In This Issue
• Field Freakin’ Tomatoes: Another Moment in the Growing Season
• Local Food Forum is Back on the Mike Nowak Show Sunday
• Introducing Where the Heck is Bob’s ILFMA Bag?
Another Moment in the Growing Season
There may be no crop more longed-for by local food fans than field tomatoes. Even with the notable improvement in the taste and texture of hothouse tomatoes, the all-too-short field tomato season is a highlight of the year for many buyers.
So when I approached the Frillman Farms stand this morning at Green City Market Lincoln Park, I had to ask whether these beauties above were field tomatoes… and the answer was yes.
There is a little added element to this. Farmer Tim Frillman, after establishing his business on land in Prairie View, Illinois, added on a property in Berrien Springs, Michigan that was formerly know as Leaning Shed Farm. For a number of years — until the owners retired from farming a couple of years back — Leaning Shed was the best known and loved tomato producer selling at Green City, with a seemingly endless number of varieties.
So now Tim is growing tomatoes for Frillman Farms in that same soil. The bar for Leaning Farm fans may be high, but I’m sure they are going to be happy to try these tomatoes. If you want to be one of them and missed out on Green City Market today, Frillman Farms also sells at the Logan Square Farmers Market on Sundays.
Local Food Forum’s Back on the Mike Nowak Show
Local Food Forum friends… please tune into The Mike Nowak Show with Peggy Malecki tomorrow (Sunday) at 9 a.m. central, because I’m going to be making a return visit.
I will be on with Molly Gleason of Illinois Stewardship Alliance, who will talk about the organization’s food policy legislative victories in Springfield this year, while I chatter about the approach of National Farmers Market Week, which runs the length of the next week (August 1-7).
Click the button below to watch a short promo video that I recorded with Molly and Mike yesterday. It provides some insight into what I look like when I’ve just bolted in the door after being outside on a hot, humid day. We’ll see how well I clean up for the show.
Later on the show, the topic will be the efforts by local municipalities to create a Climate Action Plan for the Chicago region. Guests will be Edith Makra of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus, and Kevin Burns, mayor of Geneva, Illinois.
How do I tune in to The Mike Nowak Show? Mike and Peggy ask that you watch the livestream either at The Mike Nowak Show website or their YouTube page; you can also subscribe to the YouTube page by clicking in the upper right corner. They also stream live on Facebook and on Periscope (Twitter).
Introducing Where The Heck is Bob’s ILFMA Bag
This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of touring Green City Market with Janie Maxwell, executive director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association (ILFMA) and Mandy Moody, the market’s executive director, as we all gear up for Farmers Market Week (August 1-7).
Janie gifted me with the lovely ILFMA tote above (thanks to my friend Caitlin for literally lending a hand). And being that I’m a little off-center, I decided to create a new feature called Where the Heck is Bob’s ILFMA Bag?
You know how some people take an object like a stuffed toy or garden gnome all over with them and post photos showing how well their mascot travels? I’m going to do the same with my ILFMA bag, taking it on all of my farmers market excursions and seeing if you all can figure out where it was photographed.
I won’t start the quiz until next time because I’ve already identified above that I was at Green City Market today, and I’ve already published this view of the market from the bus stop across the street several times.
I also want to share that ILFMA has a redesigned website that looks great, is very user-friendly, and has a cool, map-based Find a Market feature with a link right at the time of the homepage. Click below to check it out.