Farmer’s Markets in the Pioneer Valley and Beyond
8 a.m., Saturday morning, downtown Amherst. My wife and I stop at our respective banks, get the market basket from the car, and wander down the Spring Street parking lot. Vendors are already set up or finishing their displays. The Gazette’s Phyllis Lehrer is arranging vegetables at Bill and Connie Gillan’s SUNSET FARM stand. I stop at Larry Siegel’s PROSPECT HILL stand, looking to see whether he has any wild mushrooms. My wife picks up a large bouquet at Marie Fowler’s LITTLE POND FLOWER stand. Marie and I have known each other for years, and her flowers have graced many a weekend dinner party.
A little further down, Jim Davis is displaying the first tomatoes, basil and tiny potatoes at the DELTA ORGANIC FARM stand. Newcomer Sara Coblyn Porth of ATLAS FARM is encircling a large bowl of tomatoes with bunches of fresh basil. This is Atlas Farm’s first year at the Amherst Farmers Market, but Porth is no stranger to such events, serving as the volunteer president of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets (www.massfarmersmarkets.org). She’s happy to be at the Amherst market, which operates from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., April through November. “The people here get it,” she says. I have plenty of basil at home, but into the basket go arugula and yellow and red heirloom tomatoes for tonight’s meal.
We make a stop at ASTARTE FARMS to get some fresh garlic and look at beets and greens. We stroll past CRYSTAL BROOK FARM’S cheese and the BERKSHIRE MOUNTAIN BAKERY, past the APPLE DUMPLING GANG’S apples and raspberries, past CHASE HILL FARM, which has great farm-raised beef. I stop at SIMPLE GIFTS, which always seems to have a large selection of heirloom tomatoes, and at JIANG FARMS, where I buy some Asian spinach.
Now that I have the lay of the land, I go back, picking up baby carrots, a bunch of beets and a large bunch of red and white radishes. If I could paint, they’d all go into a still life, brighter than the Dutch masters, but no less lush. As it is, I am merely a cook. I’ll fill the table with richly colored bowls of food that look like their ingredients and taste clean and fresh.
In Northampton, the same scene is being repeated on Gothic Street on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A tighter, more urban market, it is smaller than the Amherst market but has some different offerings. The space is limited and the waiting list for vendors is long, so the market tries to vary what is available. The criterion here is that you must grow what you sell, making it a true farmers market (this makes it hard for bakers, since 50 percent of the ingredients in the baked goods need to be grown by the baker). The market is always crowded, spilling over onto the lawn in front of the former Fleet Bank. As in Amherst, there is often a table or two of political activists, seeking signatures and contributions and distributing information.
In previous centuries, farmers markets were an important part of the food distribution system. They went into eclipse in the 20th century as distribution became more centralized and most people got their produce at supermarkets. There are a number of reasons why farmers markets are flourishing again. For one thing, the quality and freshness are high. As far as I can recall, I have never bought vegetables at the market that turned out to be less than fresh once I got them home. Most of the farmers practice organic-style growing methods, whether or not they are certified as organic.
Price is not necessarily one of the reasons to shop at a farmers market. Compared to the cost of conventional produce trucked in from far-away farms, the prices at farmers markets are high. But if you compare apples to apples, so to speak, and look at the prices for organic produce, they are reasonable. Besides, I’d rather give my money to a local farmer, so he or she can continue to practice agriculture on a local scale. How to feed the world is a larger question and one worth pursuing. But here, on a sunny July morning in Amherst, I am pleased to talk with my neighbors and buy food that was raised within 50 miles of where we stand.
Amherst and Northampton aren’t the only area communities with farmers markets. The Greenfield Farmers Market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and while it is average in size, it’s in the center of town and hard to miss. In addition to produce, it has jewelry, wool, Recycleze clothing (handmade cloth diapers, and sweaters made from second-generation wool) and EL JARDIN BAKERY. The feeling is relaxed and a visit there makes for a pleasant stroll.
I missed the Holyoke Farmers Market, which operates on Thursdays from noon to 5 p.m. on Dwight and High streets in front of City Hall, but I plan to visit soon. There is music and prepared food in addition to the produce.
My daughter-in-law loves the Florence Farmers Market, at the Florence Civic Center at 30 Park St., which is open on Wednesdays from 2 to 6 p.m. There is a farmers market on Union Street in Easthampton on Tuesdays from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. There are markets in Chicopee, Springfield and all over the region. You can find additional listings at www.farmfresh.org and www.starchefs.com.
If you want to see a truly impressive farmers market, take a trip up Interstate 91 some Saturday to the Brattleboro Farmers Market, on Route 9 West, just off Exit 2. We estimated about 40 booths, of which perhaps 15 were selling produce. There is a huge amount of prepared food — Thai, Mexican, Indian, West African. There are jewelry stands, the PUTNEY MOUNTAIN WINERY (apple, cassis, etc.), a masseuse, PURPLE CHEF’S line of marmalades and chutneys, and some amazing sausage at NOT YOUR ORDINARY FARM. There were bluegrass musicians the day we were there and a sandbox for kids. It felt more like a county fair than a farmers market but who cares? All the produce seemed to be organic and it was lovely to behold. The market is open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
If you are imagining that the local food you’ll find at farmers markets is limited to what would look at home on a 19th-century table, think again. Heirloom tomatoes may hark back 100 years, but what would Emily Dickinson make of fresh basil, Japanese eggplants, orange beets, arugula or mesclun mix? Cheddar may be the traditional cheese, but Taylor Farms in Brattleboro sells varieties of Gouda, and Hillman Farms in Northampton sells an aged washed-rind goat cheese as well as fresh.
The best thing to do with all this produce is as little as possible. Here are some recipes that I make fairly often. Some of the ingredients aren’t local. That’s OK. Think “Buy Locally, Cook Globally.”
Originally published Daily Hampshire Gazette, July 27, 2007
Recipes