What’s in Season?
We are Millenials, we see delicious food all over the internet and we want to eat it and then post about it…sometimes.
When I’m at the Saturday market it is not uncommon for customers to be looking for produce that isn’t in season. I attribute this to meal prepping. Finding those delicious recipes anyway you can (instagram, tiktok) and going out to your local food-selling-place to buy what you need and create this meal of your dreams.
I encourage you to dream of meals, it is a great creative skill, but I encourage you to find those meals and think “how do I incorporate what’s in season to this dreamy sushi bowl?”
AND HOW DO I KNOW WHATS IN SEASON? - here is a great resource for whats is in season in Nova Scotia. It can also help you find your nearest farmers market. :)
It’s important to shop for local produce, it’s going to elevate both the taste and nutritional content of your meal. It keeps your money in our local economy (maybe some of that will even go towards fixing up some of our roads! lol) And it keeps your cooking creative, vibrant and full of good energy. A neighbour grew that for you (sort of!) and trust me they are so humbled that you wanted to cook it up and share it with your friends and family.
Terra Tonics Farm at the Halifax Brewery Farmer Market April 13th
For April here is what you can expect to find at your local farmers markets.
Apples - These are pretty well around all year in NS (aren’t we lucky!) there is incredible work that has gone into apple storage and this time of year apples are sweet, some still have good crunch!
Arugula - spicy, punchy, beautiful greens
Asian Greens - Ooooh, so delicious, spicy, succulent, light green dark green. These can be:
Beets - golden or red, they are ready for you to grate into your spinach salads!
Cabbage - you can probably find green and red storage cabbage this time of year. Napa is probably harder to come by
Carrots - if your lucky! Carrots had a bit of a rough year last year due to heavy rain. But Some of these beaty’s are lingering around this time of year
Celeriac - better than potatoes…there I said it! They are fantastic to roast, or puree - think more flavourful mashed potato
Kale - Curly leaf kale, black or dinosaur kale, red or white russian kale. You name it that Kale is probably around! And it’s probably been around all winter, it should have a nice sweet flavour this time of year.
Kohlrabi - Cut this strange looking vegetable up to reveal an incredible crunchy and sweet interior. Best dipped in hummus!
Microgreens - before salad season really kicks in these are the faithful microgreens. These little fellas add tonnes of nutrients and colour to your meals. They brighten up those storage crops and add a bitter flavour to “sweeter” winter crops.
Potatoes- also incredibly versatile, filing and have incredible storage, gobble these up while you can, new potatoes will be here in a few months
Spinach - it grows really well in the shoulder seasons (Spring and fall) it loves growing in a shorter day. Get all the spinach salad you can now, before long summer days set in.
Rutabga - incredibly versatile, grate it into a kraut, roast it into a fry, dice it into a stew!
On the horizon, just a few weeks away and we will see
Green Onions
Hakurei Turnip
Lettuce Mix
Radish
Rhubarb
*Note you won’t find all of these items at our table, but you will find some of them. The rest you can pick up from our fellow farmers. We are all in this together!
