Let’s post here about local seasonal produce finds – farmers market, farm stands, etc.
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Yesterday at Wilson Farm in Lexington, they had the first of their own asparagus and fiddleheads. Pretty exciting!
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Good thread.
They’ve had very expensive ramps at Formaggio Kitchen for a couple of weeks, and much less expensive ones (“less expensive” by ramp standards – $15ish/lb) a few days ago at the Fresh Pond WF. I like them grilled, and raw (used some of the leaves chopped raw in a salsa I made for cinco de mayo), and I’ve also mixed them into pan-cooked spicy ground meat (at the end) to replicate the filling of some fantastic lamb-and-ramp ravioli I got at Easter time at Eataly in NY last year (sadly, a one-off deal).
(Had them lightly battered and fried at the Bombay Bread Bar in NYC recently, and they were great that way, too.)
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Ramps have been at Russo’s for a few weeks for $19.99/lb i think? For that price they are definitely an occasional treat. The cheap person aka me is sticking to garlic chives (Chinese leeks, Chinese chive, etc), which have a similar flavor profile but is around $3/lb or less. I like to mince a ton of it and stir into beaten eggs and then scramble; it’s a quick Northern Chinese dish. They are also good wrapped around little bunches of enoki mushroom and flash grilled.
Also available at Russo’s (and Asian markets), garlic scapes! They are mildly garlicky, crunchy, and great in a stir fry.
Has anybody seen any new garlic at any farms? I’ve been craving a sweet-and-sour pickled garlic from childhood but apparently those have to made with young garlic at the beginning of the year.
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I’ve ramped up my ramping as I move down the off-ramp of the ramp season. (Sorry.)
- Ramps with soft scrambled eggs and coarsely ground black pepper.
- A chiffonade of ramp leaves on sable with bagels. (If you think ramps are expensive try Mamaleh’s sable.)
- Ramps, grated Gruyere and a little smoky paprika tucked into an omelette.
- Left over lo mein from Zoe’s, lightly crisped on a non-stick griddle with finely chopped ramps.
- Strips of ramp leaves layered with thinly sliced left over steak and a little mayo on brioche for lunch.
- Mushroom medley (cremini, shitake, oyster, hen of the woods) pan-fried with olive oil and butter, with the very last 1/4 lb of ramps chopped and stirred in.
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Recent haul from Lex Farm’s farm stand this past Thursday:
-Collard greens
-2 types of delicate, tasty lettuce
-Tatsoi (a fave of mine - not too peppery but with bite)
-Bok choy
-Loaf of Bread Obsession sourdough (not shown)
-Whole milk from Crescent Ridge (you put down a deposit for the bottle and swap your empty for a new, filled bottle; we go through so much milk these days, I’ve been considering getting milk delivery all year round from CR which speaks to the food romantic in me)
-more jewel-like strawberries
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Aw, digga, you just brought back so many memories. We lived in Foxboro when my kids were small and had Crescent Ridge delivery. Money was really scarce for these young parents, and it was always a treat to open the silver can to find ice cream, milk and cream. And that was over 30 years ago! I’d do it again, but at this stage we don’t consume much milk and it would go to waste.
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The Kimball’s Fruit Farm at the Harvard Square Farmer’s Market (Charles Hotel) today had strawberries, garlic scapes, green garlic and the first very small sugar snap peas today, along with other early but not so fleeting produce. They said cherries next week.
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It’s been in season for a bit now but the blueberries I picked at Nourse Farm (Westborough) yesterday was large and full of flavor. Will be making blueberry pancakes if there’s still any left by the weekend.
They also had black raspberries until last week, which seem sweeter and have a licorice-like smell; shame that the season is so short. Red raspberries are also in season, and will be till at least September (I was still picking them mid-October last year!). It’s a bargain at $4/lb so will definitely be going back to pick periodically.
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Ward’s berry farm had wonderful blackberries last Tuesday at the Harvard market. I won’t be able to get there today.
Over this past week, Kimball (Central Square, Davis, Charles) has had plump (but not sweet) raspberries, nice white peaches, excellent corn, and a lovely array of tomatoes.
Langwater has had great purple radishes, lovely cabbage, and very good grape/cherry tomatoes.
Silvia’s small yellow tomatoes have been very good. I’ve enjoyed their peaches in the past, but the ones last week were small, and fuzzier than I remember. The peaches last year were infested with some bugs on two or three occasions (they’d come crawling out after a day or two), so it possible they have switched varieties.
If you like pudding-like corn bread, I strongly recommend the “Corny Bread” from a new vendor at Harvard.
I find that late crop raspberries around September are sweeter than the earlier ones. There is one type that is small and extremely delicate (aka turns into mush if you look at them wrong) has the best flavor in my opinion.
Oh also saw plums at Braintree farmers market; bought the smaller ones and they are alright but not too sweet.
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hmmm, i did a quick walkthrough today at the Farmer’s Market at the science center, but didn’t even see this. Noted for posterity!
I did see lots of peaches there today in general. I used my “never buy the thing the first week you see it” rule, though.
The Corny Bread lady is next to the tamale lady, who’s next to Silvia, on the right just as you enter the market from the Oxford Street side.
I can see you’re making the most of the fleeting gloriousness that is local fruit. 
We’ve been delighted so far this season with local stone fruit and berries.
Amazing plums, a peach, and blackberries with ricotta and almonds for breakfast today. Plums and peach bought from Country Dreams Farm of NH. Blackberries were a lucky find from brambles in the yard. We’ll be out of luck as soon as the birds find the berries.
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peaches have been available from Kimball and others at the Union Square Somerville market for a few weeks now. So not first of season. If you leave them out at room temp they ripen beautiful…or at least the ones I bought two weeks ago did.
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If you like pudding-like corn bread, I strongly recommend the “Corny Bread” from a new vendor at Harvard.
sounds very interesting. Is it at all sweet? I’m one of those who grew up in the south and hate sweet cornbread types…
No, not hugely sweet – but then standards of sweetness may differ. She gives out samples, so if you’re in the area next Tuesday, you can try a piece. She’s also experimenting with small corn bites made with beer (had them last Tuesday).
I asked where she operates from. You guys, being smarter, smoother, and slicker than I (GretchenS and p_thru, I’m lookin’ at you), may already know this but there’s this outfit called Commonwealth Kitchen out of which a lot of small vendors cook: http://www.commonwealthkitchen.org/
That’s apparently where the corniness happens.
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How very cool! I didn’t know about that and for the record, I ain’t winnin’ no slickness contests, now or ever. Just glad we have a bunch of folks reporting on deliciousness here. 
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I would point and laugh at you about not knowing about Commonwealth Kitchen, except for the fact that I had never heard about it before now!
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dang it, my routines are all messed up these days. it’s the first I saw them. thanks for the heads up, madrid!
