You'll never find a better time of the year to go to your local market than right now. Just about anything that can grow in Maryland is on the farmers' shelves. And what a sight it is! And as I told Chef Jerry Pellegrino, just walking up and down the aisles of the market makes you mouth water.
I started my stroll through the Waverly Market by passing Liberty Delight Farm who were touting their baby back ribs; perfect for this time of year. I went on to see the familiar staples of corn, broccoli, sweet potatoes, onions, green beans, squash, peppers and carrots... all at the Knopp Farm stand. One stop shopping! Bartenfleder's not only had their usual delicious produce but tables full of mums with baskets of deeply colored Autumn bouquets, as well as decorative gourds and corn cobs.
Eden Farms had their usual incredible variety of peppers ranging from cool and mild to red hot Scotch Bonnets. A few stalls down I spotted an incredible collection of summer and winter squash, including the green and yellow two toned varieties, pattipans, crook neck, a dark green zucchinis. The Martin Farm had giant beets, both red and orange, tasty yellow wax beans, French breakfast radishes, and fresh cut herbs by the bundle. I also spotted leeks and those pretty little round white onions.
Billy Caulk from Pine Grove Farm has a great assortment of pumpkins, including Cinderella which is the premier pumpkin for making pies. He still has his wonderful melons for sale, with 5 or 6 varieties available, including the rarely seen Santa Claus melon.
Joan Norman at One Straw Farm is offering tiny peppers, little eggplants and baby squash, along with little red cherry tomatoes. You can also pick up some beautiful Swiss chard and some tangy fennel.
King Mushrooms has cremini, oyster, lobster and chicken of the woods mushrooms for sale. And Reid and Black Rock Orchards have started harvest apples, including ambrosia fuji, honeycrisp, macoun and crimson crisp, along with mutsu, rubinette and empire.
Finally you can still get Maryland's best peas and beans at Tom McCarthy's stand, although we lost Tom this week. He was a great gentleman and a superb farmer and we will all miss his friendly smile, and scoops of fresh green peas.
