Tremont Farmers’ Market has another year under its belt and the season certainly was exciting.  With relatively few hitches, we made the permanent move to Lincoln Park after getting our feet wet last fall.  Our little village has been transplanted, and we are taking root.  Like the trees that provide us shelter in the park, we are getting grounded and strong, spreading our branches to provide sustenance for Tremont and beyond.

Mother Nature certainly did not fail to remind us who is really in charge, as we dodged branches, rain, hail, tents and lightening this year; fortunately no serious injuries! 

Thankfully, the season closed with the weather that makes us love fall.

I’d like to once again pay homage to all the vendors who sold at the market.  They put in countless hours of preparation year round to sell at markets, and mange to be cheerful and excited about their work after arising in the wee hours to harvest, pack, drive and unload and setup. 

 And we would be nowhere without the customers, the folks willing to come out, no matter the weather.  It’s wonderful to have faces become familiar from week to week, and a pleasure to welcome newcomers.

In addition to the vendors and shoppers, I feel blessed to have the help and support of many folks in the community.  Some extraordinary folks.   First of all, a special, personal thanks to Kristen Trolio for handling market bureaucracy with good cheer.  And for, well, everything.  Ricardo Sandoval has supported the market in so many ways this year.  He provided storage space for market stuff; had two sandwhich boards built; did a few cooking demos at the market; hung market posters.  AND, on several occasions, has helped set up the market!  Now that is dedication!  Owner of three local restaurants (Fat Cats, Lava Lounge and Felice’s Urban Café), Ricardo also regularly supplies his kitchens with produce from TFM.  More thanks go to my neighbor, Nancy Thompson has given me free range with her truck to haul market tents, tables, etc.  Without her generosity, getting our stuff to market would be extremely difficult.  Helen Bauman created the design for our bright and cheery postcards and fliers, and developed an official logo!  Jenita McGowan helped with organizational details and also organized some dance performances at the market which were a big treat for all of us!  Trish Supples communicated with and scheduled the folks who participated in the new Environmental Space.  Camille George started a Kid’s Corner, where each week she had some form of creative enterprise to entertain the younger crowd.  And the whole gang of folks that helped in numerous ways including getting postcards and fliers out there, brainstorming, internet advice, market setup and tear down, moral support:  John Briggs, Trent Boerner, Nicole McGee, Marc Dorsey and Hope Schultz.  Thanks to Sister Corita and the guys from St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church for allowing us to use their bathrooms and generally keeping an eye out for us!  Muchas gracias to Jerry Guffey, Kate Sopko and all others at Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ who helped us with the screening of Polycultures: Food Where We Live.  In addition, a big tip of the hat to Tom Kondilas and David Pearl, first for creating the movie and then bringing it forth to the community with such eagerness.  Thanks to Susan Conover and Willie from WIC who helped us register more farmers and helped bring more folks to the market.  Financially, our 2009 funding came from grants from Neighborhood Connections, the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Joe Cimperman.  And many, many thanks to my husband, Jim Richards who helped with internet/computer glitches, helped gather stuff when I needed it, and generally put up with a zoned out wife when I entered into “market mode”.

 This year we also branched out and held two holiday markets in November and December to test the waters and further our commitment to local food.  The markets, held at Pilgrim Church were cozy and cheerful, and very encouraging for the future. 

We are now preparing for 2010.  The market will be opening our tents a bit earlier this year, our first market to be held on May 4 in response to both vendors and customers to expand our season.  I miss my market family, and am looking forward Tuesdays in Lincoln Park !

TFM: We don’t claim to feed the whole world, but we can certainly help to nourish and sustain our little corner.  Food for the community, food grown and produced by folks with faces and names, not a corporate logo.

Peace and Happy New Year,

Jody Lathwell, Market Manager

Here’s an interesting idea:

Plant Exchange Details
Coit Road Farmers Market
15000 Woodworth (216) 249-5455
October 10, 2009 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.

Goal: Is to promote sharing between people and to trade your excess with others

Calling all plant lovers, Coit Rd. Farmers Market is hosting a Fall Plant Exchange.
You can bring all of the following(s) to exchange with other gardeners
Perennials
Annuals
Shrubs & Trees
Houseplants
Seeds & Bulbs
Succulents
Cuttings
Ground Cover & Grasses
Vines
Rules
Bring healthy potted plants
Bring a minimum of 5 plants and receive 5 tickets
Leftover plants will be donated to the market
Include growing condition, sun, shade, height, name, color and bloom time if known
Seeds can be put in labeled envelopes with at least 10 seeds per packet
Package bulbs, corms, and tubers in labeled bags of 3 to 5 bulbs
You may offer whether you want anything in return
Be careful when planting anything aggressive that spreads or self seeds
To control seedlings remove the blooms before they set seed
Plants must be labeled with some information before they will be accepted

Everyone Can Participate Free Of Charge!!

Invasive Plants-Sweet Woodruff, ajuga lamium pachysandra, vinca, myrtle, lily of the valley, lamb’s ear, creeping jenny, roadside daylilies, yarrow, gooseneck loosestrife, black-eyed susans, shasta daisies, violets, lemon balm, mints, valerian tansy, oregano, monardo (Bee Balm).

What could be more fun than judging a cooking contest with four of Medina’s best chefs at the Saturday farmers’ market?  Picture a glorious September morning with rows of market tents covering tables filled with sweet corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, bright bouquets of flowers on a green common.  Now add the smells of garlic, olive oil, and roasting apples.

   I could really get used to this job! 

Gary Quesada – Main Street Café, Chris Rose – Good Taste Culinary (Catering), John Kolar – Thyme, the Restaurant, Mark Simak - The Medina Steakhouse & Saloon, and August Scarpelli – Sully’s Irish Pub worked their craft putting forth samples for the crowds and beautiful plates for the judges. 

Everything was tasty, but there was an important difference between the winning chef, John Kolar of Thyme the Restaurant, and the others.  One of the criteria for judging was “creative use of products from the market.”  This was not the only criteria, but John’s understanding of the use of local, seasonal foods made his offering outstanding in every category.

 He didn’t say so, but I could tell that John started with the market—what’s in season and how to make those products as delicious and visually appealing as possible.  The result was an acorn squash stuffed with a mixture of butternut squash, other vegetables and gnocchi made from market potatoes.   There was a side of butternut squash soup flavored with a little vanilla bean that enhanced its sweetness in a surprising and subtle way.  John clearly knows his ingredients and wants to show off the best our local bounty has to offer.  This is the mindset of the locavore chef.

Not every chef has this understanding or commitment.  There were other yummy treats that contained products from the market, like Sulley’s smoothie made with raspberry and chocolate goat cheese from the Caprine Dairy and a beautiful heirloom tomato and beet salad with local lettuces offered by Good Taste.

But I hope those talented chefs learned something at the market that I have learned over the years: getting to know your ingredients from the ground up, restoring the experience of seasonality, starting with your local farmers to build your menu can be a delicious and rewarding enterprise: for your farmers, your customers and your restaurant!

Congratulations, John (he won the customers’ choice first place as well!)

More and more farmers’ markets are using social networking to remind customers to shop for what’s in season and support the community of farmers and eaters.  Check out what the Tremont Farmers’ Market manager, Jody Lathwell, is doing to help us get to know farmers:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cleveland-OH/Tremont-Farmers-Market/71372531712

Red Basket Farm in Ashtabula has wonderful products as you can see in the short video.  And the Tremont Farmers’ Market is a lovely new addition to Tuesday evenings in Termont.

Mary

What a great market this last weekend at Shaker square. Melons are finally starting to come in with some variety, we picked up some Passport (a honeydew cantaloupe cross very sweet and soft,) French cantaloupes (the most aromatic  and superb with a bit of sea salt,) Korean melon (a yellow skinned white flesh melon with a good bit of crunch) from Rainbow Farm. I cleaned them out mostly for the lack of planning cause I should have called in a day ahead; sorry Tina. I shop a bit compulsively on Saturday mornings, and while it does make my life a bit hectic it feels right. A few phone calls save a lot of runaround but it always just hits me when I’m in front of the stand, chatting with whomever “ Ahh, look at these red candy onions!” and then I know what’s going out today.

    We have been stocking up on garlic, a mix of hard neck from the Green Corps Stand and the Music and Spanish red from Rootstown Organics for 2 weeks now, it seems we can never get enough in time for the holidays and winter. We have also been doing a lot of pickling and room temperature preservation with a natural ferment (think crock pickles and sauerkraut) so we are going to do a test run with the music garlic this week and I’ll get back to you and let ya know how it turned out.

       Tomatoes are still having a tough time with the cool evenings but we just got our first few heirlooms from Heritage Lane. They grow such an amazing variety of produce; I got half of my list there: White cabbage, leeks, banana peppers, chilis, basil, parsley, cilantro, baby zukes, tomatillos and two eggplant. Moving on down the line we couldn’t have been happier to see the shitakes of the perfect size at Killbuck’s stand and promptly got them stuffed with country sausage, white grass fed Colby  and diced candy onion and run out to Mary’s house just in the nick of time.

     This weekend we had a very cool event for the SOS dinner pre party at Michael and Liz Symon’s house. There were a lot of culinary heavy hitters there so I was driving myself crazy with details while we smoked a hog for 24 hours. All in all it was great, I love feeding people that appreciate and pay attention to food and not just to filling up. It was great talking with some folks and then getting tickets to the SOS dinner for the next day was a real treat.

     After the dinners and the hog roast it was nice to get in my garden on Sunday morning and prep my winter beds. I’ve been getting spent oyster columns from Tom at Killbuck and using it as mulch and tilling it is. As well as the 2.5-4 tons of food scraps that got composted out of the kitchen last year and the generous amount of goat manure from Jean at Mackenzie Creamery we have been very fortunate with our yields this year. Hoping to get the turnips, beets, chard, cardoons in this week, and follow with the kale and rapini, and winter spinach by the end of next week. With any luck we should be getting the low tunnel frames in by the beginning of September. This is my first year of any season extension beyond burying my crops with leaves, so the challenges should be plentiful. Wish me luck.

Cheers,

Ben

Underpaid and Overworked - the old adage applies to farmers, ‘cottage’ vendors and market managers alike.  Farmers markets are full of folks working, not for the love of money, but in pursuit of lofty ideals.  Be it ‘local food’, sustainability or self employment, all of us have our reasons for doing what we do; and we toil long and hard for what we believe in.

The struggle continues as well intentioned government oversights create unintended consequences for small scale, independent businesses and farmers.  Cuyahoga County Health Inspectors are shutting down vendors at area markets in front of customers and damaging their reputations for violations which are subject to interpretation.  The issue is the cooling of meat and dairy products.  Inspectors can deem mechanical refrigeration necessary for any item containing dairy, even baked goods, at their discretion.  However, some items can be kept at the proper temperature with simple coolers.

The mechanical refrigeration requirement affects at least a third of all vendors at farmers markets as well as the markets themselves.  It is costly for vendors to purchase refrigeration units and it is costly for farmers markets to set up the infrastructure to provide electricity to these additional vendors.  These costs may be prohibitive, cutting in to vendor’s already slim profit margins and market’s tight budgets.  Perhaps inspectors could take these things into account as they ‘interpret’ the mechanical refrigeration requirement. 

Jenny Burger, Market Manager

Kamm’s Corner Farmers’ Market

Editor’s Note:

This issue is not new, nor is it going away.  Those of us who love our markets and the great food they provide must stay alert and active in supporting our rights to buy the kinds of foods we know are safe from farmers we trust.  Obviously, people have been selling meats, dairy, eggs, and bakery items safely for hundreds of years before there was electricity.

The City of Painesville is very excited to announce the return of the Main Street

Farmers’ Market.  The Market started in the middle of May with the farmers featuring early greens, beddings, hanging baskets, honey, baked goods; pies & breads, organic teas, coffee & beverages, candles, maple syrup & candy, jellies, vegetable plants, annuals, perennials, strawberries (when in season), craft items, early produce, hand crafted soap, herbs.  As the season changes from spring, to summer, then fall, an abundance of fresh, Ohio-grown fruits and vegetables will be added to the mix.  This marks the tenth year anniversary for the market and it will run every Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m.  The Farmer’s Market can be found in the parking lot of the Job & Family Services Building on Main Street between North State and North Saint Clair Streets through October 22.  Come and support your local farmers. 

For more information visit www.painesville.com.

In general my kids- ages five and two- are typical for their ages.  They love a dish one day, and the next it is completely out of the question to think it would pass their lips.  This time of year, however, it isn’t hard to find something that they are excited to eat.  The snap peas are in full swing, and they are eating them with abandon.  Earlier this week we took a trip to the farm where my husband works to pick enough for dinner, and they ate more straight from the plant than what I put in the bag.  At home, I sauteed the remainder in a little butter, with salt, pepper and a bit of mint tossed in at the last minute. These, too, were gobbled up in no time flat.  The carrots are beginning to make an appearance, too, and I’ve even seen my five year old jump up and down with excitement at the prospect of a fresh carrot! It makes a parent proud to see children eat vegetables without being goaded to do so, and fresh carrots and peas are surely appealing to many youngsters because they are so sweet and crunchy.

Farmers’ markets all over Northeast Ohio have booths over-flowing with snap peas right now.  In contrast with those found at the supermarkets, farm-fresh snap peas are still crisp and full of life, bursting with flavor.  Buy an extra quart or two now for blanching, and in the winter you will be glad you did.  Local, freshly dug carrots are hands-down my favorite vegetable. Their commonplace appearance belies their remarkably sweet and earthy, full-flavored crunch. 

The Countryside Farmers’ Market at Howe Meadow is in full swing, and our second market at Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens opens for the season on Thursday, June 25^th from 4-7pm.  There is no entrance fee to come to the market, and you can also enjoy free access to the magnificent grounds before or after you shop.

Many other Northeast Ohio markets have recently made or are making their debut this week, and I’m sure there’s one close to you, with a container of peas (and perhaps a bunch of carrots) that has your name on it.

See you at the market,

Beth Knorr

A fantastic picture is emerging from the mosaic of farms in Northeast Ohio.  Folks are connecting on the street, in their gardens, and online.  Both gardens/farms and websites are popping up with incredible frequency, within Cleveland and in the surrounding region.  Urban farms and farmers’ markets are also sprouting up at an amazing rate, and I have the pleasure of managing the young Tremont Farmers’ Market in Cleveland.

The story of the Tremont Farmers’ Market started in the fall of 2006 with a small group of urban growers who decided to create their own market in a neighborhood that craves access to fresh, healthy food.  Most of the growers participated in the OSU Extension Market Gardener Training Program, met up in Lucky Park and delved into their first season of growing professionally.  Fast forward to the present, June 2009, and TFM has expanded into Lincoln Park.  The market has also grown to include farmers from outside the city, but still continues to be a venue for city farmers.  This year’s urban growers include Redozo Farm, The Garden Boyz, TUFS (Tremont Urban Food System), and Wonder City Farm (which currently grows in urban and rural settings).  We strive to make the market accessible to new growers as well as seasoned farmers. 

Beautiful Lincoln Park

Opening day is Tuesday, June 16 in beautiful, historic Lincoln Park, from 4:30-7:30 pm.

Available at the market this year are fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, cheese, meat, eggs, bread and other baked goods including vegan baked goods, flour, brownies, honey, maple syrup, coffee, plants, cut flowers, repurposed art, wonderful jewelry and knitted pieces.  Musical guests are market openers Lisa and Heather Malyuk.   Chef Ricardo Sandoval, owner of Fat Cats, Lava Lounge and Felice’s Urban Restaurant, will be showcasing his amazing culinary combinations in a cooking demonstration.

Our stories may seem small at times, but added together, we are becoming a force Together we will gather to grow food, break bread and grow stronger.  Together we will connect the plots and feed Northeast Ohio.

Peace and good eats,

Jody Lathwell, market manager

More info:  www.tremontfarmersmarket.com