Headhouse Returns for 10th Season

Barry Savoie of his eponymous organic farm helps customer on opening day at Headhouse

Radishes at Blooming Glen Farm

The Food Trust's Yael Lehmann snipped the ribbon to open the 10th season of the organization's farmers' market under the shambles at Headhouse Square.

A healthy contingent of 24 vendors -- including six that were actually selling fresh produce you could actually bring home and eat -- showed up under the constant rain. Additional vendors are expected next week. Crowds were sparse (at least during the market's first half-hour when I visited) but eager to take advantage of the offerings.

Asparagus, one of the quintessential vegetables of spring, could be found at two stalls, A.T. Buzby and Three Springs. Buzby also offered hoop house tomatos, while Ben Wenk of Three Springs mostly featured storage apples and prepared items, including ketchup as well as canned fruit, jams and preserves.

Blooming Glen was back with two kinds of ravishing radishes (traditional red globe and French breakfast), along with arugala, leaf spinach, green garlic and a few other items. Queen Farm had its usual assortment of oyster mushrooms and at least six varieties of greens.

Weaver's Way, the northwest Philadelphia food coop which operates two small-scale farms, was big on greens, too. Like Queen Farm they also offered colorful lilac flowers. Savoie Organic Farm had some cabbage, but otherwise only offered seedlings of tomato and vegetable plants for sale, as did Happy Cat Farm.

One new merchant this year: High Street, offering bread products from it esteemed bakery. Wild Flour Bakery was back in its usual spot. (Ric's baked goods are expected back next week.)

Sue Miller of Birch Run Hills Farm with her cheeses (and veal and pork products) returned, as did Hillacres Pride, offering cheese and other dairy products as well as meats. And Shellbark Hollow returned with its capric dairy offerings.

Other vendors at  the season's first market: Bennett Compost, Good Spoon (soups), Griggstown Farm (poultry, pies), Green Aisle Grocery (jarred foods), John + Kira Chocolates, LaDivisa (charuterie), Longview Floweres, Market Day Canele (sweet and savory baked goods), Paradox Vineyard (wine), Philly Fair Trade Coffee Roasters, Shore Catch (fish), and Spring Hill Farm (maple syrup).

פאַרמערס מאַרק אין ראָדעף שלום

Congregation Rodeph Shalom

Those are Hebrew characters in the title, but the language is Yiddish. Translation: Farmers' Market at Rodeph Shalom.

The Food Trust's newest farmers' market will have its official opening this Sunday. (Last Sunday was the "soft" opening.) The market at Congregation Rodeph Shalom, on the east side of North Broad between Green and Mount Vernon, will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Rodeph Shalom is the oldest Ashkenazic Jewish congregation in the western hemisphere, but the opening day ceremonies will be decidedly ecumenical. Among the participants will be the pastor and choir of Mother Zoar United Methodist Church, which traces its history to 1794, a year before Rodeph Shalom's founding. The two congregations are located within three blocks of each other.

Though not as large at The Food Trust's Sunday Headhouse Market, the Rodeph Shalom market will offer prototypical noshes for a Sunday brunch: smoked fish and bagels. In addition to the Smear It food truck (bagels, cream cheese and other spreads), the market will feature as one of its vendors Neopol Savory Smokery, a Baltimore-based maker of hot smoked salmon, gravlax, and other smoked fishes. Other vendors are scheduled to include Drum's Produce (vegetables) from Bloomsburg and Frecon Farms (cider, fruit) from Boyertown.

Peaches, Apricots Bloom at Fairmount Market

Beechwood's apricots

Sour cherries from Beechwood

Beechwood Orchards brought a truckload of the season's first peaches to the farmers' market at Fairmount and 22nd Street this afternoon. Most were yellows of the "Sentry" variety, but they also had a crate of "Red May" peaches.

Another first-of-the-season stone fruit making its debut at Beechwood's stall: apricots. In addition to lettuces and a few other veggies, Beechwood also featured sweet red cherries ($8.50/quart, $4.75/pint), white cherries ($5/pint), sour cherries ($7/pint), black and red raspberries ($4.50/half-pint), and blueberrries ($2.50/half-pint, $4.75/pint). Peaches were $2.50/pound, apricots $4.50/pint. They also had some early variety plums at $4.50/pint.

As I've noted repeatedly over the last few weeks, the best buys in local produce can be found at L. Halteman Country Foods at the Reading Terminal Market, where today's fruit offerings included blueberries ($4.19/pint, $5.49/quart), black raspberries ($3.99/half-pint), and sweet red cherries ($3.99/pint, $5.19/quart). If you need larger quanities for pies, ice creams, etc., Halteman's is where to shop.

Seasonal Farmers Markets Open

Countryside Farm & Bakery at today's Fairmount Farmers' Market

 Although a few farmers markets operate year round (Rittenhouse, Clark Park and Fitler Square), the first week of May brings the official opening of the area's sesonal venues.

The first to open was the Fairmount market at 22nd and Fairmount, which runs Thursdys from 3 to 6 p.m. into November. Two produce vendors -- Countryside Farm & Bakery and
Queen Farm -- Wild Flour Bakery and The Pop Shop (popsicles) were there for opening day.

Needless to say, produce pickings were slim, but the items offered were of good quality, particularly the kale, scallions and fresh garlic.

I was hoping, but not really expecting, to find local asparagus. Although some area growers -- particularly those in the warmer parts of Delaware -- have a little, the main crop won't begin until next week, although I would expect to find some at this Sunday's Headhouse market. However, expect to pay a stiff premium until the bulk of the harvest begins. Fair Food had some from Delaware at the Reading Terminal Market today; Benuel Kauffman offered some of what he said was asparagus from his garden, but more will be available next week.

Headhouse Opens, Shy Some Delayed Vendors

Opening day shoppers at Headhouse Square

Culton's black salsify

Five vendors didn't make the opening bell for the first 2013 session of the Headhouse Square Farmers Market, including Happy Cat Farm and Queens Farm.

The culprit was traffic. If the morning closure of the Broad Street exits of the Schuykill Expressway and I-95 because of the Broad Street run wasn't enough, a tractor-trailer crash on the northbound interstate made sure the five vendors -- and thousands of other travelers -- didn't reach their destinations on time. Shortly after the opening Katy Wich, manager of the market for the sponsoring Food Trust, said all were expected to show up, just later in the day.

There were some produce gems to be had from the growers who made it on time.

Tom Culton featured scorzonera, also known as black salsify, and some over-wintered parsnips with gorgeous celery-like tops, as well as some early aliums.

Blooming Glen's radishes

Blooming Glen Farm had a nice variety of greens, including Russian red kale and broccoli rabe, along with a huge mound of pristine French breakfast radishes.

Other produce vendors included A.T. Buzby, with plenty of Jersey asparagus as well as hothouse tomatoes; Three Springs Fruit Farm with plenty of storage apples; Weaver's Way; and Root Mass Farm.

Among other vendors at today's market were Frecon Farms, selling hard cider and apple vinegar; Porc Salt, with Matt Ridgway's charcuterie; Sue Miller's Birchrun Hills with her cheese, veal and pork; Griggstown Qual Farm; Hillacres Pride, cheese, poultry, eggs and beef; Otolith Sustainable Seafood; and Weaver's Way. Market Day Canele and Wildflour were the two bakers who showed up on time (Ric's was delayed by the traffic).

Headhouse wasn't the first of the seasonal markets to open in May. On Thursday the Fairmount Market, also sponsored by the Food Trust, opened for the season. New to that market this year is Queen's Farm, replacing Earl Livengood.

Strawberries and Rhubarb

Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards

Mystery produce

They're the ultimate spring pairing: sweet strawberries and tart rhubarb. Dave Garretson of Beechwood Orchards had them Thursday at the Fairmount Farmers Market across 22nd street from Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site.

Expect to see more of his produce (including tomato plants for your patio garden) at Rittenhouse Square Saturday and Headhouse Square Sunday. Beechwood Orchards will be skipping the Tuesday market at Passyunk and South this season.

Also at Fairmount this past Thursday was Earl Livengood, who offered the unusual item of produce pictured at right. The first person who correctly identifies what it is will earn a mention in the blog. (That's all I can afford.) Although I skipped the mystery produce, I did buy some of Earl's curly endive, which I love as a salad.