Now that we have finally gotten out of Rochester’s endless winter, green is starting to be the dominant color of our landscape instead of white and gray. The fresh product is just starting to trickle in to the Rochester Public Market and, as usual, the first player on the scene is the small stand from Flowers Farm. I’m sure most of you don’t know the name, but I’m sure that everyone has seen the table covered in some of the finest foraged items, pussywillows, fresh produce and most notably the first ramps of the season. I’ve grown to love ramps over the last few years and am always excited when they finally find their way to my hands via Flowers Farm.
Alex Winters is the proprietor of the 50 plus acre farm out east in Red Creek, NY and I was pleased to hear that he has been selling at the market for around 40 years. I loved talking with him for a few minutes to hear about how he forages for numerous products on his land along side of more traditional farming of produce like tomatoes, peas, kale, herbs and hard fall veggies. This past weekend his stand was stocked with not only ramps, but other foraged goods I hadn’t heard of like daylily shoots (delicious sauteed with a distinct asparagus taste), wintercress and hedge garlic. Impressive selection for this time of year!
Please stop in to see what Alex is selling at his normal location in Shed C of the Rochester Public Market after the bend on the Shed A side of the road. Get there early because the word of mouth is strong there and the ramps go fast every week. Good luck and enjoy!
Thanks for this recommendation. I’m an occasional visitor to the Public Market and it can be hard to choose among the vendors. I’ll look for Alex.