Market News - July 15, 2008
From the Market Manager
We have a star in our midst—Caroline Pam from The Kitchen Garden was featured in Sunday’s NY Times magazine in an article about female farmers.
The Way We Eat: Out of the Kitchen, Into the Field
By MELISSA BREYER Female farmers of the Northeast.
Usually I just enjoy the benefits of the hard work that our farmers do without much thought of how the food is harvested. I’m sure that I think about it more than most people do because I manage a farmers’ market, but certainly not as a farmer would. One day last week I went to Sunderland to take care of Lily while Caroline and Tim and their helpers harvested garlic and shallots. What a lot of work! I suppose I thought that the garlic pulled out of the ground and some of it does, but most of it is dug out. Same with the shallots. Now both are drying in their barn for a couple of months. It’s blueberry season again. They are so much easier to pick than strawberries. And they freeze perfectly. Pick up a Farm Products Guide at the market table to find out where you can go to pick. Or go to Val’s Berry Farm at 81 Parker St., East Longmeadow. 8-noon, or 3:30-6 7 days a week. He has several varieties so the season is extended.
Does it seem to you that there are more articles about buying locally grown/raised products? It does to me. Think about what you can buy at our market. Some of the items available here are only available at the finest stores such as Dean and DeLuca. When I go to New York City I always check out some of the food stores to see what New Yorkers are doing with food. I marvel at the prices because I cook from scratch and am not used to paying big city prices.
This ‘n’ ThatDo you have numbers on your house that are easy to read from the street? If not, get them and put them on. Think about emergency personnel trying to find your house. If you don’t have flames coming through your roof, how will they know which house to stop at?
Do you recycle? Most people don’t which amazes me. It is so easy in Springfield and the surrounding towns. There are so many good reasons to recycle—it keeps trash out of landfills which are filling up; it makes money for your city or town; it saves natural resources. Someone once told me that he didn’t have a place for the blue bins. Oh please! Put them outside your back door; they don’t have to be kept inside. If you don’t want to do this for yourself, do it for your children. More than a million tons of recyclable paper is thrown away in Massachusetts every year, at a disposal cost of more than $100 million. If we can divert that paper from trash cans to recycling bins, we could add $75 to $100 million to the state’s economy from the sale of recycled paper.
Jewish Community Center
The JCC is a gem in our neighborhood. It is located at 1160 Dickinson Street. It has programs for babies to senior citizens. Physical education, arts and crafts, drama, pre-school, day camp, Mom and baby swim classes, trips, Jewish education, SeniorNet computer classes, discussion groups, daily lunches, a gift shop, Jewish singles program, tennis courts, an Olympic size pool, and much more. Membership is open to anyone. Stop by for a tour, or call for a schedule, 739-4715 or go to springfieldjcc.org.
Gift CertificatesNeed a gift for someone who has everything? Get them a gift certificate from the market—minimum $2.50. You choose the vendor you want it for, we make it out and immediately give the money to the vendor you choose. That way they know that they’ve been paid when the certificate is presented. They can be purchased at the market table.
Trinity Concerts
For three more Thursday evenings in July you can enjoy a free concert in Trinity’s sanctuary, and then enjoy a meal on the lawn accompanied by carillon music. The music is free, but donations are requested for the food. Different food each week. Bring the kids, bring grandma, enjoy. The concerts start at 6PM.
Shop for a Cause
I know you’ve read this before, but it’s such a simple way for the market to earn $500 that I am going to keep mentioning it. This is a program that Macy’s has across the country for non-profit organizations. You buy a shopping pass for $5, then on September 20th, you bring it with you to Macy’s and you get additional discounts on many items throughout the store. We keep all the money from the passes we sell, and you get discounts. Such a deal! They are also at the market table.
