I Can See Clearly Now
Two weeks into the outdoor market season and we have this down cold. Like in the low 40s cold. But as the photo above shows, it was cloudlessly beautiful when Green City Market in Lincoln Park opened at 8 this morning.
The persistent April chill is probably going to slow the arrival of the earliest spring plants, such as ramps, asparagus and rhubarb. But that’s okay with Abby Klug Schilling of Mick Klug Farm, which made its first market appearance this year with a table hosting mainly cider and frozen fruit from last year’s harvests.
Mick Klug Farms specializes in a wide variety of fruit, and this is the most nerve-wracking time of the year for fruit growers. If we get an early warming and the trees start to blossom, there’s the risk that a late frost or freeze will do serious damage. Abby said that while it has been chilly, we haven’t had extremes, and there’s the possibility that we could have an “old normal” year in which the trees don’t flower until May, when the freeze risk is diminished.
While we wait for most spring favorites, we are starting to see the expected benefits from the number of farms that are amping up their season-extension production in hoop houses. Examples at today’s market were spinach from Wisconsin’s Froggy Meadow Farm and radishes from Illinois’ Nichols Farm & Orchard.
One of the most fun things about being a farmers market fanatic is that there are always opportunities to learn something new about food. Farmer Jerry Boone of Froggy Meadow Farm today introduced its Walnut Nectar, which is unprocessed sap from his walnut trees. While products such as maple water and birch water have been around for a while, Jerry says his farm is the only producer in the Midwest selling walnut water, and I have no reason to debate that.
Sap has to be boiled down to become the familiar brown, super-sweet syrup. Jerry’s Walnut Nectar is refreshing when it is cold, slightly sweet on the back of the palate, and ever so slightly sparkly.
I tend to have a very small world, and sometimes my worlds collide at the farmers market. U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley visited this morning to take a tour of the market. I first became acquainted with Quigley when I was visiting Chicago from D.C. for Christmas in 2010 and I got to attend a fundraising celebrity hockey game at United Center.
This spawned one of the last articles I wrote as a political journalist, about a hockey game played by members of Congress to raise money for wounded warriors. (It also helped me snag an invitation to President Barack Obama’s White House ceremony for the then-Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks). Subsequently, Quigley has been our congressman since we moved to Chicago in 2011, and it was nice to catch up with him in person.
Finally, one of my favorite features of Local Food Forum is back: Dogs of the Farmers Market. And what better way to kick things off than with a corgi.
I’ll put out an issue tomorrow with the rest of today’s photos. Have a great weekend and stay warm.