We had a fantastic Opening Day last Saturday!  In spite of those pesky morning clouds and that less than warm breeze, we had a great turnout. Thanks to everyone who came out!

This Saturday we'll have even more produce in the market!  Happy Harvest Farm, Maryhill Orchards, KCK Farms, Old House Dahlias, Hello! Salsa and Dancing Light Ranch, all start this week!   

Plus Dragonfly Forge will be at the market to sharpen your knives and gardening tools while you shop!  We will have this service every second and fourth Saturday of the month!

With Mothers Day just around the corner, we wanted to remind about all the fresh cut flowers and locally propagated plants we have in the market.  There's no excuse to go to Mom's empty handed!  Not into local flora and fauna?  You can pick everything you need to make a delicious Mother's Day meal.  

And of course, with this good weather, we're all anxious to get planting in the garden.  Pick up your vegetable, fruit and ornamental starts and then head to the OSU Master Gardeners who will be at the market again this week to answer all your gardening questions.    

Next week we're hosting Bike to the Market Day, in honor of National Bike to Work Week.  We'll have Velo Cult, our new neighborhood bike shop, in the market to show us all the different ways to carry produce on your bike.  Plus, we'll have a drawing for everyone who doesn't drive to the market. Check in at the info booth to enter!   

And lastly, scroll down to check out this week's article about the nostalgia.  It reminds us why community markets are so special and will leave you with a warm feeling for the rest of the day.     

See you at the Market!

Under the Hollywood Farmers Market dog policy, dogs are welcome at our market between 10 am and 1 pm, as long as the dogs are behaving in accordance with the market's other dog-related rules. If a dog is not behaving in accordance with these rules, the market staff or volunteers will ask that the owner remove it immediately. If you are a dog owner who brings your dog to the market, please take a 

minute to familiarize yourself with these rules so we can continue to have a market where both dogs and humans feel safe.

• Dogs must be kept on a short, non-expandable leash. No exceptions.
• Keep your dog under control and by your side at all times.
• Keep dogs away from produce, plants and other food products. This means head and tail ends!
• Your dog must be sociable to people and other dogs to earn the right to shop at the market.
• Not everyone is a dog lover: Be considerate.
• Come prepared to clean up after your dog!
• Dogs are only allowed at the market between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Walking through the farmers market last week, I sensed a rumbling somewhere in my psyche. The temblor felt good. It seemed to release a sweet scent. It also hurt a little. I recognized the sensation as nostalgia, literally meaning 'home-ache,' the sweet pain of longing for home. Nostalgia stirs longings for our younger, more innocent selves and perhaps for a younger, more innocent nation and earth. The market stirs this feeling in me.

Later, I rooted around in the earth of memory, tried to rub the dirt off my past and stare into it, as far as I could, back to my first farmers market.

Suburban Maryland, forty-plus years ago. Mom drove a long blue station wagon. We four kids piled in without seat belts. I cannot remember much at all, except that it was an indoor space with arched windows, there were many tables of goods, and the farmers and their wives looked very different from the suburban adults that peopled my world. Some were Amish and perhaps their garb had much to do with the delight I felt. It was as if I were transported to another world, one of the ones I wished to inhabit more than my own, the world of Laura Ingalls and the little house in the big woods. More than the foods brought by the farmers, I was drawn to the handicrafts; whittled toys that Pa might have made in long evenings by the hearth, jars of pickles and jams that Ma and Mary and Laura could have cooked up in a steamy kitchen over a big, black, wood-burning stove. What I remember best about the farmers market of forty years ago is that it filled my eight-year-old heart with nostalgia. Apparently, even as children we can be wistful for childhood, even childhoods we didn't have, even childhoods nobody had, exactly.

I have a friend, Pamela Smith Hill, who is an authority on Laura Ingalls Wilder's 'real' life. I was, perhaps unreasonably, surprised to learn from Pamela's biography of Wilder that Wilder's tales of pioneer hardiness and self-reliance turned a rose-tinted lens upon her past. The stories were historical fiction, not history, and the real Ingalls family endured a grittier reality than the archetypal family of the books. So, as it turns out, my farmers market-induced nostalgia was for a fictionalized, idealized world. After some reflection, I've discovered that I'm okay with this. In fact, I really like it.

When I crack open the market-fresh egg of my nostalgia, the initial longing for long-gone Edens is quickly overrun by even an sweeter, more painful longing for future Edens, for tomorrows that begin with the beets and berries before me now. I project the crimson roots into an unforgettably startling soup shared with friends and I picture the season's first berries dropping from my fingers into small, eagerly open mouths. In my imagination, the beets and berries melt into golden moments that someday, maybe, someone, maybe, will remember, maybe, fondly. I like imagining this world. I like making it possible.

Nostalgia blends memory and imagination; fact and myth, hope and desire. Its sweetish scent can be detected in attics, yearbooks, playgrounds and, wonderfully, in the aisles of the farmers market. Where else can you dig around in the earth of memory, touch the taproot of imagination, then eat?

Miriam Garcia is a folklorist-foodie, freelance writer and guardian of a super-secret chicken soup recipe. You can contact her at Miriam_G@me.com 

Music & Entertainment:

Cafe Cowboys

Community Booth:

Hollywood Theatre

OSU Master Gardeners

Song Garden School

Upcoming Events:

Bike to the Market Day - Saturday, May 19

Loaves and Fishes Health Fair - Saturday, May 26

May 12, 2012

Crimson Rhubarb

Peak Forest Fruit

Peak Forest Fruit has crimson rhubarb, and it is popular, so get to the market early for this treat! Technically considered a vegetable, the health benefits of rhubarb include calcium, lutein, vitamin k, and antioxidants. Check out this recipe for a refreshing and simple rhubarb iced tea.

Sugar Snap Peas

Deep Roots Farm

Sugar snap peas from Deep Roots Farm are a healthy, grab-and-go snack for the busy work week! The Sugar Ann variety will be available next week, and is also great sauteed or tossed in a spring pasta with pesto and Parmesan. Speaking of pasta & pesto...

Pesto

Classic Foods

...Classic Foods has plenty of it! You can't go wrong with their naturally flavored linguines and four varieties of pesto, including classic basil, sundried tomato, cilantro lime, and the Argentine inspired chimichurri sauce. Drop by and ask Ben for a delicious pesto sample!

Pear Tomato Plants

Gales Meadow Farm 

With 60 varieties of tomato plants, Gales Meadow Farm has got the flavor profile you're looking for. We especially love their five varieties of small, pear shaped tomatoes. They include the yellow pear, red fig, green, chocolate, and ivory. If you have any questions about the perfect tomato plant for you, the Berblingers have an expert answer for you!  

Savory Masala Pop w/ Papadams

Masala Pop

Newcomers to the Hollywood Market this season, Masala Pop offers a traditional Indian street snack in 3 flavors. Savory Masala with lentil chips known as Papadams are gluten free and vegan. Visit Neha to try a sample of each delicious flavor! 

Asparagus - First test the asparagus, figure out where it wants to naturally snap and break it there. This separates the tender stalk from the tougher end. Repeat with all of the spears. Keep the fibrous ends for another use (see below).

Fill a wide pan with water 2 inches deep and bring to a boil. Drop the asparagus in the boiling water. When the water comes back to a boil, add a 1/2 cup of cold water. Repeat 2-3 times. This evens out the cooking between the tip and the stalk end of the asparagus.

The end bits of asparagus make a great base for risotto. Cut the fibrous ends of the asparagus in finger thick slices. Boil in water for half an hour. Liquefy, strain, and use that liquid to make your risotto!  

from Robert Reynolds' Chef Studio

 Market Pics