Restaurant Widow

Worthington Winter Farmer's Market Report

Locally produced cider vinegar from Anderson Orchard.  The floatie is the "mother," or the bacteria which allows the vinegar to ferment.

Wow - my first market report of 2008!  I finally made it to one the Worthington's winter farmer's markets, and I have to say I was impressed with the turnout.  I made it just after 10am, and it was packed.  As a matter of fact, I won't be having any all-local meals this week because the one stand selling onions, garlic, greens and the like was swamped, and after waiting in line for about 10 minutes, I was cut by a group of 5 greedy woman.  When did we un-learn lining up and waiting our turn.  To make matters worse, a few of these women began huffing and puffing when they thought the farmer was taking too long with the previous customer.  Should I begin adopting this behavior?  Is it the new standard?  Are these people really more important than I am?  It happened again, when I was buying eggs.  A women came up and stood beside me.  The farmer looked at me, because I had been waiting, and I placed my order while this woman began stamping and huffing.  Am I invisible?  I really can't figure this out, and it gets worse and worse every year (which is why I do my best to get to the markets as early as humanly possible, and why I love love love those people at Gilogly Orchards, who staunchly guard their always-long lines and scold those who try to jump to the front).

So, enough with the line-jumping whining.  I stopped by summer market favorites Up the Lane Cattle to purchase some nice beef shanks, and was also encouraged to buy a bone-in chuck roast (which I did).  A friend gave me her slow cooker recently and I need an excuse to break it in, so I'll have some more braising to do this week.  The folks from Up the Lane Cattle have even begun selling some great mugs and market totes with "Locavore" on them, and a definition.  It is a great idea, so you should buy some!  I was pleased to hear that they are really doing well at these winter markets.

I also picked up some tarragon flavored cider vinegar from Anderson Orchard, which I thought was really cool - I haven't seen anyone making vinegar locally, so I was pleased to see it.  The vinegar is very cider-y and slightly sweet.  It will make a great vinaigrette sometime soon.

Lastly, I stopped by Raven Rocks farm to pick up some eggs.  It is so nice to be shopping locally again, and I am encouraged by the turnout at the Worthington market, although it was, as some have noted, incredibly crowded, even right at opening time.  Hopefully by next year they will have to find a larger space; as it seems, there are more vendors than space, which is certainly the problem you'd like to have!  Also, with the success of this year's market, perhaps more farmers will begin cold-weather farming, so by next winter there will be more than just a couple of produce vendors.

In Which I am a True Columbusite

We in Central Ohio have a tendency to stay inside at the slightest suggestion of snow.

In an effort to prove I'm not a wimpy winter weather driver, I got up at the crack of 10:30 this morning for the Worthington winter farmer's market and glibly looked at the snow - "it's a mere dusting!" I said, pulling on my sweater and scarf.  I dutifully scraped off the car and headed out.  It was slippery.  I'll take High st, I decided, instead of the usual Indianola; I had (stupidly, it is Saturday, after all) assumed that by 11am there would have been salt trucks out.  What I found instead - in droves - were typical Columbus drivers (don't be offended, please - you have to know that we are terrible drivers) - driving too fast, not breaking early enough, cutting other cars off - you know the type.  I made it about 3/4 a mile in 15 minutes, sighed, accepted defeat, and turned around.  I came home and ate some cinnamon toast.

And so.  I have no market report.  I am sorry, readers, that I have let you down. We'll try again in January.

Don't Forget the Winter Market!

Don't forget today (oops - tomorrow - Sunday - thanks Matt!) is the first Worthington Winter Market - there will be meats, cheeses, baked goods and preserves, as well as winter veggies.  Although the rest of the winter markets will take place from 10am - 2pm, today's market is from 1pm - 5pm, so there's plenty of time to get out there.  The winter market is located at the Griswold Senior Center, 777 High st (that's Worthington High street, not in the Short North), at the NW corner of 161 & High.

CSA & Columbus Farm Market Report for November 17th

Wow, was it ever cold out there this morning!  It certainly made me wish I wouldn't have forgotten my gloves.  Cold and all, there were a number of intrepid souls out this morning - there was certainly enough to easily round out your local Thanksgiving experience.  Lot of potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, greens, lettuce, and gourds.  It was also, alas, my last CSA box of the year.  I guess it'll soon be time to test out all those goodies I've been freezing during the growing season.

Today's CSA box (half above, half below, with Mimi) included lettuce, a full dozen eggs (I've got to start baking or something, I have such a backlog of eggs - yikes!), some goat's milk soap, a daikon radish and a black radish, along with a butternut squash and a tiny little pumpkin, along with my yearly allotment of 5 pounds of Kennebeck potatoes, which are really, really good - so light and fluffy and rich, you really don't need a ton of fat, and a trio of Autumn corn for decorating:

I also hit Wayward Seed farm, where I picked up a bunch of Chinese red radishes, a bunch of broccoli rabe - every since we were in California (where everyone pronounced it broccoli robbie - it's rahb, by the way, aka rapini), I've been thinking about all of the spicy sauteed greens I had there - and half of a giant - I mean giant - squash called Marina Chioggia, something I've never had before.  In line with me was a girl who wanted to try it but didn't have an army at home to cook for, so farmer Adam was nice enough to cut it in half and sell it to us for a song.  More on that later, when I cook the beast.

CSA Report for November 10th

Just a brief trip this morning - Worthington & Clintonville have closed up shop for the year, although there will be the Worthington winter farmer's market this year, of course - the first is Saturday, November 25th 1pm - 4pm at the Griswold Senior Center, 777 High St (161 & High st in Worthington). 

There are still a few intrepid souls out at the North Market - actually, quite a few, considering how cold it was this morning.  The market is still full of pumpkins, squash, greens (it's the best time of year for them) and potatoes, so there will still be plenty out there next week for your Thanksgiving feast.

This week's CSA box included eggs, lettuce, arugula, braising greens, a black radish and a Daikon radish, as well as potatoes and fennel.  And I forgot to take a picture, so please forgive me!

CSA Report for October 27

 
A brief shopping trip, since we are going to be out of town this week.  This week's CSA box included greens, lettuce, a black radish, turnips, carrots, one last tomato, and some eggs.  Most of this went right into the dinner pot - country pork ribs braised in tons of reisling with root veggies and steamed kabocha on the side.  The greens went into some white beans with bacon.  The perfect fall dinner.

So, I will be out of town next CSA day, so I am going to give my share away.  If you are interested in picking it up, please email me.  I will give the information to the first person who shows interest.  You must be able to pick it up from the North Market betweent 8am and noon on Saturday, November 3rd. I don't want to be picky, but it would be nice if you don't already have a CSA subscription.

CSA & Farm Market Report for October 20th

What a lovely day - perfect for football, I suppose, if that's your thing.  Sunny and cool, it's the perfect fall day.  From this week's weather report, it looks as though we'll still have a day or two of nice warm weather, and then we're right into the 60s for the foreseeable future.  My favorite weather.  My favorite time of year.  Squahs!  Turnips!  Rutabagas!

This week's CSA included lots of greens and lettuce, some pretty gourds, garlic, peppers, beets, black radishes, acorn squash, and eggs.  Yum!

I supplemented my haul with some more greens from Toad Hill Organics - arugula and a new one for me, pepper cress, which looks like a curly arugula leaf and is hot!  I also got some (greenhouse) pea pods and tomatoes at Just This Farm:

And my weekly supply of kabocha squash - I'm trying to stock up, because most squash will last for months in a cool part of the house - and some butternut squash. 

And that was about it.  We haven't been doing a ton of cooking lately - too busy working - and we're headed to Napa in about 10 days, so I'm trying to keep things light.

CSA & Columbus Farm Market Report for October 13th

A nice chilly morning for marketing this morning.  I could see my breath as I left the house at 8am.  The best part about this week's market was that, hundreds and hundreds of dollars and weeks later, I finally have my car back.  I celebrated by buying lots of heavy squash.  Thanks to all of you who have offered rides and cars.  I really appreciate it.  Trying to shop without a car was a really eye-opening experience.  Growing up in the country, and then continuing to live in Central Ohio (where we love our cars), living without a car isn't something I am used to.  Husband and I share a car, and while we do take the bus and walk whenever we need to, it's nice to have a car if the the urge to buy 15 flats of soda at Costco strikes.  Busses are very few and far between on Saturdays, and only having 40 minutes at the Market was stressful.  I like to shop leisurely, take things to the car if the load gets too heavy (especially this time of year), and not be chained to the clock. 

On the plus side, I did get a lot of walking in - on some days, I walked as many as 14 miles!

All of that to say, I am thankful to have my car back, and I empathize with anyone who has to negotiate public transportation with 15 pounds of winter squash and a box of cat litter.

Okay, and now on to this week's market!  This week's CSA box included eggs, potatoes, the last of this year's tomatoes, fennel, lettuce, and mustard greens. 

As sparse as the markets are this time of year, I love it.  I love the squash and the potatoes; I love how you can buy things and not use them all this week - how the squash can languish in last week's market bag and still be perfectly find come mid-November.  I love how everything this time of year goes really, really well with pork products.

I suplemented this week's CSA with a variety of greens from Toad Hill Organics: mizuna, red mustard, tender young purple kale, and augula, along with a variety of potatoes.  I bought my weekly ration of shitake mushrooms from Toby Run (who won't be at the market next week); I bought some onion and red bell peppers, and some kabocha squashes from Wishwell Farms.

I hit the inside of the market for some skirt steak, sausage and bacon from Blues Creek Farms. 

And what did you get?

CSA & Columbus Farm Market Report for September 28th

It appears that we will continue to be carless until October 10th, or thereabouts, so I continue to be limited in what I can buy at the markets.  And we will be in Philadelphia this coming weekend, so I'm still keeping things light.

This week's CSA included eggs, a golden squash, onions, lots of peppers - sweet red peppers and also sweet (Hungarian wax, perhaps?) peppers, salad greens, a nice bunch of speckly beans (below) which will no doubt turn green when cooked, a few red tomatoes and another box of those great currant, yellow pear, and Sungold cherry tomatoes.

I had to choose wisely what else went in my bag - and of course we're in the time of year when everything is heavy - so I opted for some Toby Run shitakes and a few sweet dumpling squash from Toad Hill Organics (below).  I've really been craving some more kabocha squash, but it doesn't seem as though very many people are growing them this year.  Last year they were everywhere. 

CSA & Columbus Farm Market Report for September 22

A very abbreviated market day yesterday, because this week our car decided it needed a vacation.  In the middle of Lane Avenue.  And so, before I get to the report, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my father for teaching me how to pop the clutch to get unmotivated cars started.  This was the first time I've had to do it in reverse, in the middle of a four lane street, with lots of angry people yelling epithets at me, but it worked, nonetheless, so thanks, Dad!  (subliminal to Husband: Now can I get a scooter?  Please?)

Okay, so, because I was at the mercy of the Central Ohio Transit Authority, I decided to just go and pick up my CSA and head home.  Which is fine, because we haven't been doing a lot of cooking lately (I know, I know), and I'll be at work every day this week (sigh), so I wanted to keep things light.

This week's CSA box included eggs, lettuce, Swiss Card, garlic, nice red tomatoes and a mixture of currant tomatoes (top of post), yellow pears, and orange cherry tomatoes, mint, and lots of peppers - red and green.