As the Outdoor Market Season Winds Down
Plus, this is my birthday week, and there's only one thing on my wish list
There’s Still Lovely Foliage, But the Clock’s Ticking
I don’t know why, but this has been the best fall color season since we moved to Chicago in 2011. These beauties above reigned over a corner of Green City Market’s Lincoln Park location on Saturday (November 11).
Alas, because I’m going to be coming back Saturday on a one-day trip to Michigan, I’m going to miss next Saturday’s outdoor finales at Green City and at The Lincoln Park Farmers Market. So I’m planning to pop over to the last day of this year’s Lincoln Square Farmers Market on Tuesday to close out the outdoor season right (and stock up on some things I’ll need for our Thanksgiving dinner).
More about Market Saturday, but first, this important message.
Birthday, Take a Ch-ch-ch-chance
OK, so I’m pulling a string here, but this is my birthday week (it’s Tuesday, for the record). And all I want for my birthday are a few more paid subscriptions to Local Food Forum.
Yes, for as little as $5/month and $50/year (that’s a $10 savings), you can get Local Food Forum closer to being self-sustaining — it’s not — while helping kids with cancer, as I’m pledging 20 percent of all proceeds through December 10 to that cause. Birthday notwithstanding, this campaign celebrates my 20th anniversary as a cancer survivor.
Thanks to the folks who have already gotten paid subscriptions since this kicked off two weeks ago, I have $52 set aside for charity. I’m not shooting for the moon, but I’d love it if we could get at least five more paid subscriptions through Tuesday, which would raise that tab to more than $100. A do-good doubleheader.
So please…
And as you Beatles fans out there probably know, the headline is a lyric from their song Birthday on their famed White Album.
Shop Until the Leaves Drop
It was a bright, sunshiny Saturday for the handful of remaining outdoor markets. Cool but seasonable for almost mid-November.
Not the throngs that populated the Saturday Green City Market during the peak growing season, but busy enough. And still plenty of delicious, local, sustainably produced stuff for shoppers to take home.
And my market haul…
Mostly from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois): parsnips, ranibow carrots, butternut squash, Yukon Gold potatoes, onions and fresh ginger, along with eggs from Finn’s Ranch (Buchanan, Michigan) and cranberries purchased from Ellis Family Farm (Benton Harbor, Michigan) and produced by DeGrandchamp Farms (South Haven, Michigan).
Here’s the schedule for the last week of the outdoor market season, with indoor markets across Illinois that have already started their winter seasons.