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.

Sumer Is Icumen In

If you're into English medieval music, you'll recognize the title Sumer Is Icumen In as a little ditty probably dating to about 1260. You might even recall Alan Hale's Little John whistling it in the 1938 Errol Flynn classic Robin Hood.

Translated from Middle English it pretty much means what you think: Summer Has Arrived. Nowhere can that be seen more clearly that at local markets.

The produce of spring -- strawberries, asparagus -- are still around but fading fast. Instead, cherries made their first local appearance this past week, with more to come over the next few weeks. Jersey blueberries will be plentiful soon, and it won't be long until we see apricots, raspberries and other summer sweet fruits.

Here's a sampling of what I've found recently:

Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce, Reading Terminal market:
Strawberries, sweet red cherries, Queen Anne cherries

Cylindrical beets at Kauffman's

Strawberries from Beechwood Orchards, Fairmount Farmers Market

Also at Fairmount, favas from Queen Farm

Snow peas from Queen Farm, Fairmount

Hull peas from Queen, which also sells at Headhouse Square

Squash season

This squash went topsy-turvey

On the first Sunday of autumn the Headhouse Square farmers' market offered plenty of winter squash, including the behemoths pictured here from Tom Culton's stall.

I took advantage of the crop to buy a 2-3/4 pound butternut from Queen Farm, turning it into a delicious soup. One of the beauties of butternut is that the elongated end which holds most of the meat is seedless; and it's easy enough to scrape the seeds out of the "ball" end.

The skin peeled off easily with a veggie peeler, then I diced the meat into roughly one-inch cubes. That done, I sauteed a shallot (half a small onion would work, too), in a couple tablespoons of butter until translucent, then added a couple tablespoons of finely chopped sage leaves from the garden, salt, pepper and squash. A couple minutes more and I poured in a quart of warmed vegetable stock I had squirreled away in my freezer. (If you don't have stock, plain water works fine, too.) I cooked until the squash was very tender (starting to fall apart), then took out my handy-dandy immersion blender and whirred away. When almost done, I added even more butter. If you wish (and I recommend it) a teaspoon of plain granulated sugar helps intensify the flavor.

At this point you could do as I did and put it in the fridge. It keeps for at least a couple of days. As the soup was reheating I added some whole milk to thin out the overly thick potage. Classicists wouldn't be wrong in stirring in heavy cream instead.

You certainly don't have to go with sage as the flavoring. This soup would take well to sweeter seasonings: add a diced apple to the squash when cooking and then maybe some cinnamon or grated fresh ginger. Or a carrot or two instead of apple. Or a pear. Even a small bottle of pear nectar does wonders.

Culton labelled this a French pumpkin. Because it's gnarly?

Headhouse: Garlic to Cherries

Green Garlic from Savoie Farms

I'll let the photos do most of the talking from my visit to the Headhouse Square farmers' market this past Sunday. As usual, Tom Culton's displays tend to be the most photogenic, though there's no less artistry to be seen in produce from any of the other vendors.

Strawberries were also still around, and probably will be for another week or so. But cherries have appeared (only Beechwood Orchards had sour cherries for pies) and should become more plentiful over the next few weeks. If you're lucky, you might also come upon some raspberries or apricots. Zucchinis and yellow squash are already in abundance.

Fava beans from Queen Farm joined a table laden with greens, radishes and oyster mushrooms

Tom Culton's slate claims these are cornichons, but that's just a fancy way of saying these
are small, immature cucumbers (a.k.a. gherkins) ideal for pickling

Culton offered two varieties of sweet cherries

Red and white spring onions at Culton Organics