Category Archives: Farmer’s Markets

The Incredible Edible

Posted on April 11, 2015 by AnnieRie

Eggs.

For years, they got a bad rap. Now, we know they are one very packed source of many vital nutrients. We stopped buying them during that period. Now, they are an important part of our diet. Maybe that’s why my eyesight has stabilized. And why my “good” cholesterol keeps going up.

We get eggs weekly now in our Friends and Farms basket. Really fresh, wonderful eggs. The kind with that bright yellow yolk.

Eggs on Sunday morning is standard fare at the house. Served with whatever fresh bread we get.

The markets are opening in a few weeks. If you want to experience the taste of fresh eggs, you should pick up a dozen from one of the local farmers.

If you really get hooked on fresh eggs, you can always find out how to raise chickens in your yard (how’s that for a segue into Greenfest?). Cathy Hudson and Van Wensil will be offering their workshop at 12:30 pm at this year’s Greenfest at Howard Community College on April 18th. Always popular.

If you can’t raise chickens, you can find them at many of the local farms, like England Acres. I like to go there and watch the chickens run all around the farm, while you are checking out the goodies in their farm store.

Tomorrow, April 12th, they are open and grilling their beef for tasting. Eggs and other local goodies in the store. They are just west of Mt. Airy. Most of the lamb we eat comes from them.

What does this have to do with eggs? Nothing, really. I am just very happy to see spring has arrived and the farms and markets are opening weekly.

As for the eggs. How about a few more of my favorite ways to enjoy them.

A frittata.

Or a spinach salad.

I also love to make egg salad for sandwiches.

Such a versatile food. Easy to make. Easy to digest. Easy to find. And, quite good for us, too.

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Posted in Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Nearly Impossible?

Posted on February 6, 2015 by AnnieRie

Local Produce? In the winter? Around here?

A few years ago I may have made that statement myself. Now, I know better. There was a long discussion on one of our local facebook pages, Clarksville Happenings. About rotten produce (and meat) at our community grocery store. Lamenting the apparent lack of quality control, and attention, from the big chain.

Lots of discussion about using Roots, Wegmans, Boarmans and Harris Teeter as alternatives to getting less than stellar fresh foods.

One comment struck me. A good thought. Using mostly local foods instead of those flown in from far away. Eating locally and sustainably. But, the caveat. That it was nearly impossible to find local produce in the winter in the Northeast.

Dark Days Homemade Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Before I took the Dark Days Challenge in 2012, I didn’t know what was available locally. I signed up for a winter CSA. Lots of root vegetables and a few flash frozen fill ins. I found DuPont Circle, Silver Spring and Tacoma Park year round markets. You could make that once a week challenge meal using those sources.

Now, there are many more options for fresher better foods. I get 90% of my food from Friends and Farms (which sources regionally) and Lancaster Farm Fresh (which delivers a CSA to Columbia while dropping off wholesale foods to MOM’s, Roots, David’s and Friends and Farms).

A December CSA Delivery

All my meat and seafood except for specialty items I get at Boarman’s. Dairy. Bread. Produce. Pantry items. Every week. Fresh from the greenhouses or high tunnels.

It means eating seasonally. There aren’t many choices for fruit. There are quite a number of flash frozen items to fill in the gaps. Still, I can eat most of my meals without going to a store. For those who are ready to use local produce, check out my local resources page. Besides my two current suppliers, there’s Breezy Willow Early Bird starting next month.

My carbon footprint is smaller too. Even if it includes citrus from Florida. Which is awesome by the way. Something about grapefruit in a salad that makes cold weather recede into the background.

Well, time to check on dinner. In the oven on slow cook. The tri tip roast from F&F. Fingerlings from LFFC. Carrots and onions. A mushroom gravy I made from two weeks worth of mushrooms. That soup I made the other night. I thickened the leftovers and made the gravy for the roast. It smells wonderful up in the kitchen.

Local meals. In February. Not impossible at all.

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Posted in Commentary, CSA, Dark Days, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged commentary, cooking, CSA, Dark Days Challenge, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Fair Winds and Following Seas

Posted on January 12, 2015 by AnnieRie

A phrase we used to send retiring or transferring coworkers on their way to their new assignments, or to their future as retirees.

Today, I want to send that message to two women who spent 18 years making farmer’s markets in the DC area some of the absolute best places to buy local and support small businesses.

Ann Yonkers and Bernadine Price announced their impending retirement as the directors of the markets. Freshfarm is one of my favorite market companies (for lack of a better word). They run 13 markets in the DC/NoVA/MD area. Two of them year round. Those two were my introduction to year round markets.

Silver Spring on Saturdays, and DuPont Circle on Sundays. They introduced me to Atwater’s. Mock’s Greenhouses. Smith Meadows and more.

Silver Spring also had the benefit for us of having Lebanese Taverna right there. For lunch.

We spent many Saturdays in Silver Spring, before I found local farms open. For us, they were the source of local foods in the winter.

Besides, they have the best web site out there to tell us what is happening weekly.

If you get a chance, head down there some Saturday morning, just down US29, and check it out for yourself. And, tell the workers at the freshfarm tent that you appreciate what Ann and Bernie started, 18 years ago.

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Posted in Commentary, Community, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, People, Retirement and tagged commentary, community, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, retirement. Bookmark the permalink.

Home for the Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2014 by AnnieRie

Yesterday we took a trip back to my husband’s home town. Mainly because we hadn’t been there in 18 months, and we wanted to check in on some things (and buy some of his favorite kielbasy). Most of the family is gone. Moved, passed away. A few friends still in the area, but not many.

It’s a deeply depressed coal mining town. We found my husband’s old house on the market again. Like hundreds in the area. We were lucky to sell it quickly 12 years ago when my MIL moved to a retirement community in Pottsville.

The cemetery. Covered in fog and snow. Too wet, windy and cold to try to take pictures. We were there to check on the gravesites, before paying our yearly maintenance fee to the man who the church uses to maintain graves for those who are no longer local. The cemetery is on a huge hill outside of town. At 1800 feet elevation according to our GPS.

This picture, taken last year shows the wind turbines installed on the ridge. Yesterday we couldn’t see them, the fog was so thick.

As for getting that kielbo, we forgot that Kowalonek’s gets really crazy at the holidays. Lines out the door, through the parking lot and around the corner. Not our idea of what to do in the rain and wind. We decided to head south to Manheim and look for fresh kielbasa at the Roots Country Market and Auction.

We found some at Hummer’s meats. A three pound ring of fresh, not smoked kielbasa. It almost is as good as his hometown version but not quite. We also picked up some of Hodecker’s celery, a real delicacy harvested in the fall and early winter. The web site is from the Bed and Breakfast at the farm where the celery is grown.

Some of that celery went into stock tonight. The leaves were frozen for later use.

We took the back roads up and back. On the way up, we stopped at the Peters Orchards to get some gifts like this one.

Cranberry salsa. Made in PA. Peters carries a nice selection of hot pepper jellies, all sorts of jams, honey, syrup and much more. They are open year round and are on the way to Carlisle on Rte 94. My husband couldn’t resist the molasses cookies either.

All in all, on a rainy blustery day, we had a good time, even though traffic was awful on the way home. I have to admit, I don’t miss that commute in really bad weather up I-81.

Now, off to bake cookies and other goodies using things I picked up at the market.

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Posted in Day Trips, Family, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Locavore, Real Food, Travel and tagged day trips, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, holidays, Locavore, traditions. Bookmark the permalink.

In Search Of Kielbo

Posted on December 7, 2014 by AnnieRie

Our search for a local source of fresh kielbasa continues. For my husband, who grew up in a town where kielbasa was made a certain way, we have looked near (and far) to find a source for “kielbo” that tastes as good as his hometown favorite.

Fresh. Just like this one. From here.

The closest we have come is from some local farms, but it isn’t quite the same.

You can see the difference in the texture. And, they are different. Last Friday we decided to check out the meat department down at the Amish market in Laurel. Beiler’s price list includes Polish style kielbasa, but they didn’t have any. Just garlic kielbasa grillers, and smoked kielbasa. Which is not the same thing. Not bad, but not fresh and garlicky like his hometown style.

We did find some other goodies at the market, which is open Thursday through Saturday weekly. This market moved to Laurel from Burtonsville. It is much busier, and bigger, in its Laurel location. I hit the bulk food vendors for some ground coriander, which isn’t easy to find, and some apricot jam to use on an Asian pear tart I want to make for the holidays. At the meat vendor, we did find “hot half smokes”. Anyone working in and around DC knows about half smokes. We also brought home a very small piece of garlic ring bologna and a pound of bacon ends.

Unique items, including bison, are available at the Beilers meat stand in the market. The market also boasts a pickle vendor, with vats of different varieties.

We have to return for a longer visit sometime this winter. This close to home Amish market reminds us of the ones up in PA on the way to my husband’s hometown.

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Posted in Day Trips, Farmer's Markets, Food, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food and tagged cooking, farmer's markets, Food, foodie, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Test Drives

Posted on October 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

Fall. Winter. Spring. The seasons where there aren’t as many options to get local, regional, seasonal, fresh foods. The farmer’s markets, one by one, shut down in early November.

There are options out there, though. Here in Howard County, there are year round choices. Like Friends and Farms, who uses Individual Quick Frozen (IQF) foods from a New York farm to supplement those winter root veggies, and who contracts for citrus from the Southeast.

Foods like these. Or their tomato puree. I started with Friends and Farms in January last year. Bought a four week subscription, a small basket. Now I am buying a 13 week subscription and using an individual basket to supplement my garden and my CSA.

My CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative, has a seven week fall extension. The individual share is only $20 a week, for fresh organic vegetables.

Like these from last week.

Fennel, radishes, leeks, cauliflower (white and green, the green was in the swap box), romaine, green beans, sweet peppers and red beets. Seriously. Nine organic vegetables averaging $2.20 each. You can’t come close to this pricing in any natural food store.

Other options around here. Some we tried and liked. Some we haven’t. Love Dove Farms offers an eight week fall CSA. Breezy Willow, a spring option from March until May. Zahradka Farm, delivers a winter option to your doorstep from January through April.

If you ever considered one of these for the winter, check out the links on my Local Resources page.

Or, keep your local food sources alive by hitting the weekend farm stands, or the weekend markets that are year round. The Howard County farmer’s markets may be closing soon for the season, but you still can find small farms and businesses to supply you with the best vegetables, fruits, meat and dairy.

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Howard County, LFFC, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Winter Eat Local and tagged CSA, farms, Food, foodie, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food. Bookmark the permalink.

Shopping at Jenny’s Market

Posted on October 14, 2014 by AnnieRie

Only 17 more days until Jenny’s closes for the season. I will miss popping in there to get a few things.

They have a facebook page, which will let you know what they are featuring. If you want some pumpkins, mums, cider, fall vegetables, or are like me, and pop in for weird things like lemons, oranges and bananas. I like that quick stop for the citrus I need in cooking without having to drive 15 miles or more round trip to a grocery store.

Today I wanted some apple cider, and bananas for breakfast, and scallions because, again, I ran out of them.

Jenny’s sells Baughers cider from right up Rte 32 in Westminster. Half gallons and gallons.

I came home with what I needed, including a couple of oranges, to use my baby fennel from last week’s CSA basket. And, I got seduced by the huge sweet green grapes.

I will have to remember to stop in and pick up a few last things before they shut down for the season. And wish them a happy and healthy winter until they reopen in May.

Jenny’s is right off Rte. 32 at the Burnt Woods interchange. Take the exit and head to the northeast corner on Ivory Rd. Look for the brightly colored pumpkins, gourds and mums telling us fall is truly here.

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Posted in Community, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Weather, West HoCo and tagged community, farmer's markets, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, weather, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Is It Extreme #buylocalchallenge when …

Posted on July 25, 2014 by AnnieRie

… it’s the normal way you live?

This isn’t a challenge. It’s our life. We can thank Friends and Farms, Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA, Howard County farms and markets, and my garden for making the vast majority of our food come from local sources.

Like this luscious fresh fruit in our CSA share. Without worries of bacteria. We got plums, peaches and blackberries from LFFC on Thursday. The plums are gone already. My husband must have had a couple with every lunch and dinner. They are so ripe, so flavorful.

LFFC also gave us this.

In a half share.

Golden Beets
Rainbow carrots
Red potatoes
Royal burgundy beans
Ping Tung long eggplant
Heirloom tomatoes
Corn (I swapped zucchini for these)

I gave up four zucchini for two ears of corn. There is way too much zucchini in my garden.

As for the add ons.

The cheese share included: Millich Kivvel, a raw milk cheese reminiscent of Camembert. Aged Goat Cheese, and Goat Feta.

The chicken:

Thighs, drumsticks and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. These chicken deliveries have been one very welcome addition to our food sources. Last week I slow baked legs and breasts. Served the legs for dinner and the breasts became the center of a Caesar salad for lunch.

I love having antibiotic free, hormone free chicken in our diet. Once you tasted free range chicken, it is really hard to settle for those bland tasteless store bought chickens.

As for Friends and Farms, and my individual share. We got ground beef and ahi. I forgot and put them away before documenting my food.

There was a large quantity of heirloom squash in the bags. A few assorted tomatoes. Two peaches. Blackberries. Green beans. Kale. Frisee. Eggs and bread this week. Honey whole wheat from The Breadery.

Tonight for dinner I grilled the ahi. And some of the squash. Brushed with Italian dressing and seasoned with salt and pepper.

The individual basket is perfect when you have a garden, or for one or two people. I like getting bread biweekly and eggs three times a month. Cheese once a month. Breakfast meat once a month. A good rotation. One that we customized to fit our needs.

All in all, doing the Buy Local Challenge is easy, when you have local food sources delivering the bulk of your protein, dairy, vegetables and fruit.

CSA chicken, with my onions. And CSA heirloom tomatoes. Dinner Thursday night.

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC, Locavore and tagged buy local challenge, cooking, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, Locavore, real food, tomatoes, value of CSA. Bookmark the permalink.

Extreme #buylocalchallenge

Posted on July 19, 2014 by AnnieRie

As is eating something local at every meal. Easy to do if most of your food comes from a CSA, a regional food service, and your garden.

I count my garden as supporting local farmers as most of the plants were purchased from local farms. I don’t buy plants from national chains like Lowe’s or Home Depot, but from local farms like Sharp’s or Greenway. Both Howard County farms.

Today was the first day of the challenge. Breakfast included toast with CSA raspberry jam, for me. And for my husband, cereal with CSA blueberries.

Lunch for him. Tuna salad with my onions. For me, cucumbers, tomatoes and carrots, dipped in a yogurt dressing. Yogurt from PA. Cucumbers and tomatoes, my garden. Carrots, CSA.

Peaches from the CSA for a snack.

Dinner tonight.

Local wine!

Big Cork, from Rohrersville MD. Ready to go to the table with some of my flowers from my front yard.

CSA chicken thighs being baked with CSA potatoes, my onions and Wayne Nell smoked bacon (Friends and Farms supplier from York PA). They buy from farms in the area surrounding York.

The salad.

Baywater Greens from Salisbury supplied the leaf lettuce. CSA spinach, beets, gouda, blueberries.

Oh, I forgot, there was corn on the cob, too. From the CSA.

Very little today that didn’t come locally. Off to a good start. On to Day Two tomorrow.

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Posted in CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Friends and Farms, Gardening, LFFC, Locavore, Wine and tagged buy local challenge, cooking, CSA, farms, Food, foodie, gardening, Locavore, MD Wine, wine. Bookmark the permalink.

Friends and Farms “Buy Local”

Posted on July 18, 2014 by AnnieRie

We got our Friends and Farms basket Thursday, just in time for the Buy Local Challenge.

I am happy to see at the Buy Local Website that they don’t require the farms and markets to be in Maryland. Just “local”.

Depending on where you live, food from across a state line may be more local than in state. Like for us. Cheese from Lancaster is closer than cheese from Firefly Farms in western MD. Not that we don’t love Firefly. It’s just that MD is a wide east west but narrow north south state.

For us, foods from MD, VA, WV, DE and PA are all considered local. Mostly within a 100 mile radius to our home.

Our Friends and Farms basket this week was full of local foods by that definition. We can take the Buy Local “Extreme” challenge and include local foods in every meal, using the goodness of our basket.