JULY 21st MARKET NEWS

Dear Shoppers,

It's mid-summer and that means the market is being infused with color: shishito peppers, fairy tale eggplant, and luminous plums.  

Blistered Shishito peppers sprinkled with coarse salt are the perfect accompaniment to grilled steak (Farm Eats is here this week!). or, as a snack to nibble on before dinner on the deck. Like radishes, you hold by the stem and eat. 

It's important to nibble though: one out of ten of these thumb-size grass-green peppers is alarmingly hot. No way to tell which pepper is hotter than the rest. It's all part of the fun of eating shishitos.

Sun Sprout Farm will have fairy-tale eggplant this week. These are the Thumbelina-sized eggplant with the gorgeous purple and white striping.  As with zucchini, the more "petite" the eggplant the more they deliver on flavor. 

This recipe from thekitchn.com

is perfect for these summer market darlings.

Red Barn Bakery an organic bakery in Irvington that offers both savory and sweet treats, some gluten-free, will be visiting us this week. Make sure to give them a typical Hastings welcome. 

Also, the knife sharpener is he as he is every THIRD Saturday. So, plan accordingly.

Stock up on on Clean Ridge Soap is also here every third Saturday, so make sure to pick up some  lemongrass body lotion and that lovely herbaceous kitchen soap, both made with local herbs.

On the third Saturday, we also have our Glean on Me campaign at the market. Gleaning is a biblical term, which refers to the act of gathering up the wheat or produce left in a farmer's field. The Book of Leviticus instructs farmers to leave something behind after harvesting, so less fortunate folks will have something to eat.  Once a month, we ask market shoppers to donate produce/fruit to the Hastings Food Pantry (in addition to the eggs and apples the market donates each week). We will have a basket set up at the Market tent. Thank you, as always, for your generosity!

See you at the market!