When I stepped outside last weekend, I was gratified to feel warmth in the air and sunshine in the skies: beautiful Spring weather. And so it was with great eagerness I made my way to the Baltimore Farmers Market under the expressway to see what our farmers have come up with. And as I told Chef Jerry Pellegrino, the joint was jumpin’.
We should note that the market in the Springtime is different than the market in the Summer or in the Fall. Only a portion of our crops are available for harvest, but what’s there is certainly welcome. We won’t see a whole lot of fruit yet, although it is prime time for strawberries. And of course, asparagus is flooding the market. And there are a few other things that are in abundance that we should mention. For instance, herbs, flowers and vegetable plants.
If you like having herbs in your garden, now is the time to make your move. Tomatoes Etc. Farm had what looked like a museum of herbs… I mean dozens available. Same with our old pal Billy Caulk from Pine Grove Farm, along with Stoeker’s Farm, Cat’s Organic Farm and Bogarty Farm. Tons of herbs.
And for all the gardeners out there, you have your choice of flowers for transplanting, flowers in pots, or beautiful hanging baskets. And now that the soil is warming up, it’s the best possible time to get those flowers in the ground.
The same goes for vegetable plants. Cat’s Organic Farm, for instance, had a good variety of peppers and tomato seedlings ready to go. Pop them in the ground with a little fertilizer, keep them watered, and enjoy the harvest in a few months.
And it’s always nice to see some of our old friends.
Martin’s Farm Harvest from Perry Hall was apparently in full bloom, taking advantage of their high tunnels and hoop houses. Here’s a few of the things they had for sale: colossal garlic bulbs, Spring onions, cut herbs like sage, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary and chives. They had baby spinach, salad mixes, red and green cabbage, four different onions and seven kinds of potatoes!
But they weren’t alone. I saw my old buddy Tom Albright there, walking around looking all weather-beaten and cheerful. Tom raises outstanding grass-fed beef, but this time of the year he branches out. Lots of flowers, hanging baskets, and interestingly enough, a lot of succulents for growing in pots. He’s also been putting up his surplus fruit from last year in the form of preserves. And of course he will always have a wide selection of frozen meat.
As for strawberries, I ran into a farm called Agriberry who travel all the way up from Richmond, Virginia. They had hundreds of clam-shell boxes of fresh field-grown ripe red strawberries that literally made my mouth water. I’d say that there’s some strawberry shortcake in my future.
One of the nice things about a Farmers Market is that they have an incredible assortment of mushrooms. I’ll see things like the standard portobello and white button mushrooms, but there’s also a lot of very exotic things like hen-of-the-woods, shitake, wood ear, pom poms and those weird oyster mushrooms. There is a stall called simply “The Mushroom Stand” that has all those things and more… including fiddlehead ferns. Oh, and I loved their mixed cartons of ‘shrooms with a little bit of everything.
We’ve also seen a relatively new product out there, microgreens. Metro Microgreens has a great assortment. And folks are adding them to their salads for an amazing burst of flavor.
So, with all the Farmers Markets around Maryland, this is a great time to go shopping for the first fresh ingredients of the year. So, get out there and plan some menus!
