I Love June

Three Springs Fruit Farm at Headhouse

In April we see small, nearly-hidden harbingers of what's to come: fiddleheads, ramps, perhaps morels if we're lucky. Then in May the bounty starts with cool-weather crops like lettuces, greens, and, late in the month, our first fruit: strawberries.

Now that it's June the welcome crush of produce has commenced.

The strawberries are peaking and will remain in their full glory for at least another three or four weeks, getting us through the Independence Day weekend with cakes, ice cream, tarts and just mixed with yogurt or eaten plain. The quality has been excellent once we got beyond the early crop. The berries I picked up the last two weeks from Beechwood Orchards, both at the Headhouse and Fairmount farmers markets, have been excellent: red to the core, sweet, flavorful, juicy. Prices, however, have held steady at $7/quart from most vendors, with an occasional offer of $5.50. I have no doubt pints and quarts from vendors other than Beechwood are just as good. The Wenk family's Three Springs Fruit Farm, like Beechwood located in Pennsylvania's Fruit Belt in Adams County, north and west of Gettysburg, also was selling good-looking berries today at Headhouse. So was A.T. Buzby from South Jersey's Salem County, as well as smaller farmers. But as is almost always the case, the best deal on local berries is at the Reading Terminal Market, where L. Halteman Family Country Foods sells them for more than two bucks less a quart.

Chinese lettuce

Cool-weather lettuces are also plentiful. One of the most unusual is the Chinese lettuce sold by Queens Farm at Fairmount and Headhouse. The dense firm stalk can be stir-fried or added to soups, though I'm not a fan. What has been delicious from Queens Farm is its tomatoes. We're still a month away, at least, from the real tomato crop, but Ed Yin has brought in a taste of late summer before the solstice arrives. He starts out his heirloom varieties under plastic but in the ground, rather than a hothouse. Queens Farms is also the place to buy oyster mushrooms and Asian greens.

The prior Sunday I went mad buying sugar snaps and snow peas. I passed by one stall and grabbed a pint of sugar snaps and brought them back to the car. Then I headed back under the Headhouse shambles and found snow peas, forgetting all about the sugar snaps I just purchased, and bought a pint of those, too. I never bothered to cook any of them. Some were consumed out-of-hand, others dressed with either a vinaigrette or mayo-based dressing. I'm thankful our houseguests during the week helped me go through them. That allowed me to pick up a pint of yellow string beans from Tom Culton at today's Headhouse market, along with Chiogga beets.

Another late spring treat from a number of vendors: red new potatoes. I turned a pint from Culton to a simple potato salad, but they'd be great boiled or steamed to accompany a slab of salmon.

Culton's cornichons

Cucumbers have been showing up with some regularity, both the traditional "garden" variety and kirby cukes, ideal for pickling. Last week I bought a pound and a half of Culton's "cornichons", though they looked like kirbies to me. After three days in a simple salt brine (with fresh dill, lots of garlic and some coriander seeds) they were ready.

She Who Must Be Obeyed loves red radishes, and there were plenty to choose from today at Headhouse. I picked up a bright red, white and green bunch of French breakfast radishes from Savoie Farm today.

Hull peas, a.k.a. English peas, have also been available since last week, both in the hull and shelled. Culton was selling the latter like hotcakes today at Headhouse, and other vendors offered them, too. They'd be a great veg (and a New England classic) to go along with that salmon and potatoes, especially if you use lots of butter. For those who really enjoy shelling legumes, Culton and Queens farm are selling Fava beans.

Speaking of legumes, Iovine Brothers Produce at the Reading Terminal Market has had fresh chick peas (garbanzos) for a few weeks, $3.99/pound. Shell them and briefly boil them as you would English peas. I passed them by only because I had just defrosted a container of cooked dried chick peas I made a couple months ago. Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce also offers shelled peas.

Pricey Local Strawberries Arrive

The Reading Terminal Market was first with local strawberries this season. Both the Fair Food Farmstand and Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce offered quarts today for $6.99 and $6.95, respectively. Expect to see more at local farmers' markets this week at similar prices until the main crop arrives in another couple of weeks.

Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce

Fair Food Farmstand

Strawberries and Snap Peas

Lettuce deal at Iovine Brothers, Reading Terminal

For the past two Sundays there have been strawberries at the Headhouse Square Farmers Market, courtesy of South Jersey grower A.T. Buzby. They've been deep red, inside and out, with decent but not knock-your-socks-off flavor. I've had some leftover in the 'fridge for nearly a week, without too much deterioration.

The relative refrigerator longevity derives from the design of the berry, introduced about a dozen years ago in Florida for its commercial industry. It was created for its ability to withstand the rigors of long-distance shipping and still retain good color, shape and flavor.

In coming weeks we'll see plenty of other stawberries with deeper flavor, if sometimes less perfect shape and a more diminutive size. But as a harbinger of things to come, Buzby's product was much welcomed, and delicious atop fresh-baked Bisquik short cakes with fresh whipped cream.

Asparagus has come into its own, and what I've had has been good. Two weeks ago Tom Culton had both cultivated and wild asparagus. Tender spring greens are easy to find, too, including dandelion greens suitable for adding raw to salads or cooking.

Another welcome returnee at last Sunday's Headhouse market was a snow pea variety of sugar snap peas at Culton's stall. The regular sugar snaps should be appearing soon, too.

Farmers' markets don't have a monopoly on local produce. At the Reading Terminal Market Iovine Brothers Produce has been featuring local lettuces. Earlier this week there were gorgeous heads of Boston lettuce for 89 cents a pound. Today I spied baby romaine heads at 99 cents. Both come from Flaim Farm, a large grower in South Jersey. In addition, the Fair Food Farmstand at the RTM offers plenty of local produce, including those strawberries from A.T.Buzby.

Headhouse Produce Roundup

 Profusion of Strawberries, Early Zucchini and Peas

With its position at the head of the Headhouse Shambles, Blooming Glen Farm does boffo business

Strawberries-by-the-pint were plentiful and reasonably priced at today's Headhouse Square farmers market, ranging about $3.50-$3.75. A.T. Buzby and Beechwood Orchards offered the best deal, however, with quarts selling for $6.50.

Zucchinis made their first appearance of the season at both Culton Organics and Buzby. Tom Culton sold out early, but at 1 p.m. Buzby still had some at $1.50/pound.

Culton had tons of long, beautiful asparagus ($7.50/pound, iirc), lots of radishes (as did just about every other vegetable farmer), some broccoli, tiny beets with pristine greens ($3/bunch: buy them for the greens, not the beets), and snow peas at $5/quart. The star of Culton's offerings, as far as I was concerned, were the tiny shelled peas, $5 for a half pint. I tasted a few raw and they were as sweet as could be.

Lettuces and other salad greens filled farmers' tables, too. I picked up some head lettuce at Blooming Glen and perfect looking endive at Weaver's Way.

Traffic at the market seemed quite variable. More than one vendor told me that they'd go from being slammed with long lines at one moment, to no one five minutes later, only to be slammed in another five minutes.

The two orchardists at the market, Dave Garretson of Beechwood, and Ben Wenk of Three Springs Fruit Farm, said sweet cheeries are only about two weeks away, with sour pie cherries a week or so behind that.

Produce Roundup: Reading Terminal Market

Early Peas at Kauffman's

Kauffman's peas and pods, berries and other spring produce

Along with the rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce at the Reading Terminal Market unveiled the season's first English peas, sugar snap peas, and cucumbers.

Prices were dear on the peas: $7.99 on both the English peas in the pod and the sugar snaps. Ben Kauffman also had shelled English peas, which if I recall correctly were priced at $7.99 for what looked like a half-pint container. Ben says he does the shelling by hand, not machine. Also showing up this week at Kauffman's: beets, scallions, and radishes.

I would expect farmers' markets this week to also start displaying local peas.

Over at Iovine's the local strawberries were there, but hard to find. More prominently displayed were clamshell packs of California "stemberries" -- huge berries still showing stem -- at quite reasonable prices. If you want a strawberry as a centerpiece, this is for you, but even though the flavor is decent, they still can't compare with the locals.

The best bargain in local berries I've seen so far is at L. Halteman, which had pints for $3.29 and quarts for $5.79.

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.

 Beechwood Orchards at Headhouse

Berries and  Cherries

Summer's bounty of  berries and cherries could be found at most markets this weekend.

Over at Beechwood Orchards at Headhouse I purchased $5/quart pie cherries, which I'll transfom into sherbet and/or cobbler. Beechwood also had them at Rittenhouse yesterday. Another stone fruit also made a Beechwood appearance, apricots, at $3.75/pint. Dave Garretson didn't have many, but expects more in coming weeks.

Beechwood's sweet cherries (red or the yellow-pink Rainiers) were $7/quart, compared to Three Springs Fruit Farm's $8 (two pint price) for reds. Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce sold reds Saturday for $6.99/pound, which translate to about $9/quart. His Queen Annes were pricier, at $7.99/pound.

(Garretson said he sells Rainiers rather than Queen Anne's because the latter are easy to "fingerprint," i.e., they bruise as soon as you pick them with your fingers.)

Blueberries from local growers are also in season, whether they come from the commercial (but nonetheless quite tasty) South Jersey growers ($3.75/pint, iirc) or farmers market vendors (about $5/pint).

Raspberries, both red and black, could also be purchased. Beechwood's cost $5 for a half-pint box. Some vendors still feature strawberries for $6-$7/quart.

Asparagus has disappeared for all practical puposes, but there are lots of other veggies to replace them. Summer squashes are abundant, and eggplant is now available, too -- $1 apiece for Sicilian or regular at A.T. Buzby's Headhouse stall today. Green and yellow string beans, sugar snap peas, sweet or English peas (shelled or still in the pod), garlic scapes, cucumbers (regular "garden" cukes, kirby cukes for pickling and "seedless" varieties. The last type makes fantastic "quick" Scandinavian style pickles to serve alongside cold salmon. Boiled new potatoes (also abundant at local markets) makes another excellent accompaniment to that salmon. And you've got lots of choice in greens for both cooking and salads. Beets and turnips are also widely available.

Leafy herbs -- parsley and cilantro among them -- are also easy to find now, as are spring onions.

If you can't wait another month, corn is available but you'll pay dearly. Buzby had white ears today priced at 75-cents apiece. I'll wait for peak season when even Tom Culton will occasionally sell his (including the mirai variety) at less than half that price.

   

Strawberry Season Fades in Heat Wave
But Cherries May Make It To Market This Weekend

Shopper at Beechwood Orchard's stall
at Rittenhouse Square last Saturday.

While May weather created some of the sweetest, most flavorful and juiciest strawberries I've sampled in recent years, the extreme temperatures of June are making it a short season.

The normal peak of the local strawberry season is early to mid-June, with late season berries continuing until the Fourth of July. But it looks like we'll only have another week of berries from most growers.

But fear not: sweet cherries from local orchards should appear this weekend, according to Benuel Kauffman, who operates Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce at the Reading Terminal Market. Ben says sour cherries for baking should be available by the end of the month.

Iovine Brothers' Produce at the Reading Terminal Market only sold berries from Bucks County's Shady Brook Farm for a few weeks; their season is done with now.

Prices at the RTM and local farmers' markets have ranged from $5 to $8/quart for strawberries, with most vendors at about $7. It's possible that if a vendor has a bunch of heat-softened, less than pristine looking (but incredibly flavorful) berries, you might be able to cut a deal. They'd be great for preserves or ice cream. I'm planning to turn the quart I bought from Ben today into sherbet (which is nothing more than a sorbet with some milk added).

Snow peas and new red potatoes at Kauffman's.

Don't expect to see local asparagus for much longer either, or the more tender lettuces, like Bibb. The latter does particularly poorly when Mother Nature raises the thermostat setting.

Beets, however, have started to turn up at farmers' markets. Some red baby beets I roasted last week (purchased from Blooming Glen at Headhouse) were sweet as could be.

Local cucumbers have also started to make their appearance. Fair Food at the RTM and A.T. Buzby at Headhouse were selling them at three for a buck; Iovine's had South Jersey beauties at five for a buck. I made some great kosher pickles (just a salt brine with pickling spices, no vinegar) this week. Iovines was also selling salad cucumbers at two for a buck.

The hot weather means it's a fine time for potato salad. All the local markets have baby red potatoes which are ideal. I used Mark Bittman's recipe last week, which calls for some onion and radish (I also added a little celery). When the potatoes are still hot, toss them in a mustard vinaigrette.

Boiled red potatoes were a traditional accompaniment to local salmon in New England, back when local streams still had vibrant Atlantic salmon runs. Those days are long gone, but John Yi at the RTM had a price break on wild Alaskan king salmon today: $19.99/pound; last week it was $21.99. Sockeye was, iirc, $15.99. The king filet I slow roasted a week or so ago was superb.

Queens Farm offered favas, sweet peas, sugar
snaps and snow peas Sunday at Headhouse.

Legumes are also making their seasonal debut, as seen at Queens Farm at Headhouse last Sunday. They were selling favas at $2.50/pound, sweet peas at $2 a pint, both in the pod. 

Those peas, the last of the asparagus and some carrots would make a great pasta primavera.

It's too hot to make Chile Relenos, but Iovine's had some fantastic looking, large poblanos today. They and the jalapenos were priced at 99-cents a pound. Red bells were $1.99, half a buck cheaper than the frying peppers.

Headhouse, Fairmount Markets

Asparagus, carrots from Tom Culton at Headhouse

Joseph Mack of Sunny Side Goat

Asparagus abounded at the two farmers' markets I visited this week: Headhouse on Sunday and Fairmount yesterday.

But even strawberries could be found, at least at A.T. Buzby's Headhouse stall. I demurred from purchasing a quart ($6) since they were grown under plastic. I'll wait a few weeks more 'til the true sun-drenched beauties appear, though Buzby's certainly looked worthwhile if you wanted to rush the season a tad.

My biggest find at Headhouse were the small bouquets of lilacs sold along with mushrooms and greens by Queen Farm. I miss the huge display of regular and French lilacs that Earl Livengood sold when he was a the Reading Terminal Market. Dwain Livengood explained that they didn't sell lilacs anymore because they are only at outdoor markets, where the wind does a number on the delicate petals. Dwain did have Lily of the Valley plants, with their altogether different but just as pleasureable scent, at Fairmount yesterday.

Although I've enjoyed chevre many times in the past, I had never tasted its source milk before yesterday. Thanks to Sunny Side Goat Dairy, operated by Joseph and Joanna Mack, I sampled some raw goat milk, and found it fresh and delightful with no "goaty" flavor at all (nor should it have any). In addition to various chevres and the milk, the Macks also sell goat meat (lovely in curries) and yogurt.

Last week Dwain told me he's now selling lamb raised by a neighbor, and plans to run his own flock. Among the cuts Dwain had yesterday was lamb breast, either in whole or riblet form; I bought the former and plan to indirectly grill it this weekend.

 

Hothouse tomatoes, cherries, strawberries at Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce

Berries to Cherries

Summer is drawing nigh. Just look at the produce at the Reading Terminal Market. At Iovine Brothers' the peaches have crept up from Georgia to South Carolina (and one local farmer said his early varieties will be ready in just a couple of weeks). Strawberries are starting to get soft with a little more mold and will soon disappear, but the first cherries have appeared.

The cherries could be found today at Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce where proprietor Ben was selling pints for $3.95. His English peas, in the hull and snow peas were $3.90/pound, red new potatoes $2.95/pint. Over at the Fair Food Farmstand, snow peas, sugar snaps and English peas were $3.50/pint. You could save considerably on sugar snaps by walking over to Iovine's where they were $1.99/pound; although their provenance was not marked, the one I sampled tasted as about as fresh as what I've found in farmers' markets.

Old and New Vendors
at Headhouse Market

Blooming Glen Farm made its seasonal bow at the Headhouse Square Farmers' Market Sunday.

Chard (a beet variety grown for its leaves) added colors beyond green with its many-hued rib, as you can see from the photo. Blooming Glen always has one of the most overflowing stalls at Headhouse. Lack of early produce is why they usually skip the first few weeks of the season, instead waiting until they can begin to display a cornucopia of produce.

Blackbird Heritage Farm made its first-ever visit to  Headhouse. The Townsend, Delaware, farm grows produce and raises sheep, pigs and turkeys for meat sale. Since they're located a tidewater farm, it would be great if they could let their sheep feed on the salt marsh, which lends a distinct tang to the meat. As it is, their sheep are raised on ewe's milk and pasture and, according to the website, have a mild taste due to low levels of lanolin in the breed.

Tom Culton, after a week's absence, was back, this time with plenty of strawberries, including the $8/half-pint tiny French fraise de bois (forest or wild strawberries). His considerably larger and more conventional berries were priced at $7/quart, essentially the same as at Blooming Glen and Three Springs ($3.50/pint). The best berry bargain could be found at A.T. Buzby, whose IPM berries, large and sweet, were $5.50/quart (two for $10).

Ramps, Fiddleheads Still Here

The Fair Food Farmstand at the Reading Terminal Market had plenty of fiddleheads $16/pound) and ramps ($4/bunch) this afternoon. They are considering adding a ramp supplier from a more northern area of the region, which means at least a few added weeks of availability. Both ramps and fiddleheads were quite fresh and in good shape. I'll be combining the ramps I bought today with mushrooms (both roasted) to accompany leftover flank steak.

Bunches of different greens were prominently displayed at Fair Food today, too, all supplied by Paradise Organics. In addition to a variety of tender greens for salad, you could obtain Lacinato and Curly kales, rainbow chard, collard greens and mustard greens.

A.T. Buzby's Jersey strawberries, available at $5.50/quart Sunday at Headhouse, could be had today at Fair Food, with a markup to $7.

Simply for comparison's sake, I picked up a pint of strawberries at Iovine Brothers' Produce, $2.49, from their contract Bucks County grower, Shadybrook Farm. These berries are smaller than Buzby's giants, but still nice sized. They get the taste test for dessert tonight.

Beyond berries, Iovine offered plenty of other local produce, especially various green things from Flaim Farm in South Jersey. Bunches of spinach were featured out front for 99-cents, but there was also green and red leaf, Boston and romaine lettuces, arugula, dandelion,  green chard, leeks, basil, cilantro, radishes and sweet potatoes from Flaim and other South Jersey growers.

They weren't local, but the 'C' sized red and yukon potatoes (photo above) sure looked tempting, especially at 99-cents/pound. Might be time for some potato salad.

Busman's holiday?  Tom Nicolosi, proprietor of Dinic's, can't get enough of the heat from his ovens. So he went out and bought himself one of the Green Egg outdoor ceramic barbecues. He started experimenting last weekend and loves it; he even is going to try to make red gravy (Italian tomato meat sauce) in it!

In my garden, the chives are starting to flower. They should be fully open tomorrow when I'll add the edible blooms to salad.

Strawberries Galore, and Local
Headhouse begins new season

At today's opening of the Sunday Headhouse Square market the biggest surprise came from A.T. Buzby. Despite my prediction as recently as yesterday that local strawberries had a few more weeks before they made a solid appearance. Buzby had loads of them, grown out-of-doors. The quart I purchased ($5.50) is destined for dessert tonight, but the single berry I tasted -- admittedly, the reddest in the bunch -- was real. Good flavor, and it will require only the smallest boost from some added sugar.

Tom Culton of Culton Organics had a line of fawning purchasers for his pricey produce today. He also flashed a small quantity of morels at me, which he said he should have available next Sunday (figure north of $100/pound, which would make them expensive, even for fresh morels which usually sell for about $65). The ones Tom displayed looked big and clean. Whether I'd pay that much for them is an entirely different matter.

Ringing the opening bell for the 2010 Headhouse Square Farmers Market were Lindsay and Brad Lidge. The Phillies' reliever and his wife have long been active in local charities both here in Philadelphia and, before that, in Houston when pitcher was an Astro. Lindsay, who has a background in nutrition, will be writing healthy eating tips weekly for the Food Trust's web site.

There were plenty of vendors at Headhouse today, though Blooming Glen, which usually anchors the southwest entrance to the Shambles, was missing. Katy Wich, manager of the market, said the farm has skipped opening day in recent years because they just don't have enough to sell so early in the season. Among all the produce vendors at Headhouse, Tom Murtha and Tricia Borneman's Blooming Glen usually has the cornucopiest stall, overflowing with great looking produce, so it's worth the wait.

Strawberries Push the Envelope

Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce offered local strawberries at the Reading Terminal Market today. But only technically. These berries, priced at $5.95/pint (two for $10) were raised indoors, according to Benuel Kauffman. Don't expect to see outdoor grown local strawberries for at least another two weeks, more likely three.

Ben also had some gorgeous looking indoor-grown seedless cukes, at least a foot long each.

Both Iovine Brothers Produce and the Fair Food Farmstand are selling veggies from New Jersey's Flaim Farm. Both, for example, had Flaim's leeks ($1.75/pound at FF, $1.95/pound for smaller examples at Iovine's).

As I wrote last year when Iovine's began carrying Flaim's produce (sometimes marketed under the name Panther), the Vineland farm produces romaine, kohlrabi, spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, swiss chard (green, red), rainbow kale, turnips, napa cabbage, squash, eggplant (four varieties), peppers, escarole, endive. tomatillos and scallions on 450 acres. The farm was established in 1934 and is now operated by brothers Kevin and Bob Flaim. They also sell at the Collingswood Farmers’ Market.

Iovine's is also handling another producer's output in common with Fair Food: eggs from Natural Meadow Farms, Lancaster County.

Fair Foods still had fiddleheads today, $16/pound. No sign of ramps anywhere at the market, but FF had some rather pungent fresh spring garlic. IPM asparagus was $3.30/bunch, chemical-free stalks $3.50.

Most of the halibut I see at the Reading Terminal hails from Alaska, usually frozen. Today, at a savings of $7/pound vs. the $18.99 for the Alaskan version, John Yi had firm white filets from Canada. I bought some to try tomorrow. One of the fishmongers said it's slightly "fishier" than the Alaskan version, which is no sin in my book so long as it's fresh. Boston mackerel also made a reappearance at Yi's, $2.99/pound for whole fish.

Jim Iovine was touting tomatoes and corn this week. I tried the former, and they weren't bad: $1.49 pints of cherry tomatoes that, if they didn't quite taste like summer, came close. 

At the Reading Terminal

Wan's Seafood has the first Boston mackerel I've seen this season, but it was pretty wan-looking, and pricey at $3.49. Better to wander over to John Yi's or Golden Seafood: both were selling Spanish mackerel, $2.99 at the former, $3.49 at the latter. Spanish mackerel is just as tasty as the Boston variety, and quite similar in taste and a tad more meaty.

Speaking of seafood, you could get your shrimp and grits for breakfast today at the Down Home Diner. The Rock Shrimp Scampi and Grits special was $7.99.

Iovine Brothers Produce still had ramps, $1.99 for a bunch of four to six. Earlier this week I par-boiled the whites, chiffonaded the greens and added them to a foil package of halibut, carrots and parnips before baking for 17 minutes at 425F.

In addition to the ramps Iovine's had another sign of spring, California strawberries, $1 for a one-pound clamshell. And to go with them you could buy intensely ruby-red rhubarb from the Pacific Northwest, $3.99/pound.

A new item at Iovine's is Tropicana-branded clementines. It's the end of the season, but this Califormia citrus, selling at $5.99 for a five-pound box, had an intense, alluring aroma when you break them open.

Ramps
Return

It must be spring, because Iovine Brothers Produce touted the first ramps of the season this week.

They're only $1.99 a bunch . . . but the bunches are very small. The one I picked out seemed the heftiest, and it weighed out at only two ounces. That puts the cost at somewhere around $16/pound. It's a good thing a little goes a long way. I plan to use them with some halibut tonight.

Also featured at Iovine's this week:

• California strawberries, $1 for a one-pound pack
• Lettuces, 99-cents a head (romaine, iceberg, green and red leaf)
• Asparagus (U.S.), pencil thin, $1.99/bunch
• Seedless grapes, $1 for one-pound pack

More Strawberries

Earlier this week Iovine Brothers Produce featured California strawberries at $1.99 for a one-pound clamshell. Today they added Florida berries at the same price. As good as they looked and smelled, I'm still holding off until our local berries appear in May.

A Little Bit of Spring

The chives in the backyard container started to shoot up last week, enough so I could clip some as a soup garnish last evening. But that doesn't mean we'll see local produce anytime soon. Maybe we'll see ramps (and they won't be local) by late March, and perhaps some tiny potatoes from Earl Livengood by mid-April, but asparagus will have to wait for late April, and strawberries another three weeks or so beyond that.

But if you're hankering for spring, there's alway Mexico and California. Iovine's Brother Produce offered asparagus and strawberries this week at reasonable prices, and the quality didn't look bad.

The Mexican asparagus, $1.99 for a one-pound bunch, was thin and bright green; though the purple-topped local variety will no doubt be tastier, these didn't look bad.

The California berries were huge, if not fully ripe. $2.50 for a one-pound clamshell.

Cacus pears must be in season in Mexico and Southwest. Both Iovine's and O.K. Lee have been selling them at bargain prices. The former had slightly smallish ones today at five for a buck today.

Fish and Fruit Tales

A one-pound pack of strawberries for $9.99? Get used to it, at least for the next month or so.

The freeze in Florida and heavy rains in California are taking their toll on off-season winter produce. At Iovine Brothers Produce at the Reading Terminal Market today, the clamshells of Driscoll California strawberries were as expensive as I've ever seen them, $9.99.  In late January and into February, Iovines frequently features strawberries from Plant City, Floriday, at bargain prices, typically $1 or $2 for a one-pound pack. Don't expect to see them anywhere near that price this winter. The Florida freeze hasn't yet impacted citrus prices but Vinnie Iovine expects they'll start heading north over the next week or two. He's even, for all practical purposes, out of leeks! About one-third of Florida's total winter fruit and vegetable production has been lost to the freeze.

The Dutch and other growers will take up some of the slack for some of the items, but they'll be priced to reflect the shortages caused by natural phenomena. Chilean fruit isn't expected to be heavily affected, since most of what they grow isn't duplicated during winter in California and Florida, but even the Chilean grapes have been dear, with better quality bunches selling for upwards of $4.99, though some smaller Chilean seedless grapes could be had for $1.99 today.

Vinnie expects his display bins of specials will be heavy on the root vegetables, rather than fruit, in coming weeks.

Supply, demand and inventory hold their sway over fish prices, too. At John Yi today the mackeral was selling for $1.99, vs. $2.49 yesterday -- they gotta move it before it becomes too old. Meanwhile, Golden priced mackeral today at $2.99. A similar price discrepancy could be found in sardines: $4.99 at John Yi and $1.99 at Golden; there was no discernable difference to my eye in size and quanity between the two fishmongers.

Crowds were thick at the RTM at mid-morning today. Partly that was due to the opening of the home show across the street at the Convention Center,  but also because of a soccer convention that ends today. Yesterday, DiNic's ran out of roast pork by 4:30 p.m., which Joe Nicolosi attributes to the soccer crowd.

June in November

When winter arrives, I'm a big fan of frozen fruit, particularly berries. Nothing like some tasty, sweet and tart blackberries to mash up with a full-fat yogurt for breakfast.

With its recent expansion the Fair Food Farmstand at the Reading Terminal Market has more room in its freezers, so it's added another fruit to its small frozen selection: strawberry puree. The one-pound packs from Green Meadow Farm, a delicious looking red, are priced at $5. I haven't tried them yet, but I can't imagine theyd be anything but excellent.

Another summer fruit you can enjoy in winter are peaches. Canned peaches from Three Springs Fruit Farm (one of the vendors at Headhouse) can also be found at Fair Food; I went through a few cans last winter and thoroughly enjoyed them.