Mission Accomplished!
My first farmers market haul of 2021…
From Green City Market:
Jake’s Country Meats pork steaks and ground pork (Cassopolis, Michigan)
Froggy Meadow Farms gray oyster mushrooms (Beloit, Wisconsin)
Frillman Farms eggs and hakurei turnips (Prairie View, Illinois and Berrien Springs, Michigan)
Star Farm bibb lettuce (Chicago, Illinois)
Ellis Family Farms honey (Benton Harbor, Michigan)
Mick Klug Farm asparagus (St. Joseph, Michigan)
River Valley Ranch cremini mushrooms (Burlington, Wisconsin)
Bushel and Peck’s tomatillo hot sauce (Beloit, Wisconsin)
Growing Home chard (Chicago, Illinois)
From The Lincoln Park Farmers Market:
Stamper Cheese Company: 2-year aged Wisconsin swiss (Chicago, Illinois)
In-spear-ing Tradition
Now to re-enact a ritual. I started attending Green City Market, which is near our Lakeview residence, in 2012, the year after we moved to Chicago from D.C. I soon became acquainted with the wonderful folks from Mick Klug Farm, for decades now one of the pillars of our region’s local food community.
From this, a ritual was born. Every year, I would attend opening day at Green City to buy… and photograph… Mick Klug Farm’s asparagus. Even last year, when market openings were delayed by COVID, Mick Klug Farm set up a weekly stand a few blocks west and my asparagus fixation was served.
With the emergence of a greater variety of ways to get farm food to buyers in April, I have been able to get some asparagus earlier. Last week I picked up some from Ellis Family Farms at their Green City drop site.
But traditions are worth honoring, and I still say spring isn’t official until the markets open and I get my first Mick Klug asparagus. So, ladies and gentlemen… it’s spring!
Send Your Market Photos!
Each Sunday, Local Food Forum will run a roundup of photos from the markets we visited that week. And since we can’t be everywhere, we’d love to share your photos too, whether they are Chicago metro, Chicago region or anywhere in the world markets.
Send your photos as attachments to bob@localfoodforum.com, and include what you want your photo credit to say.
As a sneak preview, here’s a shot I took at Green City Market today: