Local Delicious

Join Vancouver Farmers Markets on September 11, 2010 for their annual Tomato Festival.

Tomatoes are at their peak of ripeness and deliciousness in September and vendors will be bringing out their best varieties – roma, beefsteak, cherry…the list goes on.

Always wanted to try an heirloom tomato but intimidated by all the different colours and strange names? Try something new at the sampling tables.

Tomatoes don’t just taste great – they look great too! Check out the Tomato Beauty Contest where tomato growers will bring out their biggest, best, and most beautiful tomatoes for judging.

Kids will love the Tomato Scavenger Hunt where they will meet local farmers and learn about — as well as taste — many different kinds of tomatoes.

Related posts:

Food Labels: Heirloom or Heritage
Why Quality Seeds Matter

Whoa Nellie! Only 2 weeks left…

You have a mere 2 weeks to submit your best farming/gardening photos in the Home Grown! Photo Contest hosted by FarmFolk/CityFolk Society and the Museum of Vancouver. Your entry gives you a chance to win the grand prize of $500 worth of BC Farmers Markets products, your photo included in the upcoming Home Grown! art exhibition, as well as tickets to the Opening Party.

The Home Grown! exhibition opens August 26, 2010 and  features international award-winning photographer Brian Harris. (Thankfully, you won’t be competing with him. Instead, contest winning photos will be judged separately and may be exhibited alongside his.)

For the past 3 years  Brian Harris has focused his camera on local sustainable farming and Vancouver’s urban agriculture scene. The 40 images on display at the Home Grown! exhibition  will portray local farms, farmers and urban growers with Brian’s characteristic hopeful and intimate cultural style of portraiture.

Learn more about the contest, check out the photos submitted thus far (not many so you still have a chance!) and enter today. Then be sure to attend the Home Grown! exhibition and be inspired by what many local farmers, urban growers and locavores are doing to return our society to a more sustainable and healthy relationship with our earth and food.

Now, I genuinely love the Coquitlam Farmers Market — the energy, the fresh vegetables that smell the way that vegetables should, the people walking around with their green cloth bags. It just makes me happy.

My brother and sister-in-law just moved into their new Coquitlam house a few weeks ago. To celebrate, I took my sister-in-law to the market. To my great surprise, she had never been to a Farmers Market. What a treat! For me as much as for her.

It was a great experience. She couldn’t believe all the vegetables (I know!) and the line up for fresh bread. We combed through perfect looking organic heirloom tomatoes to get the right combination of green, red, and striped fruit. We picked up the largest, funniest shaped carrots either of us had ever seen. We purchased all-natural sprays for our homes (and bug spray for my crazy bootcamp-obsessed friend). We bought beef from the people who actually owned and cared for the herd. And finally, we lugged over-filled bags, with green peeking out over the edges, back to the car.

The next day, I received an email from her. She had to tell me how fantastic the apple was that she just ate and how great the nectarine she had earlier was. I believe the phrase “best ever” was used.

It just makes me happy.

Almost nothing makes me more crazy than not being able to get apples from the BC Okanagan while seeing apples from New Zealand or some other ridiculously far away place on sale in my grocery store produce section. Frankly, it’s insane.

I remember the good old days when I could harvest plump, juicy MacIntosh and Golden Delicious apples right from the trees in my grandpa’s back yard — and often did. There is nothing to compare to that sweet smell and the heavenly, crisp crunch of biting into a just-picked apple. Store bought just doesn’t come close.

Well, hello AppleBarn! My grandpa and his apple trees are long gone, but here’s a delicious alternative: an orchard in Abbotsford where you can pick your own.

Not only can you harvest as many apples as you want right from the tree, in October you can mix and match the varieties that are in season and walk away with a 10 lb. bag for $7. That’d make some mighty tasty apple cobbler, apple pie, apple sauce, apple cider…

Make it a day trip or catch them at a farmers market near you.

Where to begin?  The West End Farmers Market Tomato Festival takes place from 9:00-2:00 tomorrow, so that should be reason enough to get out of bed before noon.   This week’s feature tomato of the week is the ….

Paul Robeson:

A Russian heirloom.  This favourite heirloom tomato was named after the operatic artist who won acclaim as an advocate of equal rights for people of colour.  His artistry was admired world-wide, especially in the Soviet Union.  This “black” beefsteak tomato is slightly flattened, round, and grows to 4-inches.  It’s deep, rich colours set it apart from others…a dusky, dark-red tomato with dark-green shoulders, and red flesh in it’s centre.  A very flavourful fruit, with luscious, earthy flavours and a good sweet/acid balance.

We are now at the height of the local farmers market season.  In addition to last week’s offerings, you will be able to choose from between 4-5 varieties of melons, apples (the Mac’s just arrived last week!), squash, and an ever-increasing variety of both sweet and hot peppers.  Be sure check out the most delicious selection of plums that can be found in the Lower Mainland.  Varieties include Sugar, Lionheart, Amber, and, my personal favourite, Santa Rosa.  Seriously, if you have given up on finding a tasty plum, give these little guys a chance to change your mind.

A Spanish delicacy.  As far as I know, Klippers Organic Acres is the only farm that grows this variety in Canada.

Here is an easy way to prepare them:

• Clean the peppers and dry them completely.  Do not remove the stalks.
• Pan fry them in some quality olive until they blister.
• Drain the excess oil by placing them on some paper towels.
• Season with some good quality salt and enjoy.

Most of the peppers will have a sweet, fresh pepper taste – but one out of every ten will be scorching hot.  It is for this reason that padrones are known as Russian Roulette peppers.   I believe that this is a game worth playing, but you should plan accordingly.  I suggest pairing them with your favourite locally crafted brew in the event that things get out of hand.

Padrón peppers are available at the Vancouver Farmers Markets through to the end of September.