“The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do.” — Galileo
Hello Hudson Farmers' Market Friends!
Hudson Market Haul
In our normal HMH feature, we’re showing off Christabel’s adorable wagon filled with strawberries and rhubarb from Samascott and basil starters and geraniums from Don Baker Farm. She made sure to share that eating and planting go hand-in-hand for her during the summer. And, that this little red wagon is a huge help at market each week. We’re loving that all her goodies are on theme, perfectly complimenting each other and honoring the abundance of summertime!
In our extended feature, we’re focusing on the newest push from our vendors to promote biodegradable bags! Red Oak Farm has switched over to a plant-based cellophane bag replacing plastic ones. These bags are sturdy, compostable, resistant to condensation, and make their greens look like shimmering jewels when the sun hits it just right. You can find salad greens, kale, and spinach in their new bags. They will also have heads of lettuce, dandelion greens, herbs, beets, salad turnips, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for blueberries making their appearance in the next couple weeks. We are so proud of Red Oak for making this sustainable switch!
Weekly Recipe: Cucumber and Feta Dressing
1 large cucumber, peeled and diced
1/2 of a red onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of yogurt
1/4 cup of lemon juice
4 to 6 oz of feta, crumbled
drizzle of olive oil
coriander, cumin, black pepper, and sea salt, all to taste
small handful of chopped mint and cilantro
Process
Throw the ingredients in a bowl and mix/ adjust lemon, feta, spices and herbs based on your preference
How to Eat and Where to Buy
This is a very forgiving and fun recipe! We make it thinner to use as a dressing on sandwiches or on salads, but you can play with the proportions to make it into a thicker spread or dip. This is perfectly refreshing and totally wonderful for adding to just about anything. We ate ours with a coriander-rubbed roasted chicken, cherry tomatoes, lettuce, beet micros, and homemade roasted red peppers all contained in a grain free wrap. You can easily add in spiced ground lamb or grilled veggie kebobs for a really delicious and quintessential summer meal.
We specifically used Bonhomie’scucumbers and micros, but you can get them from a variety of our other vendors along with the lettuce, herbs, onion, and garlic. We grabbed chicken and cherry tomatoes from Martin Farms, yogurt from Hawthorne Valley (don’t forget Chaseholm Farm is bringing yogurt too!), goat feta from Ardith Mae, and grain free wraps from Happy Belly (special order though, so ask!).
Market and Community News
This week we’re celebrating some natural events and movements: the Strawberry Full Moon and the Summer Solstice! Honestly the farmers market is no better a place to go to see the grand theater of nature in action. The strawberry season has been a little unforgiving— lots of rain, only bursts of sun, and a weevil infestation are some of the pains we’ve heard about for our farmer friends. BUT our vendors will have lots of these sweet lovely little gems this week! Perfectly ripe and ready for you to take home, eat on the spot, or throw in jam jars or freezer bags for a summertime pick-me-up in the dead of winter (kudos for thinking ahead and keeping those old preservation techniques alive!). You can find pints and quarts at Blue Star Farm, Farm at Miller’s Crossing, Samascott, and Bonhomie. And if you don’t want to make your own preserves, stop by Blue Star Farm,Martin Farms and Scarecrow Farm for their local strawberry jams!
Berkshire Mountain Bakery has a huge spread and a long line each week! Most customers are lining up for their breads (try the semolina and sesame!) and their croissants (try the spinach feta!), but a little while back they started bringing some adorable French pastries: canele and bouchon. Canele is a caramelized rum and vanilla custard and a bouchon is similar a crisp and soft rich chocolate brownie— both are a baked in teeny molds that help create their unique shape and totally make you feel transported when you eat them!
Hudson Valley Charcuterie (AKA Raven and Boar) is a good spot to get delicious cuts of meat, sausage (which they are almost always cooking and sampling during market!), and some ready made Asian specialities. The rub: they partner with Hong Kong Bakery up in Albany to create a line of won tons, steamed and baked buns, and pot stickers! So these are all made with traditional Chinese wrappings and doughs, and are then filled with Raven and Boar’s seasoned cuts of meat. They look incredible and almost always sell out— so get there early!
And on to quick mentions: Cedar Flower Farm will have sunflowers, dahlias, butterfly snapdragon, and sweet peas. Sparrowbush Farm will have frisee, escarole, radicchio, scapes, scallions, and a phenomenal collection of herbs.Northern Star Farm will have pullet eggs available (with all of the sales going to help a young child in need!) and Barbara assured me that ground lamb will be returning this week. Happy Belly will have their nut and seed toasts topped with goodies from their fellow vendors. Hillrock and Berkshire Mountain Distillery will be sampling and selling their wide variety of high quality spirits.
Flying Belgian Brewery and Oliver Weston Co will be our Guest Vendors this week. Hudson Youth will be under the Community Tent sharing information about their programs and how they have helped our local children! And music will be by a surprise guest this week.
We are rain or shine market. We run from 9AM to 1PM in the parking lot at the corner of 6th and Columbia. See you Saturday!
