be necessary to analyze the property to create an appropriate treatment plan for the transition to organic practices. In the long run, organic land care actually costs less because “routine” applications of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are avoided. A healthy soil, high in organic matter, stores more water and encourages plants to grow deep roots so you will not need to water except during establishment of new plants and in times of serious drought. Once established, an organic landscape uses fewer materials and requires less labor for mowing and maintenance. Consider the reduced costs to your health and the environment, and an increase in free time too. What will happen when I switch to organic land care? If your landscape is not chemically dependent, the transition should be fairly simple. Otherwise, detoxification can be a difficult process particularly for turf grasses. Whether you try going “cold turkey” or gradually wean your plants away from synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, there will be a period of time where everything will look less green and manicured. During this time, good things are going on underground as soil health is re-established and plants switch their energies to growing healthy roots. Eventually, your yard can be lush and beautiful and you will have the additional peace of mind of knowing you are not sacrificing your health and the environment for green grass.

Springfield Riverwalk

   Every week on Wednesday at 12:15, a group meets at the fountain at Monarch Place Downtown, and continues to the Riverwalk for a guided walk.
   For more information pick up a brochure at our market table.

Worth Repeating—a Poem/Prayer

By Max Coots, who was a Unitarian Universalist minister.
“Let us give thanks for a bounty of friends.
For generous friends with hearts and smiles as bright as their blossoms;
For continuous friends, who, like scallions and cucumbers, keep reminding us that we’ve had them;
For crotchety friends, as sour as rhubarb and as indestructible;
For handsome friends who are as gorgeous as eggplants and as elegant as a row of corn;
For plain friends, who, like potatoes, are so good for you;
For funny friends, who are as silly as Brussels sprouts and as amusing as Jerusalem artichokes;
For serious friends, as complex as cauliflowers and as intricate as onions;
For friends as unpretentious as cabbages, as subtle as summer squash, as persistent as parsley, as delightful as dill, as endless as zucchini, and who, like parsnips, can be counted on to see you through the winter;
For old friends, nodding like sunflowers in the evening time;
For young friends, growing as fast as radishes;
For loving friends, who wind around us like tendrils and hold us, despite our blights, wilts and witherings;
And, finally, for those friends now gone, like gardens past that have been harvested, but who fed us in their times that we might have life thereafter;
For this bounty of friends we give thanks.

Lettuce

   We all know lettuce. There are many varieties of this vegetable as you know. It’s really pretty when you use different types of lettuce in a salad. Combine it with some fruit, maybe some cheese, some fresh herbs and your own salad dressing. Keep different olive oils and vinegars on hand, and you can change the way your salad tastes by varying the oil and vinegar. Use fresh lemon juice instead of vinegar. Add either fresh herbs right in the salad, or put dried in with the oil and vinegar and let it sit for a while. I use kosher salt in my dressing; it isn’t as salty.

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