Reminder to Meet the Howards
Plus, a video clip about the season's first four crops and more market photos
Don’t Miss This Article
Friday turned into a much busier day than I expected and Local Food Forum didn’t go out until the evening… never the best time to catch readers’ attention. So I want to make sure no one misses the link to read about Michael and Amelia Howard of Eden Place Farms in my most recent article for Buy Fresh Buy Local Illinois.
The Howards are founder-owners of Eden Place Farms (and Eden Place Nature Center). They are truly inspiring people, having devoted their lives to bringing fresh, hyperlocal produce to their under-resourced community on Chicago’s South Side; teaching Black farmers, a number of whom have gone on to start their own urban farms; and providing education about farming and nature to students from grade school through college.
Please take a few minutes to read about their work by clicking the link below.
What’s in Season First in Our Region (video)
Last Wednesday, Local Food Forum published the pilot of What’s Good About Local Food, a series of video conversations featuring Matt Tortora of WhatsGood and me chatting about what’s already in season, what’s coming soon, how you use all those beautiful local food products, and some of the big issues facing our local food community.
Matt and I were pleased with the content and flow of video #1, but when you get two guys who love to talk about nothing more than local food, it can get a little long (like 47 minutes long).
So I cut to the chase and did a rough edit of the 5-minute segment at the end of the conversation focused on the pressing question about which crops you can expect to find first at your local markets. (You have to watch the video to find out.) Enjoy the mussels with pea shoots suggestion (Matt is also a chef), and please heed Matt’s warning about not foraging ferns.
We’re going to try to keep this week’s video a little shorter.
More Photos from Saturday’s Green City Market
Something old, something new. Mick Klug Farm (St. Joseph, Michigan), well-known for its beautiful fruit, has been a fixture at Green City and other area markets for many years. Primordia Foods (Bloomington, Illinois), a producer of gourmet varieties of mushrooms, is one of Green City’s new vendors this season.
I got to chat with Rocky at the Star Farm Chicago stand. Star Farm is a remarkable non-profit that is building out a 35,000 square foot urban farming and community garden project in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side.
Did the Illinois Farmers Market Association totes come with? Of course, they did, seen here at the stand of Froggy Meadow Farm (Beloit, Wisconsin). That’s farmer Jerry Boone in the background.
And last but not least, more Dogs of the Farmers Market.