Strawberry-o-rama-ding-dong!

I'm seeing a little red.  Little red, shiny berries!  Such an amazing amount of strawberries were offered at our two weekend Farmers Markets that I went a little overboard.  At the Friday Night Farmers Market, Mayfair Farms from Portage came with their luscious berries, and at the end of the day offered a wee deal.  I came home with three flats.  Then, at the Saturday morning Farmers Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre, the lovely little family farm Good Earth came from Glenboro with their gorgeous berries and, wanting to support local growers (!) I came home with two more flats.  After my standard Saturday afternoon nap, I rose to a fridge stuffed with berries!  So, time to start the canning for 2011.  Sunday, which we usually take as a day off, was a berry day; 'Strawberry Fields Forever' kept running through my head as I washed, hulled, rinsed, crushed, stirred...well, you get the picture!  As it stands, I have fourteen jars of conventional pectin jam, five jars of honey sweetened jam made with Pomona's, I have two batches of strawberry-balsamic-rosemary jam marinating which I'm about to can and, as I faced the last flat at 9:00 PM last night, I got out the blender and the dehydrator and I have ten sheets of pure strawberry leather currently cooling. Whew!  Now, what if strawberries show up at the Farmers Markets again this coming weekend.......

That's What I'm Talking About!

After a slow start, the Farmers Markets are kicking into gear.  With a little warm weather this week, gardens are starting to take off, and more market gardeners have something ready to sell.  Local food is getting a whole lot easier in Brandon!  We have made the tough decision to cancel the Thursday Night Farmers Market at Riverbank Discovery; there is just not enough produce or vendors to fill four markets a week.  Some of our poor grower friends are still under water from flooding, and will never make it to market this year.  The Friday Night Farmers Market had more vendors, more customers and more action this week!  Fresh strawberries from Portage were a nice addition, since strawberries are going to be a little rare around here this year due to the flooding.  Saturday Morning at Riverbank Discovery Centre was also bigger and better, and nice strawberries from Glenboro were a hit.  For us, a good cut of some lettuces (finally) including baby romaine, a buttercrunch type and a gorgeous, frilly loose leaf.  We had the first little dig of baby potatoes, the last cut of garlic scapes and loads of fresh herbs with a nice cut of cilantro!  The 2010 jams are selling out, with lots of interest in my sugar free jams, made with honey using the awesome Pomona's Pectin.  Coming home with me both nights: strawberries!  Let the jamming begin for 2011!

Jammin'!

'Tis the season to be jammin' and cannin'. Now, it's too bad for us market gardeners that jamming season is in the midst of our busy season. But, of course jamming season is in the middle of our busy season 'cause that's when the berries are ready! Our raspberries are just coming on strong; we got a little pick but they will be on full force next week and we'll have u-pick people here. We always find a few surprises in the berry patch - so far this year it's been an awesome little nest of babies, mmmmm, wrens maybe, by the size of the beaks. I haven't seen the mom so I'm not sure.

The jamming started on Sunday with strawberries. I scored some beautiful berries from Sugar 'n Spice at the Farmers' Market at Riverbank Discovery Centre. Rocky and The Hens seemed to enjoy the leftovers and scraps! Today has been our own raspberries, and I'll do more of those - large quantities of jam and jelly, hopefully, for sale at the Farmers Markets!

We're onto something new this year: Pomona's Pectin. We're always looking for something different for the Farmers' Markets. Pomona's Universal Pectin allows for low sugar jams and jellies, and you can even can with honey, stevia or other sugar replacements. I'm loving this product! It is a 100% citrus based pectin that gels with calcium and contains no dextrin, like common pectins. The procedures are simply and you can double or triple a recipe no problem; the product itself has a shelf life, if stored properly, of up to three years! It's a Danish product, which Farmer Man approves of, of course! It's available in Brandon in small packages at Two Farm Kids; I went right to the website to order a larger quantity from the Canadian distributor: check out Pomoma's Universal Pectin!