Dear Mt Pleasant Far Mar Friends,

Welcome back to the season of fresh! The 2010 season kicks off this
Saturday, May 1 with some exciting new features! Though I have loved the
winter turnips and apples, I am happy to start chowing down on my spring
favorites of asparagus, peas, pea shoots, strawberries and rhubarb! The
weather will be gorgeous, the music will be toe-tapping, and the farmers
are excited to see old friends and new faces!

New this is year is *Smallwood’s Veggieporium* from Berryville, VA.
Certified Naturally Grown, they have the full range of produce you
expect at MtPFM plus some unusual new items to look for later in the
season: epazote, edamame, bitter melon, chrysanthemum and more! This
week they are promising to fill your basket with spinach, lettuce,
collards, kale, wild watercress, cut herbs, and bedding plants including
blooming sunflowers, more types of cherry tomato than you’ve ever heard
of, regular tomatoes, okra, lettuces, kale, chard and herbs. They’ll
have school garden asparagus for sale by a real high school student
farmer – all proceeds go to benefit Clark County High School. Check out
their gorgeous potted herb towers for your balcony…or Mother’s Day Gift
(I want one).

Look for *Truck Patch Farms*, selling produce, meat and eggs, in their
new location next to the bandstand. This week, Bryan had to get a
picture of himself picking strawberries in April, he was so amazed! Come
very very early for a handful of the first strawberries of the season!
Or just wait ’til next week when they’ll be fat and juicy. Tons of
asparagus in purple and green, including the extra tender, deeply
flavorful, thick stemmed stalks from older roots. That’s right, I said
“thicker stem = tenderer”…it was news to me too last year, but now it
makes perfect sense – ask about it. Lettuce, salad mix, arugula, Bright
Lights and red Swiss chard, curly kale, cut herbs: sage, chives, garlic
chives, and mint. Pork and beef, no chickens yet, but lots of eggs.

*Groff’s Content Farm*: Family farm raises 100% grass-fed and -finished
lamb and beef on organic fields, pastured Berkshire pork, beautiful
pastured eggs and chickens. Yummy dog treats and ask for nice big bones.
Ask about ordering her fresh, farm processed chickens in a couple weeks
and about her neighbor’s rabbits!

*Quaker Valley Orchards*: Gorgeous asparagus in green and the slightly
sweeter purple. Pink Lady, Fuji, and Golden Delicious winter apples.
Applesauce, honey, new jam flavors, novelty popping corn-on-the-cob,
canned peaches. Some bad news and some good news: Fredi refuses to make
pies anymore, /but/ she is now releasing her cherry, blackberry,
blueberry and apple pie fillings in jars for you to do with as you
please! I’ve not had time (or confidence) to make a pie crust yet, but
at our house the cherry pie filling was delicious in the center of
oatmeal chocolate chip thumbprint cookies, the blackberry pie filling
went atop seared venison medallions, and the blueberry became an ice
cream topping with some Atwater granola. Meanwhile, our family is still
absolutely hooked on Fredi’s strawberry jam and tomato sauce until those
seasons start!

*Cherry Glen Goat Cheese Company* will appear at market every week this
year! Offering the most local dairy products in DC (just 25 miles up
from the Beltway in Boyds, MD), and featured in all kinds of fancy
restaurants and delis. You can get their amazing, creamy cheeses at your
own little neighborhood farmers’ market!

*Reid Orchard*: Pink lady and Fuji apples, apple cider, and canned
goods, plus Caitlin’s amazing selection of garden starts! Veggies:
Indian corn, zucchini, patty pan, eggplant, possibly some sweet and hot
peppers, and the first round of heirloom tomatoes. Herbs: every kind of
mint imaginable (Julep, Kentucky Colonel, Chocolate, Peppermint,
Pineapple, Spearmint), stevia, Vietnamese coriander, sweet woodruff,
santolina, fragrant ornamental curry, bronze fennel, basil (African
Blue, Genovese, Sweet), chives, garlic chives, cilantro, lavender (Fern
Leaf, Goodwin Creek, Hidcote, Munstead, Provence, Sweet), lemon balm,
lemon verbena, oregano (Greek, Hot & Spicy, Italian), curly and Italian
parsley, rosemary (Arp, Creeping, Gorizia, Mrs. Howard’s Creeping,
Tuscan Blue), sage (Berggarten, Grower’s Friend, Pineapple, Purple,
Tricolor), sweet marjoram, French tarragon, thyme (Coconut, English,
Golden, Lemon, Lime, Silver Edged, White Flowering), and winter savory.

*Richfield Farm*: Asparagus, spinach, spring onions, rhubarb, hanging
flower baskets, herb starts.

*Atwater Bread*: Organic sourdough and yeasted breads: Peasant Wheat,
Caraway Rye, Cranberry Pecan, Kalamata Olive, traditional San Francisco
Sourdough, Ciabatta, Country White, Chili Cheddar, French Baguette,
Spelt, Sunflower Flax, and more. Brownies, cookies, scones, muffins, and
granola.

*Panorama Bakery*: Baguettes, croissants, pain au chocolat, mini
ciabattas are great for sandwiches, sliced loaves, danishes, sticky
buns, apple turnovers.

*Una Vendedora Mysteriosa*: I have a space reserved for an
ultimate-in-local MtP neighborhood producer to sell an authentic Latino
food…

We’ll be missing some favorite vendors this season. Both Painted Hand
(the delightful Sandy with her goat and veal) and Keswick Creamery (cow
cheese and yogurt) found that Saturday markets were too tasking to
themselves, their families, and their livestock. Look for them on
Sundays at /my/ favorite far-mar in Bloomingdale
<http://www.marketsandmore.org> (opens May 16th). Tree and Leaf Farm
bought a new farm over the winter – 60 acres with forest and water in
Spotsylvania. They have a lot of work ahead of them, and they have
decided to scale back their DC markets to just Dupont Circle on Sundays.
Look for them there to get your favorite greens!

New partnerships:

* Second Saturdays at Mount Pleasant Farmers’ Market are Latino
Family Day <http://www.MtPFM.org/Latinos>! Local, lively, Latino
music, fresh, hot Latino foods, Spanish speaking information and
nutrition education, opportunities to practice conversational
Spanish, bike safety give-aways and more! This all day event
organized by the Latino Association of Mount Pleasant (LAMP) and
the Latino Federation of Greater Washington
<http://www.latinofederation.org/> (LFGW) includes the market in
the morning, followed by a free picnic and events in the
afternoon, and a Latino movie night (with English subtitles)
sponsored by Mt Pleasant Main Street. Watch for our first Latino
Family Day on May 8th.
* Beep beep! Look out for the Compost Cab
<http://www.compostcab.com>! Learn about a new service in the Mt P
neighborhood will pick up your organics each week and ensure that
your kitchen scraps are put to good use by a local, not-for-profit
urban farm that turns it into soil to grow food for the community.
Later this Spring, we’ll be partnering with them for free compost
drop-off at the market once a month.
* Mount Pleasant Main Street will host a booth at market every other
week this year, starting with this Saturday, May 1, in
anticipation of the Mount Pleasant Music Fest

<http://www.mtpmainstreet.org/events/5/2/mount-pleasant-music-fest-saturday-may-\
1-2pm-7pm>
and International Workers’ Day Festival from 2p-7p. Bands, DJs,
raffle, giveaways, and food for sale!
* Don Juan Restaurant across the street to the south is planning
outdoor seating with coffee and breakfast items! If they see a lot
of market traffic, we’ll work on helping them feature market
products: think pancakes topped with Quaker Valley Orchards
blackberry pie filling, Cherry Glen Goat Cheese quesadillas,
jalapenos, etc. Ask about their kiddie yard too!
* Farmers’ Market Bike Clinic is back this season to top off your
tires, lube your chain, tighten you brakes, fit your helmet, and
do whatever it takes to keep you on the road and loving your bike!
Always looking for more volunteers of /any/ skill level –
especially interested in low skilled volunteers and Spanish
speaking help.

If you’re interested in volunteer activities at market, we have lots of
little things to do! We’d love to have your help, and there’s always a
little perq involved. Please sign up on our Volunteer Calendar
<http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/114-622354208114>!

Heard about Facebook? We’re there now too at Mount Pleasant Farmers’
Market DC
<http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mount-Pleasant-Farmers-Market-DC/313466786335>
faceplace! Or sign up for our jibbering Twitters at twitter.com/MtPFarMar.

Please bring your own bags for shopping.

Yours Truly, Mrs. Higgins
Market Director
Mount Pleasant Farmers' Market
www.MtPFM.org
between 17th & Mount Pleasant and Park & Lamont Streets
Saturdays May 1 - Nov 20, 9 am - 1 pm, rain or shine
email Gabe at music@... about Music and Entertainment
email Kristin at wrenches@... about the Farmers' Market Bike Clinic