Fresh Sheet: July 3 Market

With sun in the forecast, it's bound to be a spectacular market! Who wants to cook when the weather is this hot!? Come on up to the market instead where the food trucks will be on site, and you can grab a spot of shade under a tree (and perhaps even a spot at one of the highly coveted picnic tables, if you're lucky!) and then devour a scrumptious dinner. Choose from :

• Sailin' On (vegan), 
• Bully (gourmet comfort food) 
• Yellow Bird (Japanese fusion) 
• Fat Franks (gourmet hotdogs, sausages & smokies)
• Butcher's Bus (sausage on a bun & soft ice cream cones)
• Pink Kernel (snow cones, mini donuts, popped carnival corn, cotton candy)

One sad piece of news for us... Gourmet Girl Cookies is withdrawing from the market to pursue a new venture, a restaurant in Belgravia called Belgravia Hub. She had hoped to manage both her cookie business and her restaurant business at the same time, but the juggling is turning out to be too demanding and challenging. We wish her all the best in her new venture! Check the restaurant out online... http://belhub.com or stop by and when you see Sarah at the Belgravia area near the university, and please be sure to tell her how much we miss her!

And while the intense sun and heat makes for a spectacular visiting-the-market-day, it can wreak havoc with some of our food producers. And so, it is with much regret that I have to inform you that Raspberry & Cocoa will also not be at this week's market as the heat has interfered with the making of wonderfully their buttery dough for their much sought after croissants....

Barring high winds and wild weather, the inflatable slide, face painter and balloon creator will be at our market for the kids. And this week we are introducing something new for the kids... a treasure hunt puzzle that takes the kids, young & old, hunting and seeking throughout the stalls of our market to solve clues and see just how well they know the Southwest Edmonton Farmers' Market. Younger preschool kids will do a visual picture puzzle, and the older kids will have to solve clues to complete their puzzle. Kids can pick up their puzzles at the SWEFM Info Tent, and then, once completed, return them to our volunteers at the SWEFM Info tent for the chance to win fun a prize!

Fresh vegetables & fruits in season, and available now at this week's market:

The fruit trucks are bringing a wealth of beautiful fruit in from BC. This week expect to see:

• a taste of apricots and blackberries (because it's the beginning of the season, these are in limited quantities and can sell out fast)
• cherries (dark cherries and what our market manager calls the extra sweet sugar bombs... the Rainers... those pale yellow cherries with just a blush of red colouring)
• raspberries
• apples (think galas & macs & other delicious BC apples)
• pears (green & red)
• dehydrated apples, sparkling cider, 100% pure apple juice and a few other goodies
• strawberries (not a sure thing... the season is winding down for strawberries)

As for veggies... they are beginning to pour in from the fields as well. Expect to see:

• Riverbend Gardens will have the first fresh carrots of the season!
• Fresh, baby potatoes... don't forget to pick up fresh dill to go with them.
• Field-grown radishes
• Fresh green onions
• Over-wintered potatoes (purple, pink, & white fleshed varieties)
• Over-wintered squashes
• Long green hothouse beans
• Hothouse cucumbers (long English and mini varieties that are perfect for packing in lunches)
• Field-grown rhubarb (not a sure thing)
• Field-grown spinach (not a sure thing)
• Fresh cut basil & chives & dill
• Fresh herb plants (thyme, basil, oregano, parsley, mint, sage, rosemary)
• Hothouse & field grown lettuces (green leaf lettuce and butter lettuce),
• Hothouse tomatoes (large, small & on the vine red, the wonderfully flavourful & meaty green & red striped mini zebras) 
• Hothouse peppers (small & large orange, yellow, red, green, & red & green spicy chiles)

PLUS…

•  A variety of artisan breads, cinnamon breads, sweet loaves, gluten-free loaves & baking, cupcakes, homemade cookies, other finger-licking good baking
• Fresh & frozen meats (beef, bison, pork, chicken, fish)
• Farm-fresh eggs
• Jarred pickles
• Dehydrated garlic powder
• Fresh raw honey
• Specialty gelatos (great in this blistering summer heat!)
• Specialty chocolates and truffles
• Greek dips and specialty Greek food items
• Indian Foods (naan, butter chicken, Samosas, Indian cookies & salty snacks)
• Thai Foods (frozen & ready for your weekday meals)
• Ready-made meals and spice mixes and other items perfect for the BBQ season
• Smoked meats (sausages, pepperonis, sandwich meats, jerkies)
• Jams & jellies & condiments to compliment everything from your toast through to your meats and fish
• Authentic Mexican tortillas
• Sweet treats like fudge, mini cupcakes, snow cones & soft ice-cream to eat on the spot
• Dinner at the food trucks! (Bully & Sailing On & Yellow Bird)

What else???

• Jewellery (necklaces, earrings, bracelets) 
• Paintings

Visit our website at http://www.swefm.ca
Like us on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/swefm.ca

Contributed by Sheri Hendsbee