I’m an avid attendee of both the Brighton Farmer’s Market and Rochester Public Market and, now that the weather is starting to break, people are starting to head out in droves to check out the first produce of the spring. As new fruits and veggies pop this year I’m going to try and highlight some of them and the vendors who are selling them to the public. Usually this will be focused on produce I actually purchase but if there is too much I might just snap pics. I’m thinking this column will be mostly photo heavy with quick descriptions but we’ll see how it goes as the season progresses!
This week, I spent early Saturday morning at the Public Market grabbing some foraged greens, the earliest garlic and a relatively new hard cider. On to the pictures!
Alex Flowers was out with a stack of ramps ($4) and a smaller but equally fantastic bunch of day lily shoots ($3) from his plot of land. Planning on cooking these up with some pasta and maybe some chunks of sausage from Hart’s.
Small World Food had some young green garlic available for sale for $3 a bunch. This can get a touch woody toward the end of the season, but since these are among the first shoots they are extra tender similar to a young leek. The aroma of garlic is present and with a quick sautée, they are great in some eggs.
Fisher Hill Farm had some beautiful Hakurei turnips ($3) which owner Phil Munson described to me as a Japanese salad turnip. The greens and the turnips themselves are aromatic and flavorful without being overpowering and the turnips themselves were lightly crispy. Very tasty and I would definitely eat them again.
Cider Creek was out with their Original Farmhouse and Saison Reserve ciders to sample. I went home with a $10 bottle which is around 750mL of the Farmhouse which is a just off dry cider with a clean finish. The Saison was made with a Belgian yeast instead of the champagne yeast of the Farmhouse which gave it a little heavier feel. Worth checking out if you see them at the market.
I finished off my market trip with a visit to Flour City Bakery which is my go to spot for pastries and bread of all kinds. This week I enjoyed a mushroom danish that also has some caramelized onions in it. This is one of the baked goods they always carry, one of my favorites and a solid savory option for breakfast. I’ll be documenting some more of their products that you may have heard of but haven’t seen before.
So ends my first market report. Hope you enjoyed it and I’ll see you back here for more as the weather keeps on improving and we get more and more options from the fine vendors of our area!
Thanks for posting this – and I’d love to see more. I struggle sometimes to fine the local stuff at the Rochester Public Market amidst the resellers with trucked-in produce. I bought the ramps from Alex Flowers too this past week – delicious!