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Dane County Farmers' Market eNewsletter |
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Saturday, April 18, 2009
6:30 am - 2:00 pm
On the Capitol Square |
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009
8:30 am - 2:00 pm
200 Block of Martin Luther King Blvd.
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Join our list
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 This Week ...
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Mary Uselman of Don's Produce is all smiles when it comes to spinach. The
Uselmans will also have mixed greens, arugula, perhaps cat nip, and maybe
a few other surprises at Saturday's market.--Photo by Bill Lubing
Dear DCFM Enthusiast,
After much anticipation the Dane County Farmers' Market moves to its summer quarters on the Capitol Square this coming Saturday, April 18.
With the construction on the Square abated, we can expect a more typical configuration of vendors than we had last year.
As usual, several high school and college students are using the Farmers'
Market for various aspects of their projects, according to Market Manager Larry Johnson. They are doing research now to
finish their work by the end of the semester.
Larry reports that, "It's fun to help the students
with their activities. I don't keep track of all of the calls and emails but
the topics include: Farmer interviews, video projects (two or three at the Senior
Center this winter), marketing plans, career paths, various journalism stories,
economic studies, growing techniques, and human interest stories. Many of the
students do very well - and a couple of them will probably flunk!" We'll overlook your optimism, Larry.
Larry expects around 100 vendors this Saturday, April 18. "To have 100 vendors at a producer-only farmers' market in the early spring would make most communities drool with envy," he notes. "We are so fortunate to have so many creative producers and such a supportive community of customers!"
The new 2009 REAP Farm Fresh Atlas will be available at Market this coming Saturday. You can find it at the DCFM info booth at the top of State Street.
Finally, people are already asking about the effect of the Crazy Legs Run on next week's April 25 Market.
Larry's word on that? "The DCFM is always open on the Square. Other events happen around the
Market. The Market is open before, during, and after the Run. Crazy Legs will
NOT affect next week's Farmers' Market.
Take care and I'll see you at Market.
Bill Lubing
bill@dcfm.org
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'Taste of the Market' Breakfast
Concludes with an Awesome Finish
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 Our Dane County Farmers' Market "Taste of the Market" breakfast volunteers, farmers, and other vendors helped to create a hugely successful final breakfast of the year. We thank them all so very much, not for just this breakfast, but for their hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm. It really made the winter pass quickly. For many of us our time in the kitchen was more than just volunteering. It was a special time of the week to spend with friends in celebration of a subject dear to our hearts -- this community of farmers, producers, and consumers who support the Dane County Farmers' Market. We especially would like to thank Chef Tory Miller of L'toile for supervising this last breakfast along with several previous ones. And a very special thanks and kudos to DCFM Volunteer Coordinator Ruth Miller and Kitchen Coordinator Judy Hageman. These two women brought a level of professionalism to their craft that resulted in the best year ever for the "Taste of the Market" breakfast!
And there was a lot of it. Next, a truly fine chef like Tory Miller
shows how the great ones play the kitchen like a theatre organ, using
both hands and feet. Smooth teamwork on the serving line
is critical to "keeping the line moving." Bottom: Care to guess
how many eggs we used for the last breakfast?
If you guessed 41 dozen you guessed too low.
--Photos by Bill Lubing
Return to In This Issue Contents
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Recipe: Watercress Soup
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Fresh watercress
Recipe: Watercress Soup
T'is the time that brings watercress
gathered at the heart of our rural springs. Watercress soup, low in calories
while high in flavor is a great dish for those of you that control
diabetes.
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1.5 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
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2 bunches watercress
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8 cups low-sodium chicken, turkey or
other broth
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2 medium Russet potatoes, thinly sliced
(peeling not necessary)
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Salt (optional) and freshly ground
pepper to taste
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2 cups skim milk
- Place the oil on the bottom of a large saucepan, making sure to coat the
entire surface.
- Add onion and saut� until onion is limp, about 4
minutes.
- Meanwhile, rinse watercress and drain. Add the
leaves and tender stems to the saucepan and saut� for 2 minutes.
- Add broth and potatoes. Cook, covered, until
potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes.
- Transfer part or all of the mixture (depending on
desired consistency) to a food processor or blender. Process until smooth.
Return the mixture to the saucepan and season with salt (if using) and pepper.
Stir in the milk and reheat, adding a bit of skim milk (if desired) to thin to
desired consistency.
- Serve in wide, shallow soup bowls, floating a lemon
slice on each serving if desired.
Recipe adapted from diabetic-recipes.com.
Return to In This Issue Contents
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At Market This Week |
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We strive to keep this list as accurate as possible. We probably missed an item or two that is at the market or listed an item as available when it is not. Please use this as a general guide to what's at the market this week. Products we are expecting include parsnips, horseradish, onions, radishes, ramps,
shallots, cut flowers, pussy willows, dogwood, popcorn, and nuts. This is in addition to the onions, potatoes, spinach, canned goods, bakery, and other products that are carrying over from last season. While it's still a little early to be putting the tomatoes into the ground, we will see some live plants available for your garden. Christa Barknecht from Tomato Mountain Farm says they'll have some lettuce and other products for transplant available at market this Saturday. Mary Uselman of Don's Produce says they'll have four or five boxes of tomatoes, which won't last long.
Kay Jensen, from JenEhr Family Farm reports that in addition to their roasting chickens, "great stuff" is coming out of the hoophouses. They'll have Bekana, a tangy napa cabbage family green, lemony sorrel, French breakfast radishes with greens, a red and yellow mustard mix, onion chives a few storage cabbage, onions, and frozen tomatoes. Market Manager Larry Johnson
reports that there are 18 new vendors this year. Many new vendors grow
vegetables, fruit, and flowers and so they'll show up later. Two new
vendors with non-vegetable products we may see this Saturday are Brenda Jensen from Westby with sheep milk cheese and David and Valerie Heider of Janesville with bison products.
BreadsBiscotti
Cheesecake
Cinnamon rolls
Cookies
Doughnuts
Sicilian Empanadas Flat breads
Muffins
Panettone
Pastries
Ragusa style Sicilian semolina bread Scaccia Sweet breads
Tea breads
Torts
Cheese
Cheese curds
Goat cheese
Sheep milk cheese
World-class aged cheeses
Decorations
Candles
Decorative gourds
House plants
The final smile of the season from the
DCFM "Taste of the Market" breakfast. --Photo by Bill Lubing
Fresh Cut, Dried Flowers
Cut Flowers
Pussy
Willows
Red Curly Willow
Red Dogwood
Willow Wreaths
Fresh Vegetables
Arugula
Bekana
Herbs
Horseradish
Mustard greens
Radishes
Ramps
Shallots
Salad mixes
Spinach
Sorrel
Fruit
Apples
Jams, jellies, preserves
Pear and apple butter
Raspberries, frozen
Strawberries, frozen
Tomatoes
Live Plants
Bedding plants
Nursery stock
Prairie Plants
Vegetable, herb, and flower transplants
Woodland plants
Meats (Grass and grain fed)
Angus beef
Beef
Bison
Brats and sausage
Chicken
Conventional cuts
Duck
Emu
Ham
Highland beef
Lamb
Pork
Rabbit
Special cuts
Specialty Items
Bloody Mary mix
Butternuts
Candles
Eggs
Flavored sea salt
Flour
Hickory
nuts
Honey
Hot sauces
Infused olive oil
Mushrooms
Pesto
Popcorn
Salsa
Soup
Sunflower oil
Tomato sauces
Vinaigrettes
Winter Vegetables
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
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Market Information |
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A mix of blue and yellow. --Photo by Bill Lubing
Saturday Outdoor Market Schedule (Starts April 18)
Date: Every Saturday during the Summer and Fall
Hours: 6:00am to 2:00pm
Where: Downtown Madison on the Capitol Square
Wednesday Outdoor Market Schedule (Starts April 22)
Date: Every Wednesday during the Summer and Fall
Hours: 8:30am to 2:00pm
Where: 200 Block of Martin Luther King Blvd.
Parking
Questions About the Market?
If you have any questions about the market or the vendors, please contact the market manager, Larry Johnson, at 608-455-1999 or email him at larryj@dcfm.org. The DCFM website provides much information as well.
Dane County Farmers' Market
Volunteer OpportunitiesPlease contact Ruth Miller at ferngulley@mhtc.net for information about volunteering at the market breakfasts (winter months only) or during the outdoor market at the information booth. It's fun, rewarding, and really appreciated by the market-going public.
Friends of the DCFM
For information on volunteering for any educational projects and programs on the Square or becoming a member of Friends of the Dane County Farmers' Market contact Danielle Wood at friends.Danielle@gmail.com.
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Looking Ahead ...
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Lettuce for your table or your garden. --Photo by Bill Lubing
Last week I spent a few minutes chatting with John Carr of Pecatonica Valley Farm. We were talking about the transition from the indoor to the outdoor market. Experienced enough to remember working horses in the field, John says the friendly, some would say jolly, atmosphere of the indoor market reminds him of the threshing bees of his youth. People came from the multitude of neighboring farms to help with the threshing. There was a feeling of kinship, reliance, and trust in your neighbor that was of a lingering flavor far sweeter than that of the grain being processed for future dinner tables. Earlier that day Mark Olson of Renaissance Farm suggested I write a piece on the sense of community, of coming together that happens at the first outdoor DCFM. There are so many people that haven't seen each other for months, he says. It's a time to renew friendships, take up conversations silent since the past November, speculate with heads together about the course of this brand new market season. John says there aren't so many farms in his neighborhood these days. Folks don't get together for threshing bees unless it's in an historical context. Yet John adamantly insists the feeling of genuine community he grew up with thrives at the market. For Mark there is nothing disingenuous about the affection and kinship that envelopes the market. It's that part of the transaction registering zero on the scale, yet bringing so many of us to the market week after week, season after season, year after year, indoors or out. They say no rain on Saturday, April 18, the first market of the new season. Even if it does, most of us will come anyway.
Sincerely
Bill Lubing
DCFM
bill@dcfm.org
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