Category: Food: Local/Farmers’ Markets

Market Report: Summer Farmers’ Markets Opening Dates 2014
Pull out your calendars and mark the dates when you can go and see our Boston area farmers' market friends at their summer spots.
Here are the opening dates for some of our favorite markets. The links are to maps of the locations.
- South End/SOWA: May 4th (Sundays)
- Copley Square: May 13th (Tuesdays and Fridays)
- Cambridge Center (Kendall MBTA): May 14th (Wednesdays)
- Jamaica Plain (677 Centre Street): May 17th (Saturdays), (Saturdays & Tuesdays after June 17th)
- Prudential Center: Not operating this year due to planned contruction
- Union Square, Somerville: May 17th (Saturdays)
- Cambridge/Charles Square: May 18th (Sundays), June 6th (Fridays) *not confirmed
- Boston City Hall Plaza: (moved to Boston Public Market due to construction)
- Boston Public Market on the Greenway: May 19th (Mondays and Wednesdays)
- Central Square, Cambridge: May 19th (Mondays)
- South Station/Dewey Square: May 20th (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
- Davis Square, Somerville: May 21st (Wednesdays)
- Cambridgeport: May 31st (Saturdays) *not confirmed
- Kendall Square (500 Kendall Street): June 4th (Thursdays)
- Roslindale: June 7th (Saturdays) (relocated from Adams Park due to construction)
- Egleston Jamaica Plain: June 7th (Saturdays)
- Allston Village, 500 Cambridge St.: June 7th (Saturdays)
- Harvard University Farmers' Market: Cambridge: June 10th (Tuesdays)
- Allston/Harvard Farmers' Market: (N. Harvard St & Western Ave) June 13th (Fridays)
- Brookline/Coolidge Corner: June 19th (Thursdays) (Winter Market is still operating until 6/15)
If you have confirmed dates for your favorite farmers' market, please tell us in a comment or send us an email and we'll add it as an update to this post.

We'll be telling you more about some of these markets in the weeks ahead!

Update: 05/14/14: Here is the great selection of food we bought at the opening day of the Copley Farmers' Market.

Bread, cookies, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, asparagus, baby arugula, scallions, and goat cheese.

See our review of The Boston Homegrown Cookbook: Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes. It's full of chefs, farmers, and food producers you know, and we highly recommend it. Remember, always click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino
May 12, 2014
Edible Boston Spring 2014 Issue

Now that we've finally had a few days that have felt like spring, we are happy to see any and all signs of this lovely season in Boston. You'll find the Spring 2014 issue of Edible Boston at many of the places you go, if you love the best of Boston's food scene. Here's a list.

Publisher Ilene Bezahler in her letter described what many of us have felt this winter. She wrote,

"As the winters seem to get colder and snowier, the onset of spring is even more welcomed and appreciated. I have become a hermit during this difficult season, and I’m ready for a change. Too often over the last few months evening plans were canceled because I simply didn’t want to go outside. Plus, I only made it to one winter farmers market all season! And I am confident in saying that I was not the only person who changed my routine this year due to the weather."

Get Out and Enjoy

The summer farmers' markets are opening. We have a list of the opening dates scheduled to post next week. Ilene suggests we all get out and support the places we've been missing all winter. We suggest you pick up a copy of this issue and a pack of Post-It™ notes and plan your food adventures. Add a few of the featured food crafters to the places you were already planning to visit.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a graduation, shower, or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Cover shot courtesy of Edible Boston

May 9, 2014
Edible Boston Spring 2014 Issue

Now that we've finally had a few days that have felt like spring, we are happy to see any and all signs of this lovely season in Boston. You'll find the Spring 2014 issue of Edible Boston at many of the places you go, if you love the best of Boston's food scene. Here's a list.

Publisher Ilene Bezahler in her letter described what many of us have felt this winter. She wrote,

"As the winters seem to get colder and snowier, the onset of spring is even more welcomed and appreciated. I have become a hermit during this difficult season, and I’m ready for a change. Too often over the last few months evening plans were canceled because I simply didn’t want to go outside. Plus, I only made it to one winter farmers market all season! And I am confident in saying that I was not the only person who changed my routine this year due to the weather."

Get Out and Enjoy

The summer farmers' markets are opening. We have a list of the opening dates scheduled to post next week. Ilene suggests we all get out and support the places we've been missing all winter. We suggest you pick up a copy of this issue and a pack of Post-It™ notes and plan your food adventures. Add a few of the featured food crafters to the places you were already planning to visit.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a graduation, shower, or wedding gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Cover shot courtesy of Edible Boston

May 9, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Pulled Pork with Tart, Tangy Cole Slaw

Pulled pork is something we've normally enjoyed in BBQ restaurants since Penny is not about to try preparing it in our tiny urban kitchen. But, she did spot a package of pulled pork among the fresh packaged meals, mains, and sides at our local Trader Joe's, recently.

We tried it and liked it. Since the sauce is a bit sweet and mayo is outlawed in our food, Penny's solution was to balance the sweetness of the pork with a tart, tangy cole slaw.

In addition to cabbage, carrots, celery, and scallions, we added a finely shredded hakurei turnip purchased from farmer Michael Docter of Winter Moon Farm at the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market. Those are his carrots too! And, below you see him offering samples of the carrots and turnips.

The dressing was malt vinegar, salt, pepper, a bit of honey, and a handful of yellow mustard seeds. This slaw is best made the day before you need it. Letting it sit and pickle mellows out the raw vegetable flavors and allows the mustard seeds work their zingy magic. Just give it a mix a couple of times as it sits in the refrigerator.

Shredding

In case you were wondering, the shredder Penny was using is a very old, now considered vintage, Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. This syle has long since been replaced by new versions. Here's the current one – Borner Thin Julienne Slicer. (It is fun to see things you use all the time listed on ebay as vintage goods.)

This tool cuts in both directions so it makes quick work of the slaw preparation and it's easy to clean under a stong spray of water. Make sure you use a guard. It doesn't come with one but we use one from another mandoline. The guard also makes it possible to shred almost all of the carrots or turnips with only a thin scrap left behind.

Assembly

As you see in the photo, we used the bread we had on hand. Softer bread is the usual choice for a pulled pork sandwich but our kitchen staple is crusty artisan bread. This was a ciabatta from Trader Joe's. And, because of that crusty texture, we opted for open faced sandwiches. Messy, but delicious!

Pulled Pork Tips

We did heat the pork in the microwave. Penny breaks it up a bit before she cooks it and removes the occasional piece of fat. (Yes, fat is flavor, but there's plenty of intramuscular fat in this product.) She also makes an effort to get all the sauce out of the bag, squeezing it like a pastry bag.

In this review of the product from SFGate, one of the testers thought it was dry. That could be because a lot of the sauce was left behind in the bag or that the meat was not fully shredded and mixed with the sauce. It was the winner in this taste-off of six prepared pulled pork products.

Have you tried some of these fresh Trader Joe's products? What did you like or not like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 18, 2014
Vesta Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza at the Wayland Winter Farmers’ Market

We could smell pizza from the moment we opened the car doors in the parking lot of the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center.

Signs led the way to the gloriously copper clad Vesta Mobile Wood-FIred Pizza oven and it's surrounding pizza preparation area.

Pizza was definitely going to be our choice for lunch.

This one is a market special. On the Vesta Facebook page they said, "The Beetza is Back!.. on the menu that is …featuring oven roasted Winter Moon Roots Beets from Hadley MA."

Check out the rest of the menu from last week. Our choice was the Margherita, since we think this is the best test of a pizza makers art.

Here's our lunch sliced into six pieces with fresh basil added at the last moment.

We took it back inside since the always warm and welcoming Peg Mallett from Russell's had pointed out the tables they had provided throughout the greenhouses for shoppers to enjoy all the lunch options available at this delightful farmers' market.

(In case you missed it, more about the market part of our visit here.)

Three of us shared the pizza and it scored big thumbs up all around. Penny will be following Vesta to watch for places where we might enjoy their great preparations again. They will be at the Wayland Market each Saturday through March 15th.

One more reason to take a ride to Wayland on Saturdays.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 6, 2014
Vesta Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza at the Wayland Winter Farmers’ Market

We could smell pizza from the moment we opened the car doors in the parking lot of the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center.

Signs led the way to the gloriously copper clad Vesta Mobile Wood-FIred Pizza oven and it's surrounding pizza preparation area.

Pizza was definitely going to be our choice for lunch.

This one is a market special. On the Vesta Facebook page they said, "The Beetza is Back!.. on the menu that is …featuring oven roasted Winter Moon Roots Beets from Hadley MA."

Check out the rest of the menu from last week. Our choice was the Margherita, since we think this is the best test of a pizza makers art.

Here's our lunch sliced into six pieces with fresh basil added at the last moment.

We took it back inside since the always warm and welcoming Peg Mallett from Russell's had pointed out the tables they had provided throughout the greenhouses for shoppers to enjoy all the lunch options available at this delightful farmers' market.

(In case you missed it, more about the market part of our visit here.)

Three of us shared the pizza and it scored big thumbs up all around. Penny will be following Vesta to watch for places where we might enjoy their great preparations again. They will be at the Wayland Market each Saturday through March 15th.

One more reason to take a ride to Wayland on Saturdays.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 6, 2014
Vesta Mobile Wood-Fired Pizza at the Wayland Winter Farmers’ Market

We could smell pizza from the moment we opened the car doors in the parking lot of the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center.

Signs led the way to the gloriously copper clad Vesta Mobile Wood-FIred Pizza oven and it's surrounding pizza preparation area.

Pizza was definitely going to be our choice for lunch.

This one is a market special. On the Vesta Facebook page they said, "The Beetza is Back!.. on the menu that is …featuring oven roasted Winter Moon Roots Beets from Hadley MA."

Check out the rest of the menu from last week. Our choice was the Margherita, since we think this is the best test of a pizza makers art.

Here's our lunch sliced into six pieces with fresh basil added at the last moment.

We took it back inside since the always warm and welcoming Peg Mallett from Russell's had pointed out the tables they had provided throughout the greenhouses for shoppers to enjoy all the lunch options available at this delightful farmers' market.

(In case you missed it, more about the market part of our visit here.)

Three of us shared the pizza and it scored big thumbs up all around. Penny will be following Vesta to watch for places where we might enjoy their great preparations again. They will be at the Wayland Market each Saturday through March 15th.

One more reason to take a ride to Wayland on Saturdays.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

February 6, 2014
Save Saturday Morning for the Wayland Winter Farmers’ Market at Russell’s Garden Center

On Saturday, we grabbed a Zipcar and took a trip to the tropics with a visit to the Wayland Winter Farmers' Market at Russell's Garden Center.

This is one of our favorite community events. When you combine the warm welcome given to visitors and vendors by the Russell's team with the sunny greenhouse setting, you find yourself smiling inside and out.

Tempting hot chocolate, s'mores, and pretzels with marshmallows & chocolate from Sweet Lydia's were tucked in among the palm trees.

Last Saturday was Massachusetts Farm Wineries Day with wine tastings and sales from eight local farm wineries like Turtle Creek.

We also tasted two sparkling ciders and a dessert cider from Carr's Ciderhouse. A jug of their cider syrup was at the top of our shopping list. This is a product that lives up to all the rave reviews Penny has collected about it.

We've been looking forward to playing around with this old time ingredient since reading "cider molasses" in Northeast Flavor magazine.

A busy market like this ensures quality vendors.

There are many lunch options for customers and vendors alike. We had a fabulous wood fired pizza but will tell you all about that in an upcoming post.

If you were too young to taste the wine, you could enjoy a slice of one of farmer Michael Docter's beautiful carrots from Winter Moon Farm. (More of his lovely root vegetables below.)

And at this farmers' market, you have the bonus of a vast selection of products sold by Russell's.

From herbs to lemon trees and more from the world of plants and gardening supplies.

They had Easter on display but you could also find Chistmas, halloween, toys, games, puzzles, and gifts for any one on your list.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List? Shop Amazon for all your kitchen & dining needs and support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014 Penny Cherubino

February 4, 2014