Farm Stand Round-Up

Usually, I am a die hard supporter of my local Farmers Market, the 2nd Street Market. This summer, I decided to branch out and visit more farm stands and more markets. We've gone U-picking twice this summer, gone to far flung farm stands in West Alexandria and Xenia. Sometimes I feel like I'm cheating on the 2nd Street Market.

It's cute, isn't it? But let's say you are looking for some variety? The Sugarcreek Farmers market is more like a collection of individual farm stands. It happens every Friday afternoon from 3-7. It's a true outdoor market though- it is in the middle of the field, next to a giant Target and a Petsmart. No joke. Only in Dayton. I'm still trying to figure out how locavores coexist in peaceful harmony with mass market consumerism. Or maybe the market is in the shadow of mass market consumerism? Either way, I find it ironic. At the Sugarcreek Farmers Market I have found some incredible deals on stone fruit. $5.99 a peck? You're kidding, right? I bought about 5 pounds of apples for only $1 a pound. Seriously, it is highway robbery. Sugarcreek also has some more niche/interesting vendors, like the Peaceful Acres Lavender Farm and Harry's Gourmet Garlic. I bought a bunch of lovely, fragrant English Lavender from Peaceful Acres, and I'm still enjoying the scent. Harry's has heirloom garlic, with special varietals like music, Italian, and Russian. I've enjoyed them thoroughly.

I've also frequented the Stubbs Family farm stand. It appears, like a mirage, in a parking lot next to the Tim Hortons on Patterson & Wilmington Pike. You can also find the Stubbs family at the Wright-Dunbar market on Friday mornings. High quality, inexpensive produce. It's great when I've run out of ingredients in the middle of the week. Also, they had the best melons this season. Sweet, with a hint of musk- but not too much.

I've mentioned Tuken's and Berry Hill Farm- both with their own farm stands. I've seen LOTS!! of Farm Stands off of State Route 380- so give it a try. Fall is coming up, and 380 is a beautiful drive.

I've found a lot of farms through the internet- especially a site called Local Harvest You can search by crop and location. I highly recommend it. A simple search for Dayton, OH yields 4 pages of results. For those Grand Rapidians reading this blog, the 49301 zip code (Ada/Cascade) has 3 pages of results- for just that zip code! An Ohio based site, Our Ohio, provides a great round-up of what's in season right now!

PS: I've visited some great farmers markets in other states, too. Kudos to the Ithaca Farmers Market for being super cool. Best selection, as always, goes to my original market, The Fulton Street Market in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Image from here

In Our Spare Time...We'll pick berries

Mr. Radar doesn't have a lot of spare time. So when he does, I always want to do something super special. Special to us does not usually involve exciting, trendy, or crazy activities. When Mr. Radar is home, we spend nearly all of our time together. We devote a lot of our free time to relatively mundane activities, like reading together, walking together, and watching our favorite TV shows on DVD (Gilmore Girls, Mad Men, Pushing Daisies). Another favorite past time is discussing the relative cuteness of our dog, Buddy. He is really cute...but don't get me started!

We decided to take the day off from packing, cleaning, painting, and other house related activities. Mr. Radar, in a rare twist, will be home for almost an entire month straight! A miracle to me, so I wanted to commemorate with a day trip. We decided to go blueberry picking at BerryHill Farm in Xenia. We rounded up Mama Bee (after we had breakfast, of course), and headed to the country. It was a pleasant drive on a cool(ish), cloudy day.


We came home with nearly 10 pounds of blueberries!!! and three pints of raspberries. We enjoyed the farm so much, we will be going back next week for more raspberries. I'll be making a Lavender scented blueberry jam tomorrow, with Mama Bee and Grandma Bee. Thank you Caroline, for the recipe & inspiration.

I'm also committed to making a homemade meal every single day this week. I'm hoping this makes up for all of the bad restaurant food we ate while moving. Tomorrow, expect a very jammy Sunday Supper. As well as a delicious chicken salad recipe, grilled pizza, boozy basil peaches from theRunawaySpoon, quinoa experiments, and the much prolonged pickle recipe.

Market Marvels: 2nd Street Market finds!

Every Saturday, I go to the 2nd Street Market. I like to go early- as they say, the early bird gets the worm. I certainly hit the jackpot this morning! Let's have a look:

Great stuff, huh? It's no secret that I'm passionate about local produce. I'm downright tyrannical. I will often go to 3-4 different markets a week. Mr. Radar, being the ever patient husband, obliges me. This week, though, I found everything that I wanted at 2nd Street.
There were quite a few surprises this week, including these delightful tart cherries from Flying Mouse Farms of Yellow Springs:

This is Flying Mouse's first appearance at 2nd Street. What a splash! I love, love tart cherries. Other shoppers scoffed at the cherries, because they "take too much work." I think that most Ohioans do not have a thorough appreciation of the tart cherry. As a Michigander, I was thrilled. I had tears in my eyes, my mind filled with fond Michigan Memories.

These beauties are from Hungry Toad farms. Mike Malone is delightful, and his produce is top notch. I've frequented his stand for about four years. Mike's farm is being encroached upon by suburban sprawl. Mike's been farming organically for over 30 years, and is resolved to keep his farm and fight the sprawl. Keep fighting, Mike!

Arugula and snap peas from Ben and Emily Jackle of Mile Creek Farms Mr. Radar and I befriended Ben and Emily several years ago. We love to support their business. They have fantastic produce and flowers. I especially like their Arugula in my pesto!

Lastly, the pork lady of KJB Farm. I know, those are eggs. I'm devoted to these eggs; they are consistently fresh and delicious. I don't recall ever getting a bad egg from KJB.

If you, like me, love food, check out your local market. Daytonians, make sure to check out the offerings at 2nd Street today. It's good, local fun.