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Posts Tagged ‘Centennial Farms’

How d’ya like these apples?

Oct 9, 2008 farmers' markets, farming, groceries

Centennial Farms Apples

Last year, with the weather being not exactly ideal for Missouri farmers, there were several crops that either never made it to market, or never made it at the level of quality the growers would have hoped for. For Centennial Farms that meant that while some cider and apple butter was made, there weren’t a lot of marketable apples to be had, and the few that did make it were particularly small.

However this year things are going different, and it’s not just the quality or quantity of the apples that’ll get your attention, but instead the number of varieties—21 in all. No matter what your apple tastes are they’ve almost certainly got something you’ll be interested in buying.

In order of ripening…Gala, Honeycrisp, Ruby Jon, Ozark Gold, Jonathan, Jonagold, Cortland, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Empire, Sun Crisp, Braeburn, Blushing Golden, Mutsu, Fuji, Staymared, Winesap, Gold Rush, York, Arkansas Black, Granny Smith.

Tags: apples, Centennial Farms

Last Week at the Market – Fennel

Jul 2, 2008 St. Louis, farmers' markets, missouri

Sorry for the late and brief run down this week but I didn’t spend as much time at the markets last week as I usually do.

Maybe it’s a tough call, but I personally think the highlight was fennel. Probably a lot more people will pick the increase in fruit with all the berries and sweet cherries arriving, but I’m more of a vegetable man and fennel is right up there with the Brussels Sprouts and cauliflower.

At Maplewood the fennel came by way of

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Tags: biver farms, Centennial Farms, Claverach Farms, clayton farmers' market, Farrar Out Farm, Kimker Hills Farm, Maplewood Farmers Market, Silent Oaks Farm, Tower Grove Farmers' Market

Last Week at the Market – Tons of Stuff!!!

Jun 4, 2008 Illinois, St. Louis, farmers' markets, missouri

Wednesday

This week at Maplewood Farmers’ Market I made it in time to be one of those people that swept the Our Garden strawberries out from everyone. As I approached the booth there were ten pints and by the time I left the booth there was one. Two were mine! They were rather small and a bit tart but still better than any others I’d had to this point.

A bunch of new lettuces cropped up this week from Centennial Farms including magenta, butter crunch, and Nevada summer crisp.

Claverach added turnips, spring onions and cucumbers.

Root Cellar also had arugula which I don’t recall seeing last week. It was amazingly clean too. Generally Claverach takes the prize for cleanest vegetables which is a huge bonus when buying from them. They are outright obsessive about cleaning their lettuces especially which I’m sure goes a long way towards restaurants fighting over them.

Ken Muno (Goatsbeard) had his Camembert wheels which I can never remember what he calls after the fact. (Prairie Bloom maybe?)

Saturday

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Tags: Baetje-Farms, biver farms, Centennial Farms, Claverach Farms, clayton farmers' market, farrar out farms, goatsbeard farms, Goshen Farmers' Market, greenwood farms, Hinkebein Hills Farm, Maplewood Farmers Market, prairie grass farms, Scharf Farm, soulard farmers' market, The Root Cellar, Tower Grove Farmers' Market

Last Week at the Market

May 14, 2008 St. Louis, farmers' markets, missouri

As expected the Farmers’ Markets last week were meat and plant heavy and vegetable light.

At the Maplewood Farmers’ Market (thankfully under the patio tent because of the rain) it was the relatively slim pickings you would expect on opening day. The Root Cellar from Columbia had the most produce including a bit of asparagus that went really quick. Mostly, however, they had various herbs and greens including what I can only assume is the weed of leafy greens: chard. Someone with a better green thumb than I can chime in but it seems like chard is available pretty much the entire growing season.

Also at Maplewood

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Tags: biver farms, Centennial Farms, goatsbeard farms, greenwood farms, Hinkebein Hills Farm, Maplewood Farmers Market, prairie grass farms, Tower Grove Farmers' Market

Dinner: Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Dec 6, 2007 cooking, farmers' markets, groceries, slow food, sustainable agriculture

turnips

Alanna posted about glazed turnips the other day, and when I read her post, it occurred to me I still had a bunch of turnips buried deep within “MY FRIG, THE ROOT CELLAR” too. I’d bought them from Claverach Farms a couple months ago with no idea what I’d even do with them as I’d never actually cooked turnips before, but with my only recent memory eating them coming from Red, I felt they deserved a chance at glory on my dinner table.

Heading to the kitchen to dig them out I was concerned with how they would look roughly two months after purchasing them, and I was happy to see they appeared almost identical to when I’d tossed them in the fridge in the first place. It’s amazing how long some fruits and vegetables will last if stored properly, and as I pulled the turnips from the crisper, I took the opportunity to take stock of my other late market purchases.

Walker Claridge’s green onions from The Root Cellar were doing surprisingly well for being at least 6 weeks old as I’d washed them the minute I’d gotten them home and wrapped them in moist paper towels. I enjoyed using them all summer when he had them as they were a sort of two-fer: the green ends could be used as herbs in vinaigrettes, tacos, etc. and the bulby root ends were perfect for a light onion flavor in something like scrambled eggs; having almost a leek like flavor.

Celeriac from Berger Bluff Farms, which I’d swiped away from all my Slow Food friends by buying every single one on the last day of the Maplewood Farmers’ Market, looked exactly as I’d expected: unchanged and ugly as the day I bought them; wrapped safely in their plastic bag.

Chioggia Beets from Claverach Farms were maybe a touch soft after at least 6 weeks, and one giant chioggia from The Root Cellar looked precisely how it did the day I bought it as I’d cut the beet greens off and used them the night I’d brought it home ensuring it’s longevity.

With everything pulled out for inspection, it was then that I saw the several varieties of apples from Centennial Farms I’d completely forgotten about. A bit soft, they were definitely showing their age, and it was at then inspiration hit in the form of applesauce…applesauce on turnip-potato pancakes.