Need an extra excuse to don your Halloween party hat? We’ll start the festivities first thing in the morning on this rare Halloween Farmers’ Market Saturday! Hot apple cider at the manager’s booth to keep your tummy warm - bring your own mug! Prize for Best Non-Pumpkin Jack O’ Lantern! Pumpkin decorating for the wee set. GREAT music! Face painting! Any painters’ tips go straight to fundraising to bring Remote Area Medical to DC - they are a volunteer Corps of doctors, nurses, vets, and pilots who provide free health care, dental care, eye care, and veterinary services to remote and underserved areas.
Meanwhile, the Brussels sprouts are IN! My sister Juliet now of Madison, WI turned me into a lifelong fan of the adorable little cabbages by roasting them with olive oil and salt, and maybe a splash of balsamic vinegar to get a little caramelized crust on ‘em, but seriously, they are naturally sweet when cooked in the oven. Throw all the loose leaves in the roasting pan too, my little brother Alex (6 foot 3 inches little) loves the crispy burnt bits.
Happenings at market:
- At 9am Gabe and Julia will be bringing us that classic MtP market sound with banjo and fiddle.
- Then at 11am, just in time to make your skeleton rattle, Son Cosita Seria from Veracruz, Mexico is back to show us how to really celebrate the Day of the Dead .
- Farmers’ Market Bike Clinic: Air, Oil, Advice, and More. Thanks for all the volunteers and turnout over the last few crummy weekends, I’m so happy to see that the biking doesn’t stop!
Noteworthy Events:
City Blossoms is hosting a Fall produce cooking demo at the Girard Children’s Community Garden in Columbia Heights (near 14th and Girard). This Saturday, October 31 from 10-11:30 with Chef Jamie Forsythe of B Bistro. Check out their gorgeous garden and get some great ideas for what to do with all the harvest bounty at your farmers’ market!
On to the seasonal foods:
Truck Patch Farms: Brussels sprouts, arugula, kale, spinach, mesclun, radishes, tomatoes, a few peppers, red and white potatoes, broccoli, savoy and green cabbage, white cauliflower, winter squash, and green tomatoes. All sausages, all cuts of pastured pork. Black Angus grass fed beef. Eggs. Order in advance at order@truckpatchfarms.com for chickens. Start placing orders for turkeys now! Bryan is raising the standard Broad Breasted but they’re raised on pasture and grubs, not grain stuffed and confined, giving them moister, more flavorful meat.
Tree and Leaf Farm: Perfect Hakurei turnips, succulent arugula, salad greens with edible flowers. Beautiful broccoli and fingerling potatoes. Carnival winter squash. Chard, kale, collards, and cabbage. New winter radish varieties: Green Luobo, China Rose, Purple Hilds Blauer, Watermelon, Black and Daikon. Sweet peppers, hot peppers, green tomatoes. Italian parsley, rosemary plants, dahlias.
Quaker Valley Farm: Try samples of Fredi’s Honeycrisp Applesauce this weekend! Comes in Apple Strawberry, Apple Apricot, Spiced and No Sugar. Delicious apple cider that you can try hot up at the manager’s table. Bosc, and Red and yellow Bartlett pears. Fuji, York, Imperial, Jonagold, Mutsu, Rome Beauty, Honeycrisp, Gala, Gold, and Ida Red apples.Winter squash and pumpkins. Sweet potatoes, onions and potatoes. Tomato sauce, jam, honey, apple butter, eggs, and popping corn.
Groff’s Content Farm: Family farm raises 100% grass-fed and -finished lamb and beef, pastured Berkshire pork, beautiful pastured eggs and chickens. Plus tasty pet treats. Ask about ordering turkeys for Thanksgiving.
Painted Hand Farm: Full line of all naturally-browsed goat meat cuts: whole legs, leg steaks, shoulders, burgers, chops. Humanely-raised “rose veal”, German-Style Bratwurst links and pork-free sausages. See the WaPo article featuring Painted Hand Farm’s Sandy Miller this week!
Richfield Farm: Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, turnips, rutabagas, radishes, and red, yellow, and chiogga beets. Potatoes. Broccoli, green, orange, purple and white cauliflower, and Romesco. Savoy, green, and red cabbage. Swiss chard, collards, kale, toscano kale, dandelions and tat-soi. Maybe some brocolli rabe that self seeded from last year. A few tomatoes and green and red peppers andgreen beans left. Winter squash. Fresh or dried flower bouquets depending on if it rains Friday. Gourds, little pumpkins, Jack o’ Lanterns and ornamental corn.
Keswick Creamery: Raw milk cheeses, blue cheese, feta, ricotta, quark and yogurt, and chocolate pudding.
Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Company: Beautiful goat cheeses - crotins, ricotta, chevre. Ash, Silver, and Chipotle are creamy and rich, Gold is like a wedge of firm brie.
Reid Orchard: Grapes, apples, ciders in many flavors, including grape, cherry, and pear.
Atwater Bread: Organic sourdough and yeasted breads: Peasant Wheat, Caraway Rye, Cranberry Pecan, Kalamata Olive, traditional San Francisco Sourdough, Ciabatta, Country White, Chili Cheddar, French Baguette, Spelt, Sunflower Flax, and more. Brownies, cookies, scones, muffins, and granola.
Panorama Bakery: Baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, sliced loaves, danishes, sticky buns, apple turnovers. The mini ciabattas were perfect for breakfasts this week with egg salad and bacon and a bit of lettuce.
See you in the morning! Please bring your own bags for shopping.