Tag Archives: farmer’s markets

Pleasant Surprise Today

Posted on November 21, 2012 by AnnieRie

While running around getting things for the holiday weekend, I saw that England Acres had stated they were open today. They are a working farm just four miles west of Mt. Airy. I buy many of my meats and cheeses from them, as well as Trickling Springs Dairy products. They are open year round on weekends and other days, like today, announced on their facebook page.

After picking up my turkey at a very busy Boarman’s this morning, I headed out to Mt. Airy to hit Tractor Supply and England Acres. Consolidating those errands and using the back roads. I needed bird seed from Tractor Supply, and wanted some dairy and meat from Judy at England Acres.

I was pleasantly surprised today to see that a new source of produce at their market is the supplier of my summer and fall CSA, Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop.

They had organic sauerkraut, as well as half a wall of fresh organic produce, the same stuff that comes in my CSA basket every week. The organic kraut, though, made me very happy. We have not gotten green cabbage lately, and I haven’t starting making kraut in my crocks. This jar of lovely organic kraut will become part of our Thanksgiving dinner this weekend.

They also had absolutely beautiful fresh cranberries today. I am torn between making relish or salsa. These are so tart, and bursting with flavor. Decisions, decisions.

If you live in West Howard County, anywhere convenient to I-70, the farm is really quite easy to find. West on rte. 144, four miles outside of town, on Detrick Road. Judy has a great assortment of products from MD and PA farms. She listens to us about what we want to find there. Her baked goods are awesome. Her chickens run around and are obviously quite content. During the day, the gates are open and they wander in and out of the coops. The eggs are generally one or two days old. You can’t get any fresher than this.

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Restaurant Quality Dinners

Posted on November 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

What would you pay in a restaurant for a really good steak salad?

steak salad

My husband really loved dinner tonight. Simple, elegant, sort of. We had one leftover package of meat in the freezer from last winter’s CSA. It needed to be eaten. It was a skirt steak from our Zahradka CSA, sourced from JW Treuth’s in Oella. I marinated it in olive oil and red wine vinegar and added a coffee based dry rub.

Put together a salad of arugula, microgreens, scallions, tomatoes and added a potato with tzatziki on the side. The salad base is the key. Fresh organic arugula and microgreens from Roots. Scallions from the CSA. Tomatoes were from Costco. I mixed some very old balsamic and olive oil from St. Helena Oil in California to drizzle over it. With this base, dinner only needed a small amount of the slightly rare, dark and juicy steak, and half a potato with the tzatziki on the side.

With the dinner we opened a 2009 Petit Verdot, a signature grape being cultivated in Virginia. This was a cellar selection from Breaux. A lovely fat wine. A good salad under a beautiful skirt steak. A little carbohydrate in the potato we shared. Looked like a restaurant meal to me.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to drive over to Oella, right next to The Breadery, you really need to try Treuth’s beef. Outstanding stuff.

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The End of the Season

Posted on November 17, 2012 by AnnieRie

Planning for Thanksgiving? You still have one more chance to get in on local goodness supporting our farmers. Oakland Mills market Sunday morning from 9 am until 12:30 pm. The final day of the market until the spring.

I hit Glenwood today. Four of the Glenwood vendors will be at Oakland Mills tomorrow morning. If you do nothing else, getting apples from the customer appreciation sale by Lewis Orchards is worth the trip. Ten dollars for half a bushel and you can mix two types. I like Fuji because they are good eating apples and will work for applesauce and pies.

Half bushel Fuji apples

I got some fresh cider from them also. They were doing a brisk business today, as you can see by the stack of upturned 1/2 bushel baskets. I was in line about five deep when I first got there to get the apples. It was good to see each vendor doing a decent business with cars coming in. I was there before 10 am. When I left the cars were still pretty constant coming in.

I got eggs and a ham hock from TLV. I know I can continue to get them out at the farm. Honey from Breezy Willow. And, a pecan pie for one of the desserts I will take to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner, from Stone House. The eggs are for my Christmas baking, which I will be starting the weekend after Thanksgiving.

TLV, Stone House, Cosmic Bean and Lewis will be at Oakland Mills. I don’t know about the produce vendors there, or whether Great Harvest will be there. Zahradka and Breezy Willow were doing a brisk business today, with people getting veggies for their holiday meals. Lots of broccoli and cauliflower. Squashes. Brussels sprouts on the stalk.

Stone House will be around for a while at TLV, during Christmas tree cutting season. Check their site to see which days. I got my pecan pie today that just needs a quick heat up in the oven. All sorts of pies, cakes, cookies, cupcakes and breads. I have two loaves of their specialty breads in my freezer to heat up with soups.

A big thanks to all our local vendors and farmers, who have given us almost seven months of markets here in the county. I know I appreciate them being here, and hope to see them all next spring.

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The Fall CSA, Three Weeks In

Posted on November 15, 2012 by AnnieRie

I can tell Thanksgiving is here. The veggies attest to it.

Sandy Spring Fall CSA Week 3 of 2012

I keep playing “I’m celery the eighth, I am, celery the eighth I am, I am” in my head. These two heads of organic celery were just massive. More than enough for stuffing, or dressing (your preference), and for under the turkey and to use when making turkey noodle soup with the leftovers. Of course, we are also getting veggies next Tuesday (early because the holiday is Thursday), so we may be really up to our ears in celery.

Here’s the list, but modified to show we got extras of a few things, in order to make up for the lost week. Next to each is the cost from my visit today to Harris Teeter. Organic, when possible. Otherwise, regular. The popcorn a guess, based on cost of microwave popcorn in the store. I round up the penny.

1 Bunch French Heirloom Carrots $3
1 Head Broccoli $3.50
1 Butternut Squash (2 1/2 lb) total comes to $3.25
1 Bag Hakurei Turnips (2 1/2 lb) $14.95 (see below)
2 Bunches of Celery $8 (yes, organic were $3.49. EACH)
2 large Yellow Onions (1 1/2 lb) $2.70 total
1 Bunch Lacinato Kale $3
1 Head Napa Cabbage (3 lb) $5.10 total
1 Bunch Yellow Popcorn use $4 to compare to microwave
2 Rutabaga (2 1/2 lb) $3.25 total

The added up cost for this week is $49.65. Cost for a share $31.25 a week. Add to last week where it was $42.22 (remember we lost a week due to Sandy), total is now $91.87. I think. I may need to check my math but it looks like after week 3 we are almost even with what we pay. Down only $2. If they keep adding amounts like they did this week, twice the celery as originally stated. A very large amount of turnips. We should be way ahead by Christmas, as is usually the case with this CSA.

As for the turnips, Hakurei are a delicacy. A small bunch of them (less than 8 ounces in weight) were $2.99 at Harris Teeter today. We got two and a half pounds of them. I really love these turnips. They are sweet. They can be eaten raw or cooked. I am thinking of taking them to my brother’s for Thanksgiving, baked in a light butter sauce with Brussels Sprouts. I need to find Brussels sprouts at one of the last markets this weekend.

Hakurei turnips

As for that popcorn, we found a recipe that says, just put it in a paper bag in the microwave. We need to try this.

Last night was “Use up the CSA” dinner. My roasted root veggies before baking. I added some of my bag ripened heirloom tomatoes to the pan, too.

veggies before roasting

After they finished, I boiled some pasta, added a few cubes of my garlic scape pesto I took out of the freezer and had a primavera of sorts that was so good. We did eat the last grillers from TLV on the side.

Not bad for using up leftover veggies, roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.

hocofood@@@

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The Last Weekend of Howard County Farmer’s Markets

Posted on November 14, 2012 by AnnieRie

Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. East Columbia, Glenwood and Oakland Mills. The last three dates of the markets. Will you be stopping by to get items for Thanksgiving dinner? Or, getting a fresh turkey locally?

Pumpkins for pies. Sweet potatoes for a casserole. Apples as well. Sausage for the stuffing. Bread for the stuffing. Eggs. Greens. Lots of good local foods to use for the dinner preparation. Also, many of us have ordered pies from Stone House. Stone House will be setting up at TLV during the tree cutting season.

The regular farmer’s markets may be ending but the local farmers will still have places where you can buy their offerings.

TLV Farm is opening for Cut your own Christmas trees, right after Thanksgiving. They also stay open on Saturdays the rest of the winter for those of us looking for meat and eggs.

Breezy Willow made this announcement in our latest email. Since we just joined their Early Bird for March through May, we will be heading out there on Saturdays to fill in our needs the two months we don’t have a CSA delivery. Here are the words from their email.

“You may still order from our website throughout the winter. We will be opening on Saturdays at Breezy Willow starting the first Saturday in Dec from 10-2pm. Our Alpaca socks and scarves will be available along with more gift items, more information to follow.”

England Acres will be open on Saturdays and Sundays. They are open all year round, and we head out there often particularly for dairy and cheese. They also get other items from farms in the area. They are west of Mt. Airy off Rte. 144, just over the Frederick County line.

Olney Farmers and Artists Market (OFAM) has announced an indoor market starting in January at the Sandy Spring Museum on Rte. 108. They also have a holiday mart on the 2nd of December.

If anyone knows of other farmer’s markets near us, let us know. We will be frequenting the markets to get supplies, particularly meat and eggs, and any root veggies they may have. I will be reporting here what we find.

Also contact me here, or you may be receiving an email to sign up for the event at the Conservancy that I am coordinating. It will feature an indoor “Meet Your Local Farmers” event on the 20th of January. Farmers will have some items to sell, will be doing CSA signups, will be talking about living and working on their farms. More to follow as I work out details with participants and the Conservancy.

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Fall CSA Week 2, sort of

Posted on November 8, 2012 by AnnieRie

Week One was canceled due to Sandy. When they can, we will be getting more items before the eight weeks are done.

Today we did get larger amounts of stuff. Not the variety, but the quantity was up. Sandy Spring Fall CSA delivered to Columbia for us to pick up today. Ten items.

Sandy Spring 2012 Fall CSA

The list:
2 large Leeks
2 Heads of Celery
1 Bunch Hakurei Turnips
1 Bag Sweet Cubanelle Peppers
1 Bunch French Breakfast Radishes
1 Bunch Collards
1 Thelma Sanders Squash
1 Bag Purple Carrots (almost two pounds)
1 Bunch White Scallions
1 Bag White Hamon Sweet Potatoes (almost four pounds)

The Thelma Sanders squash is a new one to me. It is an heirloom. I can’t wait to try it. And, the White Hamon. Such a great sweet potato. They will become something associated with Thanksgiving, like sweet potato casserole, or a pumpkin pie.

Plus, I really love the Hakurei turnips. They are sweet, and getting all those lovely greens is a bonus. Plus, celery with lots of greens. I may be making a pesto with the turnip greens, radish greens, celery greens, scallion tops, pine nuts, pecorino and olive oil. Sounds like a great meal for pasta this weekend.

Hmmm, carrots and celery. There are also a few onions left from previous weeks. And, half a TLV farm chicken in the freezer. Sounds like a chicken soup is soon to come, as well.

Loving all this fresh organic food.

hocofood@@@

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Ugly Food Does Taste Better

Posted on November 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

There is a web site out there, at least one, named Ugly Food Tastes Better. I have to heartily agree. Sometimes the messiest looking dinners taste the best.

Tonight I did another brinner. You know, breakfast for dinner. Mostly local. It proves you can eat well using locally sourced items, even in the fall when the weather is bad.

Omelet with local veggies in it. Local sausage, and local bread. The bread, Atwater’s rosemary Italian, toasted and drizzled with brown butter. The sausage, TLV farms pork sizzlers with sage. The omelet. TLV eggs with Roots domestic parmesan, and a hash brown mix made with TLV potatoes, CSA green pepper and onion.

Most of the dinner slow cooked in the oven while we worked outside. The bacon, from Boarman’s was also in there so I could have bacon for salads and for soups. It was smoked bacon bought a while back.

sausage, bacon and hash browns slow cooking

I also added mushrooms from Mother Earth, a PA company. They were bought at Boarman’s too. As the omelet cooked, I added all the goodies down the middle.

The omelet was perfectly cooked in butter bought at Baugher’s. Not completely local, but from Troyer’s, an Amish company in Ohio. The browned butter left in the pan was soaked up by the toast made with Atwater’s bread.

Not a bad way to have dinner. And, to celebrate the snow looking to miss us. Thankfully.

hocofood@@@

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A Snow Sky

Posted on November 7, 2012 by AnnieRie

After a lovely day yesterday, today we wake to a prediction of snow. Don’t know how much, but whatever we get, it won’t hang around long if the temperatures rise to the 50s and 60s like they are supposed to reach over the weekend.

I gave the ornamental grasses their fall pruning. I have one left to do. Otherwise, they blow all over the property. We also did a massive leaf cleanup during the lovely weather yesterday. The piles sit waiting for our rake and take compost partner to pick up in her truck sometime soon. She hauled away almost this much yesterday. At least our leaves are turning into compost for gardens. Some of it here. Some of it just down the road from us, at our partner’s home.

If you live out here in west county, and don’t get yard waste removal, like us, consider partnering with the county rake and take program to turn your leaves into compost. Our partner has lots of conifers, but not the deciduous trees needed for that brown component for compost. The yard is getting bare of leaves, with the exception of our maple, which is just turning now.

Besides the leaves and the sky, today I found new residents feasting on the suet. It has been a while since we have seen the red breasted nuthatches. Two of them have been here lately, and one was on the far side of the suet while I was taking leaf pictures. The other, in the tree above, was a little harder to photograph.

red breasted nuthatch

Did you know that the nuthatches are the only birds that can travel head first down the side of a tree? This picture is a little blurry, but you get the action.

Now that I have had a coffee break, and downloaded the morning pictures, it’s time to get back out there and cut back the last of the ornamental grasses. I left the largest one for last. But still, all in all, spending the day outdoors enjoying the fall foliage left on the property, is one of the simple pleasures of living out here.

Here’s to the weekend looking as lovely as yesterday. If you get the chance, head outside this weekend to an outdoor event, or to one of the markets. Here’s the Ellicott City calendar.

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On a Mission for MicroGreens …

Posted on November 4, 2012 by AnnieRie

… and a turkey order for Thansgiving.

I wanted microgreens. Was sorry that Breezy Willow didn’t make yesterday’s Glenwood Market, as I know they generally have them. It is one of the items I buy from them often. That meant, if I wanted organic, I could hit Roots or go to Olney. Our House Farm sells organic veggies at the Olney market. Today was the last day of the Sunday morning farmer’s market and artisan fair. I got my greens fix and I’m happy.

With the rest of these goodies I will be making salad with dinner tonight. Check out my last heirloom home grown pineapple tomato, bag ripened in the laundry room. It, along with Our House Farm scallions, a hothouse cucumber from another Olney market stall, some sliced mushrooms and the last of the CSA radishes will be a big part of tonight’s dinner.

Dinner tonight will be salad, focaccia and the end of my potato leek soup that I made last week. The mushrooms in the picture were picked up at Boarman’s, where I stopped off to put in my Maple Lawn Farm turkey order. We always order our turkey at Boarman’s and pick it up the day before Thanksgiving. That way we also put in an order for sausage to make dressing, and this year I got some shrimp. You can put together an order and just arrive there and pay. We tried the craziness of getting onto Maple Lawn Farm, and this is way easier.

If you live anywhere in Howard County and want fresh turkey that can’t be beat, Maple Lawn is the place to get it. My turkey before and after, from last year.

my 2011 whole fresh turkey

oven roasted fresh turkey

Now, all I need to do is get going on making my sauerkraut. Hope we get cabbage from the CSA soon. My kraut usually needs at least a week to be the way I like it.

hocofood@@@

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What Do You Find at a Fall Market?

Posted on November 3, 2012 by AnnieRie

As anyone knows who reads my blog, I am a big advocate for supporting our local farmers and buying at our markets. I was pleased to see that three of our five markets have expanded their season into the fall. Until the weekend before Thanksgiving, there will be Howard County markets.

I went out to Glenwood today. I was late as we were doing some cleanup this morning, and I was on gum ball duty.

gum balls, covering the ground

I suppose I should call it good news, bad news, as all of them came down at once during the hurricane. We were trying to get a few things done before my husband went into his cave and radio contests the rest of the weekend. I am now free to hit the markets and the craft festival tomorrow.

As for Glenwood, all were there except for Breezy Willow and Bowling Green. Zahradka was already cleaning up at noon, but was offering some bargains if you needed veggies. I don’t, except for a few white potatoes. I got them at TLV, as well as eggs and meat.

The eggs, I got two dozen as I am completely out, and you need to put a dozen away in the back of the fridge for at least two weeks before you can hard boil them. Fresh eggs don’t hard boil as well as older ones.

extra large free range eggs

As for their meat, I got some kielbasa and some sausage with sage.

I popped over to Lewis Orchards to pick up some Jonah gold apples. A large basket, as we are out of apples again.

Stopped at Stone House for gingerbread, which became dessert tonight. And to pick up a loaf of their multigrain to put in the freezer to use with a soup later in the week.

Finally hit the Breadery for that focaccia I had with dinner, and to get a loaf of whole wheat for toasting with our eggs, and sandwiches this week.

Since I was late, I don’t know what all Zahradka had, as it was mostly in the truck. I did see eggplant, peppers and onions. TLV also had squash, pumpkins and gourds. Honey, and their bottled and jarred goodies like pumpkin butter, bread and butter pickles. Lewis Orchards had apple cider too.

Let’s see. Bread, meat and potatoes. Fruit, dessert, coffee from the Cosmic Bean. You can make a meal with the goodies at our markets. Try and stop at one of the three markets and support our farmers in their last two weeks of the season. Get some fresh local items for your Thanksgiving feast.

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