Even on a snow-or-is-that-rain kind of morning in January, it's wonderful to finally make it to our local farmers markets here in Halifax. The spanking new
Seaport Market and the
Historic Market. Both of which are open all year round.
True... it's winter and not much is growing... other than the herbs from hot house farm at
Riverview Herbs. This time the spicy arugula called out to me. I'm sure a
fantastic pasta with this as star is in the mix... or what about a
Winter Salad?
True... there aren't nearly as many shoppers as there are from May through December. Which means it's easy enough for me to stock up on Sweet Willliams Sausages to pop in the freezer and enjoy when I really don't want to brave the elements and want to dish up a
chili or soup &
meat balls.
It also means no long lineups for freshly baked breads from
Julien's. The brioche for my
Honey's special French Toast and the Good Hearth for some a
wesome sandwiches.
Some awesome eggs - actually from two different vendors.
Ran-Cher Acres, my faves for ever for free range eggs, plus some feta and goat cheese with cayenne & garlic, perfect for so many dishes... from scrambles to soups to...
...plus some organically fed eggs (HUGE is an understatement) from Eastern Selected Farm that our friends swear by.
Last but not least before heading over to the other market.... my favorite place of all...
Getaway Farm Butchers for some gorgeous skirt steak.... never picture worthy until after it's marinated and grilled, like this
Rosemary & Garlic recipe. My love affair with Getaway Farm started when I first tried their grass fed beef a number of years ago... even before the move to the Seaport Market and continues to this day. I'm excited to say, next week, I'll be meeting up with their new butcher who is already butchering at the market for us! So stay tuned.
But my market shopping would not be complete without a trip to the "Old Market" and visits to Bill of
Wood 'n Hart farm for some ground lamb and some stewing lamb for more wintery recipes. like the
Lamb & Eggplant Shepherd's Pie I mentioned yesterday.
And then some purple kale, leeks and spinach from
Hutten Family Farm.
Now that I've made you drool... a question... are you lucky enough to have a local farmers market that's open all year? And if you are, I do hope you take advantage. The food is tastier than any that travel miles and miles to get to you. You get to support local farmers and artisan bread, cheese and other makers and purveyors of local foods. For me, there is no better feeling than preparing, serving and eating food that is locally grown and nurtured.
7 comments:
No farmers makers open year round here in the valley, but I can live vicariously through you Ruth.
Sorry to hear and here I assumed that deep in BC valleys it would be more temperate and therefore more local markets year round. Then again... you know what they say about assuming things...
We have a few farmer's markets that are open year round, one that is just four blocks from me! it's life saving. I buy all my produce from them unless something is on sale at Whole Foods that I REALLY want (like Swiss Chard last week). You got some good buys!
Bellini, some of the farmers markets here in Toronto have moved inside for the winter months. You could try contacting some of the larger markets to see if they know about any that have gone inside.
It would be a shame if they didn't!
No markets in winter here either (rural Nebraska, US) but my son is growing rocket and pea shoots in his sunny bedroom window. It shouldn't work, but somehow it just does. We're planting a pot of nasturtiums tonight that we hope to train for growing around the window. Flowers in salad (in winter) would be fantastic.
What I want to know more about is that bread! I love the way the scoring is done on the sandwich loaf.
Joanne, I'm not surprised that NYC has farmers markets open all year... probably all night too ;-)
Shayna, it would be awesome if smaller farm markets could find an indoor winter home.
Goody, the window box garden sounds lovely. As for the bread... it's from a master French baker who moved from France to Nova Scotia years ago. I love the little dollops on the Brioche and the light slashes on the Good Hearth - an amazing healthy bread with lots of seeds, a crisp crust and chewy bread. It's my favorite.
I love vegetables and bread, always eat these things.
I like very much your blog. Congrats!!!
Sara cessione quinto
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