Farmers Market Report: July 6-7, 2013

First came the personal watermelons, now the big ones are here! The beauties pictured here are from 2 Happy Children Farm. 2 Happy Children also have enormous sweet cantaloupes, and both kinds of melon are quite inexpensive.

If you didn’t get your sweet corn this year, you have now officially missed the boat. No one at any of the markets has sweet corn anymore. Nor are there any plums. I thought there wasn’t any lettuce anymore, but Bella Verdi Farms has hydroponic lettuce, and Flint Rock Hill Farm had a few bags of baby lettuce mesclun mix last Saturday (a bag of which I immediately snatched up, because it might very well have been the last bag of lettuce in Central Texas). It is just barely possible that they might have a few bags of lettuce this week, too.

Caskey Orchards was almost sold out of peaches by 11am last Saturday, which means that the cling peaches are ending; freestone peaches should start to show up soon. Caeda Farms will continue to have blackberries for a few weeks as several other varieties come to fruition; Lightsey Farms also have peaches and blackberries.

One thing all the markets have in abundance this week is onions! Red onions, Bermuda onions, sweet onions, yellow onions, and even a few white onions. Onions are one of those items (like corn and tomatoes) that you really can tell the difference between supermarket and locally grown; the local onions are usually much fresher and sweeter.

The Barton Creek Farmers Market is adding three new vendors this week: Austin Honey, who make a really superior honey, and who also sometimes have honey-in-the-comb for sale; Happy Hemp, who make two kinds of delicious hemp seeds to add to your diet, raw and toasted; and Handmade Hammocks.

Dewberry Hills Farm (Really Good Chicken) will be at both the Sunset Valley Market and the Downtown SFC Market this Saturday.

It looks as though Blanco Valley Farms is gone from the markets for good; Tracy got a new job in San Antonio and the word is, driving up to the Austin market just isn’t in the cards. Not when he can sell his coconut oil fried organic tortilla chips at the Pearl Brewery Farmers Market! That makes two vendors Austin has lost to the Pearl Market: Peeler Farms and now Blanco Valley Farms. It is just barely possible that Tracy might be able to find someone willing to drive up here and sell his chips and tortillas and spice blends; all we can do is hope! Dai Due Butcher Shop will be cooking up these items at the Downtown SFC Market on Saturday and the Mueller Market on Sunday:

French Toast with Black Walnut Syrup with country style breakfast sausage and blueberries; El Deguello!  Quesadilla made with Dos Lunas Queso Oaxaca, a fried egg, refried beans, ranchero sauce, chorizo, bacon, onion, queso fresco, and crema; Beef Bacon Po-boy with tomatoes, chowchow, and remoulade;  Chicago Dog. Venison hot dog with pickled peppers, celery salt, sweet onion, tomato, mustard, and relish on a poppyseed roll; Machacado and Egg Taco with tomatoes, chilies, and onion;  Cafe a la Olla Mexican coffee with molasses, brown sugar, and spices. Watermelon, Lime and Verbena Agua Fresca

Dai Due will also be selling cornichons ($9), pickled jalapenos ($8), marinated quail ($15), roasting hens marinated in yogurt and garlic ($8/lb), cajeta ($6), and numerous other specialty food items.

The winner of the Dai Due Peach Pie Contest is Melissa Bernard, with a close second place going to John Tipton. Melissa Bernard will receive a $50 basket of Dai Due lard, sausages and pickles. Congratulations to you both!See you at the Sunday Markets!