Newburyport Farmer’s Market 6/21 and My Top Two Finds!

I was happy to have the Newburyport Farmer’s Market , held at The Tannery, to visit on Sunday. I couldn’t think of a better way to forget about what a chilly, drizzly day it was, and I went hoping to find a couple of things on my wish list, and ready to check out whatever else looked interesting. So with fresh local food on the brain, I pulled into the parking lot, and as soon as I got out of the car I had my first pleasant surprise. The music I was hearing rather blew me away – so unexpected, and I wondered who the band could possibly be! I was so drawn to it, all food thoughts flew out of my mind. After getting my camera protected under my raincoat I followed the musical trail, and imagine my surprise when I got to the other side of the market and saw four high school students playing the best live music I’ve heard in a long, long time.

Meet Transparent 4, a local group that is immensly impressive. Visit the link to get a taste of what they are about, and visit the Farmer’s Market to hear them live – they’re coming back to play!  The dates for that aren’t set yet, but I’ll be sure to find out when it is.

With the great music playing, loads of sights and smells to explore, I completely forgot the rainy weather and had a wonderful time. In fact, right after the first top pick (Transparent 4) I saw what was at the top of my wish list – garlic scapes! These aren’t easy to find so thank you Middle Earth Farms, and it’s simply too bad because I have hundreds of uses for them. (I’m sure to be posting some of those recipes)

If you are not familiar with these, let me give you a short definition here. They are the sprouts from bulb garlic, coming out as the garlic grows and producing bulbils at the tips (vs. a flower). They are cut off as they begin to unwind and straighten, and have a mild garlic flavor that is defined yet not as pungent as a clove of garlic. A simple straightforward way of cooking these is to use them for garlic bread.

After removing the top bulb and tip, slice the  green stem as you would a scallion, add to some butter in a pan on low heat (how much you use of each will depend on how much bread you have). As the butter melts and the garlic scapes heat, the flavor of the scapes will infuse the butter. Salt to taste, spoon over a sliced loaf of bread, heat in a 350 degree oven for several minutes, and enjoy – Rob declared it the best garlic bread he has ever had!  Garlic scapes = top find number 2.

Also at the Middle Earth Farms booth was another thing I’ve been finding to be elusive – heirloom tomato seedlings. I went for the 3/$12 deal, and while the very nice woman waiting on customers offered a list of what each type produced, I decided to pick out three different ones based on variety names I thought were interesting and I’ll just see what comes out….that to me is a lot of fun!

Strawberries were plentiful at the market, like these beauties from Arrowhead Family Farm, local CSA extroidinaire.

Also in abundance was kale – and I chose THAT bunch from Georgetown’s Wheeler Brook Farm. Second to artichokes, kale is my favorite vegetable, and when I got home I made one of my favorite soups, which happens to feature kale.

It was perfect for the rainy cold night. That recipe will be posted soon!

I also came across something I never knew existed – design your own healthy, hearty cereal. Me & Goji offers custom artisanal organic cereals and you can even give it the name of your choosing . It’s a fun website to visit, everything can be done online, they’ll hand mix your creation and ship it to you - but it’s nice to visit them at the market and sample some of the huge variety of available ingredients. Hooray for them!

Also at the market was Kellie Brook Farm , cooking up a storm. They were even making omelets with their own farm fresh eggs. I didn’t get the chance to order anything, but this is going to the top of the list for my next visit!

Also plentiful were herb seedlings. I had to force myself away from them because with the heirloom tomato plants to be put in, I just can’t fit even ome more plant in the garden, and as many pots as I can handle have been planted. But I really did want one of everything.

With enough to keep me cooking for a while, and plants to plant, I had to leave the Farmer’s Market for the day. I’ll be back next Sunday, and I hope lots of other people go as well. The crowd was decent, and I’m glad, because this fledgling market should have all the support possible. Eating locally is common sense for everyone, and this weekly central source should grow and thrive. Cheers to the Newburyport Farmer’s Market and to The Tannery for sponsering them!