I keep track of the weather every day that the store is open. If I need to find out years later why strawberry sales were down one July, I just need to take a look at my notes detailing killing frosts in June on that year.
Last year this week my weather entries included, "Crazy Wind", "7 degrees and rain again" as well as "2 degrees, rain and SLEET!".
This spring is a much different one, and the produce is already showing it!
MANITOBA HOTHOUSE STRAWBERRIES NOW AVAILABLE
I work with a wonderful farmer who has planted strawberries in his greenhouse for me! Clearly a small greenhouse can't produce what acres of fields can produce in July, but the few hundred pints of berries that we get each week are worth the wait. We post on our facebook every time a new delivery of these luscious gems arrive, then it's first come first served to Manitoba strawberry fabulousness! The strawberries are Spray Free and have AMAZING flavour.
MANITOBA ASPARAGUS NOW AVAILABLE
The Manitoba Asparagus is just BEAUTIFUL right now. Being one of the quickest and easiest veggies to prepare, Marc and I actually get to have cooked asparagus fairly often in the spring. With the heat, this year's crop is growing quickly. The farmers are cutting every day or every second day. if this heat keeps up, I would expect a shorter than usual asparagus crop. Now is the perfect time for fresh eating, freezing or pickling asparagus. Check out our recipe blog for some easy asparagus recipes. www.cramptonsrecipes.com Just head to the blog and type "asparagus" in the search bar at the top right hand side.
Asparagus is a perennial, meaning it grows every spring of its own accord, A well tended commercial asparagus patch can last for 20 years if cared for properly. They are hardy plants with deep roots. A few years ago my asparagus farmer lost one picking of his crop to frost, the spears froze over night. But the hearty plant just kept producing more spears. Most veggies do not have that ability. Low in calories but high in fiber and taste, this veggie is just the spring tonic we need to get into summer mode!!
MANITOBA FIDDLEHEADS AVAILABLE FOR ONE MORE WEEK!
Fiddleheads are the baby start to ostrich ferns. Those ferns that you see when walking through low lying areas near streams are the adult form of fiddleheads! Because they full of tannins and enzymes, you MUST boil fiddleheads for 8-10 minutes to remove these substances that can cause stomach upset. Read all about how to prepare this spring delicacy on our recipe blog. www.cramptonsrecipes.com Just type in "fiddleheads" in the search bar at the top.
This hot spring has meant that the fiddleheads have grown very quickly. All of the baby fiddleheads in the forest have now turned into ferns. (unroll one of the fiddleheads with your kids, see if they can tell what the adult plant is) Our pickers have harvested what they could, and we have enough in our cooler to last us another 7 days or so (depending on how quickly people buy them). Once they are gone, that's it until 2013. Sigh. These ferns used to be commercially harvested on the east coast of Canada and sold frozen by Mc Cains, but alas, these temperamental greens proved to be commercially unsuccessful. Some things are just meant to be wild.
MOREL MUSHROOMS
Last year we had next to no wild harvested Morel Mushrooms. Cool weather and too much rain held them back. This year they are coming back with a vengeance! The sun and the rain have hit in a perfect combination to make these mushrooms grow. They won't be around for much longer, so now is the time to try some "prairie truffles" . Once again, recipes are all on the blog at www.cramptonsrecipes.com.
Have a fabulous long weekend!
Erin
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Crampton's Sponsored Agriculture
We have set our opening day. Crampton's will start off the 2012 season on Wednesday May 9th! As of that day we will be open
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays 9-6
And yes, the bakery will be up and running with everything, the natural meats freezer will be fully stocked, the Manitoba and Canadian dry goods will all be in place, and if the spring is a warm one, we may even have Asparagus. But you all know by now, local produce marches to the beat of its own drummer. It will arrive when it's darned good and ready.
Starting the first week of July and running for 14 weeks Crampton's is offering our very own Crampton's Sponsored Agriculture.
We have partnered with 6 Manitoba farmers to offer a weekly pre packed produce bag. Each week we will be filling the bags with what an average family of 4 (2 adults, 2 small children), would eat for produce for the week. If you are a vegetarian family, or a HUGE veggie eater like our household of 2, this would only represent a portion of what your family may consume during the week. Our "Half Share" option is for people living on their own, or a couple.
The boxes will be filled with a mix of spray free and certified organic produce from Manitoba. 6 farmers participating in this venture means that your risk is lowered. If one farmer floods or gets hailed out, you still have 5 other farmers to count on.
Sign up at the store between May 9th and June 15th
Cost-$490 per share (comes to $35/week)
By popular demand HALF SHARE $280 (comes to $20/week).
Payment-We accept cash and debit at the store. To hold your spot, full payment of share must be made by June 15th.
You get-14 weeks of fresh Manitoba spray free and organic produce beginning Wednesday, July 4th
Pick up-Every Wednesday from 9 am till 8 pm starting July 4th right at Crampton's Market. Can't make it on a Wednesday? Send a friend to pick it up (let us know first). All boxes not picked up by closing on Wednesday will be donated to Siloam Mission or Agape table. Shares run from July 4th to Wednesday October 3rd.
What's in the box? Whatever is local, fresh, in season and spray free or certified organic. The contents of your box will change every week but throughout the season will include (weather depending)
-lettuces, kale, swiss chard, garlic, asparagus, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, carrots, beets, beans, snap peas, strawberries, raspberries, saskatoons, sour cherries, apples, plums, wild blueberries, melons, corn, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, leek, onions, peppers etc etc.
Substitutions? Sorry but no. What is available is what is available. We will strive to have the greatest variety possible in each box, meaning that there should be something for everyone.
Is this for me?-Our CSA is for you if you will be in Winnipeg for most weeks during the summer, or can have someone pick it up if you are at the lake. If you love to cook, discover new foods, and want only the freshest of Manitoba spray free and organic produce! Our CSA is perfect if you would like to cut your shopping time down AND increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Won't be in town for one month of the CSA? Donate your portion to charity or find a food buddy to partner with.
It's too much!!-Can't eat 35 dollars worth of produce a week? Participate in our half share program or find a friend to share with. Neighbours, family members or a colleague can make a great food buddy.
Start saving up now, and join our CSA when we open again in May!
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays 9-6
And yes, the bakery will be up and running with everything, the natural meats freezer will be fully stocked, the Manitoba and Canadian dry goods will all be in place, and if the spring is a warm one, we may even have Asparagus. But you all know by now, local produce marches to the beat of its own drummer. It will arrive when it's darned good and ready.
NEW FOR THIS YEAR!!
We are making an exciting addition to Crampton's Market this summer. To complement our retail store, and to help more small farmers go organic we will be adding a CSA program for those customers who would like to purchase spray free and organic Manitoba produce.Starting the first week of July and running for 14 weeks Crampton's is offering our very own Crampton's Sponsored Agriculture.
We have partnered with 6 Manitoba farmers to offer a weekly pre packed produce bag. Each week we will be filling the bags with what an average family of 4 (2 adults, 2 small children), would eat for produce for the week. If you are a vegetarian family, or a HUGE veggie eater like our household of 2, this would only represent a portion of what your family may consume during the week. Our "Half Share" option is for people living on their own, or a couple.
The boxes will be filled with a mix of spray free and certified organic produce from Manitoba. 6 farmers participating in this venture means that your risk is lowered. If one farmer floods or gets hailed out, you still have 5 other farmers to count on.
Sign up at the store between May 9th and June 15th
Cost-$490 per share (comes to $35/week)
By popular demand HALF SHARE $280 (comes to $20/week).
Payment-We accept cash and debit at the store. To hold your spot, full payment of share must be made by June 15th.
You get-14 weeks of fresh Manitoba spray free and organic produce beginning Wednesday, July 4th
Pick up-Every Wednesday from 9 am till 8 pm starting July 4th right at Crampton's Market. Can't make it on a Wednesday? Send a friend to pick it up (let us know first). All boxes not picked up by closing on Wednesday will be donated to Siloam Mission or Agape table. Shares run from July 4th to Wednesday October 3rd.
What's in the box? Whatever is local, fresh, in season and spray free or certified organic. The contents of your box will change every week but throughout the season will include (weather depending)
-lettuces, kale, swiss chard, garlic, asparagus, cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, carrots, beets, beans, snap peas, strawberries, raspberries, saskatoons, sour cherries, apples, plums, wild blueberries, melons, corn, squash, tomatoes, zucchini, leek, onions, peppers etc etc.
Substitutions? Sorry but no. What is available is what is available. We will strive to have the greatest variety possible in each box, meaning that there should be something for everyone.
Is this for me?-Our CSA is for you if you will be in Winnipeg for most weeks during the summer, or can have someone pick it up if you are at the lake. If you love to cook, discover new foods, and want only the freshest of Manitoba spray free and organic produce! Our CSA is perfect if you would like to cut your shopping time down AND increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Won't be in town for one month of the CSA? Donate your portion to charity or find a food buddy to partner with.
It's too much!!-Can't eat 35 dollars worth of produce a week? Participate in our half share program or find a friend to share with. Neighbours, family members or a colleague can make a great food buddy.
Start saving up now, and join our CSA when we open again in May!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Vote every day of the year
Our provincial election may be looming but whether you know it or not, you vote each and every day of the year. Your dollars are ballots that you use every day.
Every time that you shopped at my little market this summer, you voted for local food, community, small independent business, Manitoba farmers, ethically raised meats, well paid workers.
Politicians on all sides will spout their campaign slogans until they are blue in the face, with nothing to hold them to their word until the next election rolls around years down the road. No matter how you vote, or if the party for whom you vote keeps their word, you have the choice to put your money where you morals are. When you shop this winter, be it for food, clothing, entertainment, or services, remember how powerful your ballots are.
All summer long you shopped at Crampton's Market. Thank you so much for the votes!
Thank you!!!
Now to answer the question that everyone is asking....what does she DO all winter long????
Well, our last day open is October 8th, I'll spend the week of the 10th cleaning up the maket, packing things up, turning off the compressors, cleaning coolers, sealing doors and windows and shutting off the water system.
Once that glorious chore (it is a bit horrid actually) is over with, I get to face the 2 thousand pounds of tomatoes that are in the freezer waiting to be made into Salsa. That task effectively takes over the week of the 17th.
Once the cooking and cleaning is over, it's time for a week of paper work. Marc is particularly anxious to have our kitchen table converted from summer office back to table. It will be nice to eat while sitting down again. That takes care of the week of the 24th
And once the paperwork is done, it's time to go over records and meet with farmers to plan for next year!
As you may have guessed, after the next 2 months of clean up and paperwork are done, we'll need a bit of a break. Marc and I will be heading to NZ to find a summer break down under. After our nice long jaunt, we'll both be ready to start up the shop again next year, making it even better than ever!!
Take Care
Erin
Crampton's Market
Every time that you shopped at my little market this summer, you voted for local food, community, small independent business, Manitoba farmers, ethically raised meats, well paid workers.
Politicians on all sides will spout their campaign slogans until they are blue in the face, with nothing to hold them to their word until the next election rolls around years down the road. No matter how you vote, or if the party for whom you vote keeps their word, you have the choice to put your money where you morals are. When you shop this winter, be it for food, clothing, entertainment, or services, remember how powerful your ballots are.
All summer long you shopped at Crampton's Market. Thank you so much for the votes!
Thank you!!!
Now to answer the question that everyone is asking....what does she DO all winter long????
Well, our last day open is October 8th, I'll spend the week of the 10th cleaning up the maket, packing things up, turning off the compressors, cleaning coolers, sealing doors and windows and shutting off the water system.
Once that glorious chore (it is a bit horrid actually) is over with, I get to face the 2 thousand pounds of tomatoes that are in the freezer waiting to be made into Salsa. That task effectively takes over the week of the 17th.
Once the cooking and cleaning is over, it's time for a week of paper work. Marc is particularly anxious to have our kitchen table converted from summer office back to table. It will be nice to eat while sitting down again. That takes care of the week of the 24th
And once the paperwork is done, it's time to go over records and meet with farmers to plan for next year!
As you may have guessed, after the next 2 months of clean up and paperwork are done, we'll need a bit of a break. Marc and I will be heading to NZ to find a summer break down under. After our nice long jaunt, we'll both be ready to start up the shop again next year, making it even better than ever!!
Take Care
Erin
Crampton's Market
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Squash and Tomatoes!!!!
Here we are, September again!. All sun and no mosquitoes this year, no wonder the summer went by so quickly. I can tell that it's the end of September though, my feet are sore!!
We had a killing frost in the south end of the Province a few days ago, so that means that the corn, beans, cucumbers etc that we have in the store are what we cleverly scooped before the predicted frost. Once they are gone, there will be no more until next year.
Most farmers spent some time irrigating their valuable tomato patches to keep the frost away, so that means that we have field tomatoes coming out of our ears!! This is fabulous as it's definitely getting to be the time for soups, sauces and stews.
The beautiful winter squashes are also now in season. Unlike summer squash (zucchini and patty pan), Winter squash have much thicker skins and can store for months and months. To ensure that your squash lasts until at least Christmas simply follow these steps.
Add 1 tbsp bleach to 4 liters of water. Wash down the whole squash with this solution. Place your now clean squash in a cool, dark, dry location. A dry basement is perfect. I prefer not to store my squash directly on cement, but on a piece of cardboard on the cement floor. A cupboard in the basement is fine too. In fact, I had an experiment spaghetti squash that survived a whole winter just on my kitchen counter.
Now is the time to gather up winter squash. When you make butternut soup in January, you'll thank me for this notice.
For some lovely and easy squash recipes, check out our recipe blog here.
Take care
Erin
We had a killing frost in the south end of the Province a few days ago, so that means that the corn, beans, cucumbers etc that we have in the store are what we cleverly scooped before the predicted frost. Once they are gone, there will be no more until next year.
Most farmers spent some time irrigating their valuable tomato patches to keep the frost away, so that means that we have field tomatoes coming out of our ears!! This is fabulous as it's definitely getting to be the time for soups, sauces and stews.
The beautiful winter squashes are also now in season. Unlike summer squash (zucchini and patty pan), Winter squash have much thicker skins and can store for months and months. To ensure that your squash lasts until at least Christmas simply follow these steps.
Add 1 tbsp bleach to 4 liters of water. Wash down the whole squash with this solution. Place your now clean squash in a cool, dark, dry location. A dry basement is perfect. I prefer not to store my squash directly on cement, but on a piece of cardboard on the cement floor. A cupboard in the basement is fine too. In fact, I had an experiment spaghetti squash that survived a whole winter just on my kitchen counter.
Now is the time to gather up winter squash. When you make butternut soup in January, you'll thank me for this notice.
For some lovely and easy squash recipes, check out our recipe blog here.
Take care
Erin
Monday, August 29, 2011
The times they are a changing
Hello everyone!!
Where the heck did the summer go? Soon the kiddies will be back in school, my staff will start abandoning me to pursue their higher education and our hours will be shortened. With all of my staff heading back to school after the long weekend, we'll be on a skeleton crew at the market.
As of Tuesday, September 6th, Crampton's Market will be open.
Monday to Friday 9-7
Saturday and Sunday 9-6
The last day of the 2011 will be Saturday, October 8th. The only thing that would shorten our season is many feet of snow and very low temperatures. But we all know that we'll have a beautiful warm fall, so no worries there.
The last day of Sam and Ira's ice cream shop will be Sunday, September 4th! You have one more week to enjoy the ice cream treats out of there!!
Lots of news to report.
The local corn, cucumbers, FIELD TOMATOES, peppers, potatoes, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant, onions, storage garlic, melons, fall strawberries, apples, etc etc etc are all in full swing. Our store is packed to the rafters with local goodies. What a great time of year.
Some of the herbs will soon be done for the season, time to start drying and freezing herbs for winter use.
Delicate herbs such as dill and basil take very well to freezing. Just clean your dill or basil (remove stems from basil), place 2 cups of herbs in a blender with a half cup of water. Blend until mixed. Pour into ice cube trays. Freeze. Pop out the cubes, store them in a reusable freezer safe container and you are set for the winter. The water keeps the oils in the dill and basil from dissipating and keep the herbs from turning black in your freezer.
If you use lots of tomatoes throughout the winter, now is the time to chuck bags of them into your freezer for winter use. When you need to use them, just run your rock hard frozen tomato under warm running water, the skin will just slip off and you can pop the whole thing into your soups, stews etc. Making sauce? Just let your skinned tomato thaw for a few hours in a colander in the sink. The water will fall away from the tomato and you won't have to cook your sauce down for hours. So simple!
Take Care!
Erin
Crampton's Market
We are currently taking orders for end of season baking. Lots of our customers like to have our baked goodies in their freezers to remind them of summer all winter long. We will be taking end of season baking orders from now until September 12 th. You have to come into the store to place the orders as we need payment in advance and need to book a pick up date. End of season orders will be booked for pick up between September 19th and 30th. We are too short staffed during our last week at the store to take on any extra bakery orders during that week.
Where the heck did the summer go? Soon the kiddies will be back in school, my staff will start abandoning me to pursue their higher education and our hours will be shortened. With all of my staff heading back to school after the long weekend, we'll be on a skeleton crew at the market.
As of Tuesday, September 6th, Crampton's Market will be open.
Monday to Friday 9-7
Saturday and Sunday 9-6
The last day of the 2011 will be Saturday, October 8th. The only thing that would shorten our season is many feet of snow and very low temperatures. But we all know that we'll have a beautiful warm fall, so no worries there.
The last day of Sam and Ira's ice cream shop will be Sunday, September 4th! You have one more week to enjoy the ice cream treats out of there!!
Lots of news to report.
The local corn, cucumbers, FIELD TOMATOES, peppers, potatoes, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, eggplant, onions, storage garlic, melons, fall strawberries, apples, etc etc etc are all in full swing. Our store is packed to the rafters with local goodies. What a great time of year.
Some of the herbs will soon be done for the season, time to start drying and freezing herbs for winter use.
Delicate herbs such as dill and basil take very well to freezing. Just clean your dill or basil (remove stems from basil), place 2 cups of herbs in a blender with a half cup of water. Blend until mixed. Pour into ice cube trays. Freeze. Pop out the cubes, store them in a reusable freezer safe container and you are set for the winter. The water keeps the oils in the dill and basil from dissipating and keep the herbs from turning black in your freezer.
If you use lots of tomatoes throughout the winter, now is the time to chuck bags of them into your freezer for winter use. When you need to use them, just run your rock hard frozen tomato under warm running water, the skin will just slip off and you can pop the whole thing into your soups, stews etc. Making sauce? Just let your skinned tomato thaw for a few hours in a colander in the sink. The water will fall away from the tomato and you won't have to cook your sauce down for hours. So simple!
Take Care!
Erin
Crampton's Market
We are currently taking orders for end of season baking. Lots of our customers like to have our baked goodies in their freezers to remind them of summer all winter long. We will be taking end of season baking orders from now until September 12 th. You have to come into the store to place the orders as we need payment in advance and need to book a pick up date. End of season orders will be booked for pick up between September 19th and 30th. We are too short staffed during our last week at the store to take on any extra bakery orders during that week.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Local Garlic, Raspberries, Carrots, Beans, Onions, Potatoes, AND CORN!!!
What a great time of year, the raspberries, carrots, beans, potatoes and onions are all in full season. The corn season is about to begin this weekend, And the local garlic is here. Really, what could be better,
The local garlic season has just started!
I received my first shipment of locally grown garlic today. Juicy, aromatic, and much more pungent than its imported counterparts. Local garlic roasts into a sweet creamy paste that you can mash into potatoes or spread on bread. Really, if at this time of year you aren't consuming at least a clove a day....well I'll just feel sorry for you.
The garlic is still to high in humidity to store for winter use, but if you keep your garlic in a cool dry dark place, it will dry down, and you'll be able to keep it all winter long and never have to buy imported garlic!
Erin's Yearly Corn info extravaganza!!!
Choosing local Corn
Forget everything that your mother taught you about choosing corn. Unless you have been in the corn farming business within the last 5 years, seriously, please do. Corn varieties and growing techniques have changed so much in the last 5 years that the old rules no longer apply.
My corn is hand picked each evening, put into a bin, topped with a hundred pounds of ice, and rolled into a blast cooler to be cooled to a temperature of 1 degree. If the corn that you purchase anywhere has a strong sweet corn scent....it means that the corn has heated, and the smell that you are smelling are all of the corn's sugars converting into starches. Cooling the corn nixes the smell, but preserves the sugars.
You want your cob of corn to be heavy for its size, the husks at this early stage should be green, with a barely visible fuzz on them (like a peach). With the dry hot weather that we have been having, I wouldn't be surprised if the husks may look dry, but this would in no way effect flavour. Variety of corn determines kernel size, kernel colour and sheen, cob size, and tip fill (if the kernels go all the way to the top or not). It is no longer true that smaller kernels mean a 'younger' cob of corn. It just means that it is a variety bred to have small kernels Please please refrain from pulling back corn husks. We ask for you to trust us. I know my growers, I know what varieties they grow, their harvesting, storage, and transportation techniques. I know that the Manitoba corn that you buy from me will be good. If you insist on pulling back the husks, please pull them down a full 4 inches, just taking a peek at the top will not give you a good idea of how the cob looks. Remember, tip fill is variety dependant, not age dependant.
Storing
Refrigerate refrigerate refrigerate! From the time that it is picked, if corn is not refrigerated, it will lose 50% of its sugars in one day! Imagine what it does sitting in the back of a truck in the sun all day.... If it is refrigerated to the ideal temperature of 35 degrees F. it only loses 5% of its sugars in one day. Most people only notice a change in taste after a 20 to 25% loss in sugars, so you have 4-5 days to use your corn after you buy it! Corn that is picked, and refrigerated, should last 5 days without ANY taste difference. I receive shipments of local corn on a daily or bi-daily basis meaning that my customers should have 3-4 days to keep their corn in the fridge before a taste change will occur. If you are heading out to the cottage, bring a cooler for the corn, or let it travel in the air conditioned front with you. If you do not refrigerate your corn, a sugar decrease and taste change can occur within 12 hours.
Cooking
Most people over cook their corn. Many people's mothers or grandmothers used to cook corn for 10-15 minutes. This kind of treatment would turn modern SS or SE (see variety info below) corn into tasteless mush! Today's local corn is so sweet and so tender that you really don't need to cook it at all, just heat up the kernels to eating temperature. Think of how small the kernels are, they are what you are cooking, not the centre of the cob. It takes hardly any time at all to cook those itty bitty sweet kernels. If you over-cook your corn, you may want to keep an eye out of your kitchen window for the Crampton's market corn police....
Boiling
Place husked corn into an pot of already boiling water. Time for 2-3 minutes as soon as you drop the corn in the pot. Serve immediately. I like to serve boiled corn with some lime butter spread over it.
Barbequing
Soak cob of unhusked corn in cold water for 10 minutes. Remove corn silks (stringy bits at top) so that they don't catch fire. Place on hot bbq. Time for 2 minutes per turn, turning 4-6 times. Remove corn from BBQ, and husk with oven mitts, point away from your face to prevent steam burns(it'll be HOT), serve immediately.
Microwave
As everyone's microwave cooks differently you will have to experiment with times.
Husk corn, wrap in paper towel, cook on high for 2-3 minutes.
Serve immediately.
Freezing Corn
Blanch corn (plunge in boiling water), for 1 minute. Let corn cool and dry on tea towels (some people like to plunge the corn in a cold water bath after the blanching, I find that this makes the corn a bit watery, but to each their own), cut kernels off of cob. Place in freezer bags in amounts suitable to your family's needs, freeze for up to 1 year. If you have the freezer space, you can feel free to pop the whole cob of corn into a freezer bag to have corn on the cob throughout the winter.
The inside scoop.....for all of you info junkies out there (also called Erin's yearly corn rant)
Varieties
There are hundreds and hundreds of varieties of corn that farmers grow for human consumption. They are classified in the seed catalogues as SS (super sweet), or SE (sugar enhanced). or S (synergistic). In just the past year new categories may have been developed that I don't even know about yet. Some corn varieties need to be isolated from other varieties of corn so that they don't cross pollinate. It's very technical business. When breeders are cross breeding and creating new varieties of corn, they make each new variety of corn into both yellow (all yellow corn), and bi-colour (corn with 2 colours, yellow and white). Some customer bases prefer the look of yellow corn, some bi-colour, so the scientists make certain that each grower has the choice to grow each variety in either bi- colour or yellow. So even though some customers insist that they prefer one to the other, current varieties mean that you could be eating the exact same variety of corn, with the only difference being colour.
So what about "Peaches and Cream"?
Well, 'Peaches and Cream' was the first variety of corn ever created that was of 2 colours. It is a bantam cob (very small, about 4 inches), and has a very low sugar content by today's standards. Some retailers have gotten into the unfortunate habit of calling all of their bi-colour corn 'peaches and cream' even though that variety has not been grown for 30 years or so. So if you like the look of 2 colour corn, look for my "bi-colour" signs. Many people have asked me why I don't conform and call it "peaches and cream" like everyone else does. I refuse to assume that my intelligent customers want to be fooled. When the sign above my cherries says B.C. it's because they came from British Colombia, when my sign says Local Bi-colour corn, it means that it is 2 colour corn from Manitoba. If any farmer ever chooses to grow the "Peaches and Cream" variety again, then I will change my sign. (I'm stubborn, I know)
So throughout the season you will see many varieties will pass by, varieties with names like Bodacious, Argent, King Arthur, Redemption, Sir Lancelot, or boring names like SE2150. I like to write the variety name, characteristics, and cooking time above the corn...that way you know EXACTLY what you are getting. My farmers stagger their corn plantings by about 7 days. That means that each week, the variety of corn may change. Early in the season we will be getting corn varieties that can build up sugars quickly, later on in the season, we will be getting verities which have had time to build up a bigger cob size before building up the sugars in the kernels.
THE HAND PICKED DIFFERENCE
All of the corn that I get in at the Market is hand picked. Larger farms, because of their scale, must machine pick their corn. The machine scrapes its way up the whole stalk of corn, scooping up the cob along the way. In order to make sure that the corn is not destroyed by this process, larger growers must grow varieties of corn that have smaller, harder cobs. The machine cuts the cob from the stalk, leaving a knife mark that oxidizes and turns the end brown. If the cobs are not positioned properly, one side of the cob may be scraped, causing broken kernels. Because of these drawbacks, Crampton's Market only carries hand picked corn. Smaller growers hand pick their corn, Hand picking is labour intensive, especially if the fields are muddy, or if it is hot outside (corn fields block any breezes from cooling off the workers). One stalk of corn only produces one cob, so the pickers must visit 12 stalks to get the dozen corn that you buy. Hand picked cobs are usually larger as there are no mechanical restrictions as to size of cob, and more tender varieties can be grown as there is not the squish factor of machine harvesting. Because the cobs are ripped off as opposed to cut, they have more greenery attached to them which helps it keep for longer in your refrigerator. Though it makes for huge labour costs, there is no comparison in taste, size, texture and overall quality to machine picked corn.
Interesting fact about corn
The silks at the top of the cob are actually flowers. Each silk leads to the individual kernel of corn that it pollinates. If you find a cob of corn that has spaces between kernels, it means that the silk was not pollinated.
The local garlic season has just started!
I received my first shipment of locally grown garlic today. Juicy, aromatic, and much more pungent than its imported counterparts. Local garlic roasts into a sweet creamy paste that you can mash into potatoes or spread on bread. Really, if at this time of year you aren't consuming at least a clove a day....well I'll just feel sorry for you.
The garlic is still to high in humidity to store for winter use, but if you keep your garlic in a cool dry dark place, it will dry down, and you'll be able to keep it all winter long and never have to buy imported garlic!
Erin's Yearly Corn info extravaganza!!!
Choosing local Corn
Forget everything that your mother taught you about choosing corn. Unless you have been in the corn farming business within the last 5 years, seriously, please do. Corn varieties and growing techniques have changed so much in the last 5 years that the old rules no longer apply.
My corn is hand picked each evening, put into a bin, topped with a hundred pounds of ice, and rolled into a blast cooler to be cooled to a temperature of 1 degree. If the corn that you purchase anywhere has a strong sweet corn scent....it means that the corn has heated, and the smell that you are smelling are all of the corn's sugars converting into starches. Cooling the corn nixes the smell, but preserves the sugars.
You want your cob of corn to be heavy for its size, the husks at this early stage should be green, with a barely visible fuzz on them (like a peach). With the dry hot weather that we have been having, I wouldn't be surprised if the husks may look dry, but this would in no way effect flavour. Variety of corn determines kernel size, kernel colour and sheen, cob size, and tip fill (if the kernels go all the way to the top or not). It is no longer true that smaller kernels mean a 'younger' cob of corn. It just means that it is a variety bred to have small kernels Please please refrain from pulling back corn husks. We ask for you to trust us. I know my growers, I know what varieties they grow, their harvesting, storage, and transportation techniques. I know that the Manitoba corn that you buy from me will be good. If you insist on pulling back the husks, please pull them down a full 4 inches, just taking a peek at the top will not give you a good idea of how the cob looks. Remember, tip fill is variety dependant, not age dependant.
Storing
Refrigerate refrigerate refrigerate! From the time that it is picked, if corn is not refrigerated, it will lose 50% of its sugars in one day! Imagine what it does sitting in the back of a truck in the sun all day.... If it is refrigerated to the ideal temperature of 35 degrees F. it only loses 5% of its sugars in one day. Most people only notice a change in taste after a 20 to 25% loss in sugars, so you have 4-5 days to use your corn after you buy it! Corn that is picked, and refrigerated, should last 5 days without ANY taste difference. I receive shipments of local corn on a daily or bi-daily basis meaning that my customers should have 3-4 days to keep their corn in the fridge before a taste change will occur. If you are heading out to the cottage, bring a cooler for the corn, or let it travel in the air conditioned front with you. If you do not refrigerate your corn, a sugar decrease and taste change can occur within 12 hours.
Cooking
Most people over cook their corn. Many people's mothers or grandmothers used to cook corn for 10-15 minutes. This kind of treatment would turn modern SS or SE (see variety info below) corn into tasteless mush! Today's local corn is so sweet and so tender that you really don't need to cook it at all, just heat up the kernels to eating temperature. Think of how small the kernels are, they are what you are cooking, not the centre of the cob. It takes hardly any time at all to cook those itty bitty sweet kernels. If you over-cook your corn, you may want to keep an eye out of your kitchen window for the Crampton's market corn police....
Boiling
Place husked corn into an pot of already boiling water. Time for 2-3 minutes as soon as you drop the corn in the pot. Serve immediately. I like to serve boiled corn with some lime butter spread over it.
Barbequing
Soak cob of unhusked corn in cold water for 10 minutes. Remove corn silks (stringy bits at top) so that they don't catch fire. Place on hot bbq. Time for 2 minutes per turn, turning 4-6 times. Remove corn from BBQ, and husk with oven mitts, point away from your face to prevent steam burns(it'll be HOT), serve immediately.
Microwave
As everyone's microwave cooks differently you will have to experiment with times.
Husk corn, wrap in paper towel, cook on high for 2-3 minutes.
Serve immediately.
Freezing Corn
Blanch corn (plunge in boiling water), for 1 minute. Let corn cool and dry on tea towels (some people like to plunge the corn in a cold water bath after the blanching, I find that this makes the corn a bit watery, but to each their own), cut kernels off of cob. Place in freezer bags in amounts suitable to your family's needs, freeze for up to 1 year. If you have the freezer space, you can feel free to pop the whole cob of corn into a freezer bag to have corn on the cob throughout the winter.
The inside scoop.....for all of you info junkies out there (also called Erin's yearly corn rant)
Varieties
There are hundreds and hundreds of varieties of corn that farmers grow for human consumption. They are classified in the seed catalogues as SS (super sweet), or SE (sugar enhanced). or S (synergistic). In just the past year new categories may have been developed that I don't even know about yet. Some corn varieties need to be isolated from other varieties of corn so that they don't cross pollinate. It's very technical business. When breeders are cross breeding and creating new varieties of corn, they make each new variety of corn into both yellow (all yellow corn), and bi-colour (corn with 2 colours, yellow and white). Some customer bases prefer the look of yellow corn, some bi-colour, so the scientists make certain that each grower has the choice to grow each variety in either bi- colour or yellow. So even though some customers insist that they prefer one to the other, current varieties mean that you could be eating the exact same variety of corn, with the only difference being colour.
So what about "Peaches and Cream"?
Well, 'Peaches and Cream' was the first variety of corn ever created that was of 2 colours. It is a bantam cob (very small, about 4 inches), and has a very low sugar content by today's standards. Some retailers have gotten into the unfortunate habit of calling all of their bi-colour corn 'peaches and cream' even though that variety has not been grown for 30 years or so. So if you like the look of 2 colour corn, look for my "bi-colour" signs. Many people have asked me why I don't conform and call it "peaches and cream" like everyone else does. I refuse to assume that my intelligent customers want to be fooled. When the sign above my cherries says B.C. it's because they came from British Colombia, when my sign says Local Bi-colour corn, it means that it is 2 colour corn from Manitoba. If any farmer ever chooses to grow the "Peaches and Cream" variety again, then I will change my sign. (I'm stubborn, I know)
So throughout the season you will see many varieties will pass by, varieties with names like Bodacious, Argent, King Arthur, Redemption, Sir Lancelot, or boring names like SE2150. I like to write the variety name, characteristics, and cooking time above the corn...that way you know EXACTLY what you are getting. My farmers stagger their corn plantings by about 7 days. That means that each week, the variety of corn may change. Early in the season we will be getting corn varieties that can build up sugars quickly, later on in the season, we will be getting verities which have had time to build up a bigger cob size before building up the sugars in the kernels.
THE HAND PICKED DIFFERENCE
All of the corn that I get in at the Market is hand picked. Larger farms, because of their scale, must machine pick their corn. The machine scrapes its way up the whole stalk of corn, scooping up the cob along the way. In order to make sure that the corn is not destroyed by this process, larger growers must grow varieties of corn that have smaller, harder cobs. The machine cuts the cob from the stalk, leaving a knife mark that oxidizes and turns the end brown. If the cobs are not positioned properly, one side of the cob may be scraped, causing broken kernels. Because of these drawbacks, Crampton's Market only carries hand picked corn. Smaller growers hand pick their corn, Hand picking is labour intensive, especially if the fields are muddy, or if it is hot outside (corn fields block any breezes from cooling off the workers). One stalk of corn only produces one cob, so the pickers must visit 12 stalks to get the dozen corn that you buy. Hand picked cobs are usually larger as there are no mechanical restrictions as to size of cob, and more tender varieties can be grown as there is not the squish factor of machine harvesting. Because the cobs are ripped off as opposed to cut, they have more greenery attached to them which helps it keep for longer in your refrigerator. Though it makes for huge labour costs, there is no comparison in taste, size, texture and overall quality to machine picked corn.
Interesting fact about corn
The silks at the top of the cob are actually flowers. Each silk leads to the individual kernel of corn that it pollinates. If you find a cob of corn that has spaces between kernels, it means that the silk was not pollinated.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Peas, Beans, Saskatoons, gooseberries, bunched beets, bunched carrots!
You may have been able to tell from the scorching weather right now, but it is most definitely summer.
Just to cement that fact the local pod peas and green beans have arrived.
Yesterday while picking peas and beans, 2 workers got heat stroke in the field. It's slow going picking peas right now, the heat is incredible so clearly we've encouraged our producer to pay their pickers more. The peas are expensive right now and we make no apologies about it. There is no amount of money that you could pay me to be bent over in a field for 8 hours right now. I admire these hard working people.
So because of their hard work we get the joy of eating fresh peas in the pod which is very exciting! With this hot weather, shelling peas and eating them raw out of hand is a little bit of heaven. If you are one of those strange people who actually shell and then cook the peas, please don't over do it. Just a few minutes steaming or boiling to heat them up will do. (And really, they are so good raw, why would you cook them?)
The pea season will last an undetermined amount of time. Peas like neither heat nor too much water and we have been getting both in spades. The season could last anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, it all depends on the weather.
Green beans!!
The beautiful local green beans arrived today. Crunchy, a little sweet, and oh so tasty.
We make sure that all of our beans are hand picked. Hand picked beans will have a barely visible fuzz on them (in fact if you stick a freshly hand picked bean to your cotton shirt, it will stick to you!) and they should last in your fridge for up to 7 days!
Mechanically harvesting beans scratches the bean, these scratches rust within a day or two and cause the bean to spoil within 2-4 days after picking. Though much cheaper than hand picked beans, they are no where near the quality. That's why we always choose to sell hand picked beans.
Store your beans in your fridge for up to 5-7 days.
To prepare beans
Wash, snip off the stem end, and boil or steam until the beans turn bright green. I like my veggies to be a little crunchy so I never end up steaming or boiling them for more than 2 minutes. Some people prefer them a little well done so cook them up for 5-7 minutes.
Freezing beans is easy, just wash, snip the stem end of the bean off, blanch (plunge in boiling water) for 2 minutes, let cool, dry and then pack up in freezer bags sized for your family and chuck into the freezer to eat throughout the winter.
Just to cement that fact the local pod peas and green beans have arrived.
Yesterday while picking peas and beans, 2 workers got heat stroke in the field. It's slow going picking peas right now, the heat is incredible so clearly we've encouraged our producer to pay their pickers more. The peas are expensive right now and we make no apologies about it. There is no amount of money that you could pay me to be bent over in a field for 8 hours right now. I admire these hard working people.
So because of their hard work we get the joy of eating fresh peas in the pod which is very exciting! With this hot weather, shelling peas and eating them raw out of hand is a little bit of heaven. If you are one of those strange people who actually shell and then cook the peas, please don't over do it. Just a few minutes steaming or boiling to heat them up will do. (And really, they are so good raw, why would you cook them?)
The pea season will last an undetermined amount of time. Peas like neither heat nor too much water and we have been getting both in spades. The season could last anywhere from 2 weeks to a month, it all depends on the weather.
Green beans!!
The beautiful local green beans arrived today. Crunchy, a little sweet, and oh so tasty.
We make sure that all of our beans are hand picked. Hand picked beans will have a barely visible fuzz on them (in fact if you stick a freshly hand picked bean to your cotton shirt, it will stick to you!) and they should last in your fridge for up to 7 days!
Mechanically harvesting beans scratches the bean, these scratches rust within a day or two and cause the bean to spoil within 2-4 days after picking. Though much cheaper than hand picked beans, they are no where near the quality. That's why we always choose to sell hand picked beans.
Store your beans in your fridge for up to 5-7 days.
To prepare beans
Wash, snip off the stem end, and boil or steam until the beans turn bright green. I like my veggies to be a little crunchy so I never end up steaming or boiling them for more than 2 minutes. Some people prefer them a little well done so cook them up for 5-7 minutes.
Freezing beans is easy, just wash, snip the stem end of the bean off, blanch (plunge in boiling water) for 2 minutes, let cool, dry and then pack up in freezer bags sized for your family and chuck into the freezer to eat throughout the winter.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Saskatoons!!
Yippee!!
The local Saskatoon Season has now begun!!!
Store saskatoons in your refrigerator until ready to eat, up to 4 days.
According to the journal of food science....
The local Saskatoon Season has now begun!!!
A prairie favourite and a health buff's friend, this indigenous berry is loaded with antioxidants and fiber....lots of fiber...if you know what I mean! This fruit is a member of the rose and apple family and has more to its credit than just a good family name. Saskatoons are fabulous eaten fresh, frozen, in baking, jams, jellies, syrups and preserves. Yummm!!! The season usually lasts from 7-14 days depending on the weather. We will be having pints and quarts and pails of saskatoons in stock starting today. If you would like to reserve multiple 4 litre ice cream pails for your own nefarious plans, just give us a call at the shop
(269-3355) and we can book large orders in.
Please do remember, saskatoons are incredibly high in fibre...feel free to indulge to your heart's content...but be prepared for the next day's results.Store saskatoons in your refrigerator until ready to eat, up to 4 days.
Saskatoons are native to the Canadian prairies and pack a nutritional PUNCH!
The Saskatoon has nutritional properties that are significantly higher in protein, fat, fibre, calcium, magnesium, manganese, barium, and aluminum than blueberries. Saskatoon berries are also a source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C. It is thought that aboriginal peoples flourished on the prairies due to the Saskatoon berries which the gathered, ate fresh in abundance and dried for use throughout the winter. Saskatoons are the only native prairie food to contain many nutritional elements essential to human survival. According to the journal of food science....
Saskatoons appear to be an excellent source of manganese, magnesium, iron, calcium, potassium, copper and carotene. A 100 gram serving of fresh saskatoons will supply 88 mg of calcium or 11% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance. Saskatoons can be considered a better source of calcium than red meats, vegetables and cereals.
Saskatoons are an excellent source of iron! 22.3% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance in a 100 gram serving. (Hope,1965) suggested that saskatoon berries may be a natural source of iron for anemic persons. Saskatoons supply 33.8% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of manganese and 7% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance of copper.
Recent research indicates saskatoons have very high components of phenolics, flavonols and anthocyanins. Saskatoons are high in sugar, rich in Vitamin C, and also contain more than three times as much iron and copper in the same weight as raisins.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Strawberry season. Don't be caught short!
The word from the fields today, July 9th.
Production is already starting to slow. The berries are beautiful, tasty and still plentiful, but each day of picking will mean a few fewer pails from the field until the season ends. If you need buckets of berries for jamming, canning or freezing, there is no time like the present. We expect the berry season to continue on for another 10 days or so. 10 days goes by quickly though!
Don't miss out!!!
Cheers
Erin
Production is already starting to slow. The berries are beautiful, tasty and still plentiful, but each day of picking will mean a few fewer pails from the field until the season ends. If you need buckets of berries for jamming, canning or freezing, there is no time like the present. We expect the berry season to continue on for another 10 days or so. 10 days goes by quickly though!
Don't miss out!!!
Cheers
Erin
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Potatoes and Cucumbers
It's very strange that the field Cucumbers and Potatoes are ready before the peas, but I'm not complaining. I love new Manitoba potatoes.
The Manitoba potatoes that we have been eating until now have been stored from last year's harvest in September. They have been getting gritty, wrinkly, and have been spoiling.
Now the first of the season's potatoes are ready and they are a treat. New potatoes have a very high water very low starch content. That's why they taste to sweet and creamy. Though I had people last year telling me "Dr. Oz said that you shouldn't put potatoes in the fridge", the man really wasn't talking about new fresh potatoes. With such a low starch content, you MUST refrigerate them. Leave them out on you counter for a day and they will turn black and wrinkle up.
Ideally, store in a plastic bag in your fridge for up to a week. But trust me, they won't last that long.
Size really doesn't matter when it comes to new potatoes. As long as the skins come off of the potato easily with thumb pressure, they will have that gorgeous creamy taste. Later on in the season our farmers separate the very small potatoes from the larger ones, selling the larger ones at a lower price. As long as you posses a knife to cut up your potato into cookable chunks, the larger lower priced potatoes taste exactly the same as the smaller ones. The presentation at the dinner table is just not as pretty.
Our growers have been staggering their plantings of potatoes this spring, planting new fields every week or so, meaning that we will have new potatoes in the shop until September. If you were to plant your own potatoes on your garden, and plant them all at once, the potatoes would start to create a high amount of starches by early or mid August. Potatoes are a tuber originally from South America. They are collecting starch so that they can attempt to survive a winter in the ground to sprout again in the spring. The poor potatoes don't know that they are being grown in Manitoba rather than Peru, where our -30 winters mean they don't have a snowball's chance in heck of surviving to grow the next year. :)
Cucumbers!
The very first of the salad cucumbers have started!
The same plant that produces those tiny cucumbers for pickling also produces larger sized cucumbers for fresh eating. Growers pick only larger cucumbers until the plant is in full production and the poundage that it can produce warrants the harvesting of pickling sized cucumbers.
It's an awful job. Cucumber plants are full of small bristles, and the cucumbers themselves are covered in scratchy spines. When you are eating your greek salad tonight, be grateful that you weren't the one picking those cucumbers out of the field.
Storage.
You must store your cucumbers in the fridge. They will last for up to 5 days this way. Out of the fridge and your salad cucumber will deteriorate within a day.
Once the pickling sized cucumbers become available, you must process the small cucumbers within 48 hours of harvest. The thin delicate skins on pickling cucumbers mean that they stay fresh for only a very short amount of time.
The Manitoba potatoes that we have been eating until now have been stored from last year's harvest in September. They have been getting gritty, wrinkly, and have been spoiling.
Now the first of the season's potatoes are ready and they are a treat. New potatoes have a very high water very low starch content. That's why they taste to sweet and creamy. Though I had people last year telling me "Dr. Oz said that you shouldn't put potatoes in the fridge", the man really wasn't talking about new fresh potatoes. With such a low starch content, you MUST refrigerate them. Leave them out on you counter for a day and they will turn black and wrinkle up.
Ideally, store in a plastic bag in your fridge for up to a week. But trust me, they won't last that long.
Size really doesn't matter when it comes to new potatoes. As long as the skins come off of the potato easily with thumb pressure, they will have that gorgeous creamy taste. Later on in the season our farmers separate the very small potatoes from the larger ones, selling the larger ones at a lower price. As long as you posses a knife to cut up your potato into cookable chunks, the larger lower priced potatoes taste exactly the same as the smaller ones. The presentation at the dinner table is just not as pretty.
Our growers have been staggering their plantings of potatoes this spring, planting new fields every week or so, meaning that we will have new potatoes in the shop until September. If you were to plant your own potatoes on your garden, and plant them all at once, the potatoes would start to create a high amount of starches by early or mid August. Potatoes are a tuber originally from South America. They are collecting starch so that they can attempt to survive a winter in the ground to sprout again in the spring. The poor potatoes don't know that they are being grown in Manitoba rather than Peru, where our -30 winters mean they don't have a snowball's chance in heck of surviving to grow the next year. :)
Cucumbers!
The very first of the salad cucumbers have started!
The same plant that produces those tiny cucumbers for pickling also produces larger sized cucumbers for fresh eating. Growers pick only larger cucumbers until the plant is in full production and the poundage that it can produce warrants the harvesting of pickling sized cucumbers.
It's an awful job. Cucumber plants are full of small bristles, and the cucumbers themselves are covered in scratchy spines. When you are eating your greek salad tonight, be grateful that you weren't the one picking those cucumbers out of the field.
Storage.
You must store your cucumbers in the fridge. They will last for up to 5 days this way. Out of the fridge and your salad cucumber will deteriorate within a day.
Once the pickling sized cucumbers become available, you must process the small cucumbers within 48 hours of harvest. The thin delicate skins on pickling cucumbers mean that they stay fresh for only a very short amount of time.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Strawberry fields for the next 3 weeks
What a surprise. I was told that the berry season would only start around July 5th, and here we were on Canada Day with a surprise delivery of 100 pails of berries. Delicous.
Why the change in plans? It got hot! And those berry plants must have been just itching to get going because there is none of the usual starting off selling in pints and quarts. Nope. We have TONS of berries available for your devious plans. The pickers can't pick in the rain but as long as it stops long enough for people to get in the fields, the berry season will continue on for the next 2-3 weeks. The time to get busy with berries is NOW.
STORING
Store your strawberries, unwashed, with the green caps on, in your fridge for up to 3 days. With this years wet weather, storage time may be shortened. Eat them or cook with them as soon as you can.
USING
Wash your berries with the green caps still on, THEN remove the green caps, this keeps the berry from becoming water logged.
FREEZING
Clean your berries as listed above, then bag up in sizes to suit your families needs and toss in the freezer.
If you are feeling fancy, you can lay the berries out on a cookie sheet to freeze, then bag and put back in the freezer once they are frozen. This technique keeps the berry's shape but does not affect taste at all.
To freeze sliced strawberries, I just wash, hull and slice up a big bowl full of berries. Sprinkle sugar over berries (I use about a half cup of sugar for a 4 litre pail of berries), stir, once the sugar melts into the berry juice I place in freezer bags and chuck into the freezer.
Why the change in plans? It got hot! And those berry plants must have been just itching to get going because there is none of the usual starting off selling in pints and quarts. Nope. We have TONS of berries available for your devious plans. The pickers can't pick in the rain but as long as it stops long enough for people to get in the fields, the berry season will continue on for the next 2-3 weeks. The time to get busy with berries is NOW.
STORING
Store your strawberries, unwashed, with the green caps on, in your fridge for up to 3 days. With this years wet weather, storage time may be shortened. Eat them or cook with them as soon as you can.
USING
Wash your berries with the green caps still on, THEN remove the green caps, this keeps the berry from becoming water logged.
FREEZING
Clean your berries as listed above, then bag up in sizes to suit your families needs and toss in the freezer.
If you are feeling fancy, you can lay the berries out on a cookie sheet to freeze, then bag and put back in the freezer once they are frozen. This technique keeps the berry's shape but does not affect taste at all.
To freeze sliced strawberries, I just wash, hull and slice up a big bowl full of berries. Sprinkle sugar over berries (I use about a half cup of sugar for a 4 litre pail of berries), stir, once the sugar melts into the berry juice I place in freezer bags and chuck into the freezer.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
It's time for ice cream!
It's that time of year, the ice cream shop is about to open!
Sam and Ira's, the cute little ice cream shop right beside the store, will open for the summer on Thursday, June 30th.
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday - noon- 8 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays (including Canada Day) 10-6
To kick off the season at Sam and Ira's we'll be having a lucky draw on Friday, July 1st Canada day. When you buy a real fruit ice cream at Sam and Ira's, you'll get a gift card for Crampton's Market. How much is the gift card for? Any where from 50 cents to 50 dollars. Grab an ice cream on Canada day and try your luck.
Last year for Canada Day we had Manitoba Strawberries, Potatoes, Peas and cucumbers. No such luck this year. The cool wet spring has set things back about 2 weeks. But that just means that we have so much to look forward to yet this summer right?!
We anticipate the local Strawberries to begin somewhere between July 5th and 9th, peas and potatoes should show up around the same time.
Take care
Happy Canada Day!
Erin
Sam and Ira's, the cute little ice cream shop right beside the store, will open for the summer on Thursday, June 30th.
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday - noon- 8 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays (including Canada Day) 10-6
To kick off the season at Sam and Ira's we'll be having a lucky draw on Friday, July 1st Canada day. When you buy a real fruit ice cream at Sam and Ira's, you'll get a gift card for Crampton's Market. How much is the gift card for? Any where from 50 cents to 50 dollars. Grab an ice cream on Canada day and try your luck.
Last year for Canada Day we had Manitoba Strawberries, Potatoes, Peas and cucumbers. No such luck this year. The cool wet spring has set things back about 2 weeks. But that just means that we have so much to look forward to yet this summer right?!
We anticipate the local Strawberries to begin somewhere between July 5th and 9th, peas and potatoes should show up around the same time.
Take care
Happy Canada Day!
Erin
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
It's party time!!
We are planning a PARTY!
Save the date, Saturday, June 4th is Trails Day.
Where-Start at Fort Whyte Alive at 1 or 2 pm
Alternatively- Head straight to Crampton's Market using people power between 2 and 5 pm. Leave the car at home if you would like to participate! Feel free to take the car if you just want to shop and not join the party.
When-Saturday, June 4th 1 pm or 2 pm start at Fort Whyte, or 2 pm Start at Crampton's Market.
Show up at Fort Whyte Alive with your bikes for 1 pm or 2 pm. There will be 2 sets of start times! The lovely people at Fort Whyte will be giving interpretive tours of their cycling paths. The tour will last about 45 minutes. Once done, we'll all continue on the brand spanking new bike path to Crampton's Market. Once at the market we'll have an athletic therapist show everyone some cycling stretches, there will be samples, goodies, and swag bags (limited quantities)
Can't make it all the way from Fort Whyte alive with the kiddies? Never fear! To participate in our party, all you need to do is show up on your bicycle, on roller blades, or on foot using the new paths! Everyone who shows up without a car or motorcycle will get a treat! Come on down between 2 and 5 pm to join in the celebration of people powered motion!
Came in the car? No dice.
This party is to celebrate people motion and using the trails!
Live too far away?
Solution!
Park at the St. Vital park and take the the Bishop Grandin Greenway to Crampton's Market!
Save the date, Saturday, June 4th is Trails Day.
Where-Start at Fort Whyte Alive at 1 or 2 pm
Alternatively- Head straight to Crampton's Market using people power between 2 and 5 pm. Leave the car at home if you would like to participate! Feel free to take the car if you just want to shop and not join the party.
When-Saturday, June 4th 1 pm or 2 pm start at Fort Whyte, or 2 pm Start at Crampton's Market.
Show up at Fort Whyte Alive with your bikes for 1 pm or 2 pm. There will be 2 sets of start times! The lovely people at Fort Whyte will be giving interpretive tours of their cycling paths. The tour will last about 45 minutes. Once done, we'll all continue on the brand spanking new bike path to Crampton's Market. Once at the market we'll have an athletic therapist show everyone some cycling stretches, there will be samples, goodies, and swag bags (limited quantities)
Can't make it all the way from Fort Whyte alive with the kiddies? Never fear! To participate in our party, all you need to do is show up on your bicycle, on roller blades, or on foot using the new paths! Everyone who shows up without a car or motorcycle will get a treat! Come on down between 2 and 5 pm to join in the celebration of people powered motion!
Came in the car? No dice.
This party is to celebrate people motion and using the trails!
Live too far away?
Solution!
Park at the St. Vital park and take the the Bishop Grandin Greenway to Crampton's Market!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
ASPARAGUS!!!!!
Oh, this lovely time of year when everyone's pee starts to smell just a little bit funky. It must be asparagus season.
Despite the horrible rainy, cold, floody spring, it just took 5 days of sunny weather to make the asparagus pop up out of the ground. The season is here! It's time to eat grilled, steamed, boiled, pan fried or baked asparagus every day. Because once it's gone...you won't find asparagus of this quality for another year....
My asparagus farmer picks and delivers his product 3 times a week. If you keep your asparagus upright, in 3 inches of water in your fridge (use a beer mug or a water pitcher to hold it upright), it will keep for at least 5 days once you get it home. In fact, asparagus will keep on growing (albeit just a small amount), while in your fridge!
For some absolutely fabulous bbq recipes, check out our recipe blog at www.cramptonsrecipes.com
Take Care
Erin
Despite the horrible rainy, cold, floody spring, it just took 5 days of sunny weather to make the asparagus pop up out of the ground. The season is here! It's time to eat grilled, steamed, boiled, pan fried or baked asparagus every day. Because once it's gone...you won't find asparagus of this quality for another year....
My asparagus farmer picks and delivers his product 3 times a week. If you keep your asparagus upright, in 3 inches of water in your fridge (use a beer mug or a water pitcher to hold it upright), it will keep for at least 5 days once you get it home. In fact, asparagus will keep on growing (albeit just a small amount), while in your fridge!
Everything that you always wanted to know about...ASPARAGUS
If the weather gets hot hot hot, the asparagus will grow very quickly, which will wear the plant out and shorten the season. If we get some cool weather with our warm spring (fingers crossed on the warm spring), the season will stretch out. Over all, we can expect to have locally grown asparagus for about 4 weeks.
Choosing local asparagus
Choose asparagus that has tight, dry tips that come to a point. Contrary to popular belief, thin asparagus does not a more tender stalk make. With local asparagus, especially the variety that I get from the wonderful grower that I have, the thicker stems are more tender than the thinner ones....trust me, it's true! Fine dining restaurants have been insisting on their suppliers providing them with thicker stalks of asparagus for so long that it is now a separate category. Mass produced asparagus is sorted with the thicker stems going to restaurants for a premium price (cause the chefs know what the good stuff is) and the thinner stems going to retail where customers mistakenly believe the thinner stems to be more tender.
Normally you should snap the 'woody ends' off of your asparagus, but don't bother with the asparagus from Crampton's unless the bunch has a pink tag on it. I buy from 2 different local growers, one whose asparagus comes with a pink tag and one whose asparagus only has an elastic band, no tag. My tagless local grower cuts those ends off of the asparagus delivering only the most succulent of stems to the store! When they have asparagus available, they are my grower of choice. Their crop is currently 5 feet under water so I will be carrying both pink tagged, and non pink tagged asparagus this spring.
Normally you should snap the 'woody ends' off of your asparagus, but don't bother with the asparagus from Crampton's unless the bunch has a pink tag on it. I buy from 2 different local growers, one whose asparagus comes with a pink tag and one whose asparagus only has an elastic band, no tag. My tagless local grower cuts those ends off of the asparagus delivering only the most succulent of stems to the store! When they have asparagus available, they are my grower of choice. Their crop is currently 5 feet under water so I will be carrying both pink tagged, and non pink tagged asparagus this spring.
Storing
Store local asparagus, upright in your fridge, in a container of water ( the water should cover one to two inches of the base of the asparagus). This keeps your asparagus hydrated and makes sure that it keeps plump and firm. Asparagus has even been proven to keep on growing when stored with this method, so you may gain half of a centimeter of asparagus after you bring it home! Asparagus will keep in your fridge for up to 5 days.
Cooking
I personally prefer asparagus on the bbq with oil, garlic and lemon!! YUM! Mom likes to munch on Asparagus raw as she thinks that it tastes somewhat like raw peas. Though I don't like to eat asparagus raw by the spear, I do like it chopped and added to coleslaw, or vegetable salads. Brushed with olive oil and chucked on the grill makes for tender spears that keep the stove off during those summer bar b que days.
Boiling
Rinse your asparagus off to get any mud off. Bring enough water to cover asparagus to a boil. When boiling, place asparagus in water, and keep in water until it turns bright green. For slightly crunchy asparagus, boil for 2-3 minutes, for fully cooked soft asparagus, boil for 5-6 minutes. Asparagus tips cook faster than the stalks, so you may want to prepare them separately, or steam them standing up.
Steaming
Because asparagus tips cook faster than the stems, steaming asparagus upright is a great solution Find yourself an old coffee perk, or a tall stock pot. Bring enough water to come about an inch up the asparagus stems to a boil. Once the water is boiling add the asparagus spears upright, and cover immediately, cook for 4-8 minutes depending on thickness of stems,
Freezing
Asparagus freezes very well, just blanch (plunge in boiling water), for one minute, then let dry, place in freezer bags and freeze for up to one year.For some absolutely fabulous bbq recipes, check out our recipe blog at www.cramptonsrecipes.com
Take Care
Erin
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Fiddleheads and Morels...and so it begins...
Funny this, last year the first fiddleheads and morels arrived on May 12th, this year despite the horrid cold spring, the first few arrived on May 14th....gives you hope for the rest of the produce, doesn't it?
It means that the first of the Fiddleheads and Morels are back!!!
Fiddle heads are a strange little green vegetable, reminiscent of aliens. So what the heck are they? They are the unfurling fronds of the ostrich fern. When wild ostrich ferns start to sprout in the spring, pickers scour the forest floor for their tightly wound bright green heads. . The fronds are covered with a brownish, onion-skin like coating that must be removed before eating. Just rub them between your hands and wash well. Our pickers clean the fiddleheads very well. After the chafe is removed, wash the fiddleheads well under cold running water to remove dirt before cooking. Aboriginal people from across the globe (Canada to New Zealand) have been eating fiddleheads for centuries . As the first green to appear after a winter of meat only diet....it's not surprising that they were considered to have medicinal and cleansing properties!!! On top of that fiddleheads are rich in iron, potassium, niacin, riboflavin, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamins A and C. Phew!!!
Pickers spend hours in woodsy areas near streams at this time of year looking for patches of fiddleheads. Once they find their patch, and see the little fiddleheads peaking up, they spend hours bent over, or crouched down low to the groun snapping the coiled heads off. What a great spring ritual.
STORAGE
Store your fiddleheads in a reusable plastic container, in your fridge, for up to 5 days. Keep them well wrapped as they will dry out if exposed to the air.
*****Please note******
Fiddleheads contain an enzyme that some people cannot digest. Thorough cooking or freezing destroys the enzyme. Health Canada advises that fiddleheads should be cooked thoroughly before eating. Consuming raw or undercooked fiddleheads may cause ‘green apple’ symptoms including diarrhoea, nausea and upset stomach ewwww...
For more recipes, check out our recipe blog at cramptonsrecipes.com
FIDDLEHEADS WITH SESAME SEEDS
A quick and easy vegetable dish that’s good warm or cold.
3 cups fiddleheads
2 Tbsps sesame oil
1 thinly sliced hot or sweet pepper, to suit taste
1 clove minced garlic
2 tsps lemon juice
seasoned salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (or slivered almonds)
lemon slices to garnish
Boil or steam fiddleheads until fork tender. While cooking, heat oil in small skillet and sauté pepper and garlic until soft. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and seasonings. Drain fiddleheads and toss with the oil mixture. Sprinkle with seeds and garnish with lemon.
A quick and easy vegetable dish that’s good warm or cold.
3 cups fiddleheads
2 Tbsps sesame oil
1 thinly sliced hot or sweet pepper, to suit taste
1 clove minced garlic
2 tsps lemon juice
seasoned salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds (or slivered almonds)
lemon slices to garnish
Boil or steam fiddleheads until fork tender. While cooking, heat oil in small skillet and sauté pepper and garlic until soft. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and seasonings. Drain fiddleheads and toss with the oil mixture. Sprinkle with seeds and garnish with lemon.
TO FREEZE FIDDLEHEADS FOR WINTER USE
They freeze very well so you might want to put some up for winter enjoyment. Fiddleheads will last in the freezer from one season to the next. To freeze, blanch cleaned fiddleheads in boiling lightly salted water for 3 minutes. Drain, cool then put in air-tight bags and freeze.
They freeze very well so you might want to put some up for winter enjoyment. Fiddleheads will last in the freezer from one season to the next. To freeze, blanch cleaned fiddleheads in boiling lightly salted water for 3 minutes. Drain, cool then put in air-tight bags and freeze.
We received just a few pounds of morels this morning. They sell out so quickly that I don't dare send out an email about them until the quantities available increase. For those of you who check the blog, you have the inside scoop.
More more morels
Morel mushrooms, especially when they have been rained on, smell bad. Kinda like fish. But don't let the pungent aroma turn you off! They have a deep woodsy, heady mushroom flavour. A little goes a long way.
Prepare a bath of lightly salted cold water. Immerse the mushrooms in the water for a few minutes. This will make any small woodland insects that have crept into the mushroom crevices creep out again. Drain mushrooms until dry.
Erin's Prefered morel meal
15-20 fresh morels cut in half if large
1 large shallot chopped fine
1 large clove garlic chopped fine2 TBS butter (best with unsalted)
2 TBS olive oil
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
salt & fresh ground pepper to taste
Put olive oil in heated pan over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots, stir and sauté until softened but not brown. Add butter until melted then add morels. Stir and cook until mushrooms start to brown, about 4 min. Add chicken stock and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add cream and cook on low until reduced and thickened. Classically served on toast, but the best on grilled New York Strip steaks.
There are many morel purists who would cringe at the very thought of adding anything to morels. Just fry up and enjoy them as they are! I find that I always want to eat more morels than I have though, so making a cream sauce out of them stretches out the flavour. To each their own.
Morels dry incredibly well, retaining all of their flavour. To rehydrate in the winter time, simple soak in water until plump, be sure to use the remaining liquid when making soups and stews.
For more Morel and Fiddlehead recipes, visit our recipe blog at cramptonsrecipes.com
Cheers!
Erin
Friday, May 13, 2011
Brrrr....ing on Spring!! Let's have a party!
A high of 9? Flooding? Sandbagging? A chance of FLURRIES in the forecast? Unacceptable. We'll just have to do something about this.
We are planning a PARTY!
Save the date, Saturday, June 4th is Trails Day. To celebrate we are partnering with Fort Whyte Alive and having a party at Crampton's Market.
Where-Start at Fort Whyte Alive at 1 or 2 pm
Alternatively- Head straight to Crampton's Market using people power between 2 and 5 pm.
When-Saturday, June 4th 1 pm or 2 pm start at Fort Whyte, or 2 pm Start at Crampton's Market.
Show up at Fort Whyte Alive with your bikes for 1 pm or 2 pm. There will be 2 sets of start times! The lovely people at Fort Whyte will be giving interpretive tours of their cycling paths. The tour will last about 45 minutes. Once done, we'll all continue on the brand spanking new bike path to Crampton's Market. Once at the market we'll have an athletic therapist show everyone some cycling stretches, there will be samples, goodies, and swag bags!
Can't make it all the way from Fort Whyte alive with the kiddies? Never fear! To participate in our party, all you need to do is show up on your bicycle, on roller blades, or on foot using the new paths! Everyone who shows up without a car or motorcycle will get a treat! Come on down between 2 and 5 pm to join in the celebration of people powered motion!
We are planning a PARTY!
Save the date, Saturday, June 4th is Trails Day. To celebrate we are partnering with Fort Whyte Alive and having a party at Crampton's Market.
Where-Start at Fort Whyte Alive at 1 or 2 pm
Alternatively- Head straight to Crampton's Market using people power between 2 and 5 pm.
When-Saturday, June 4th 1 pm or 2 pm start at Fort Whyte, or 2 pm Start at Crampton's Market.
Show up at Fort Whyte Alive with your bikes for 1 pm or 2 pm. There will be 2 sets of start times! The lovely people at Fort Whyte will be giving interpretive tours of their cycling paths. The tour will last about 45 minutes. Once done, we'll all continue on the brand spanking new bike path to Crampton's Market. Once at the market we'll have an athletic therapist show everyone some cycling stretches, there will be samples, goodies, and swag bags!
Can't make it all the way from Fort Whyte alive with the kiddies? Never fear! To participate in our party, all you need to do is show up on your bicycle, on roller blades, or on foot using the new paths! Everyone who shows up without a car or motorcycle will get a treat! Come on down between 2 and 5 pm to join in the celebration of people powered motion!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Mother's Day weekend
Crampton's Market open
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 9-6
Ahhh, that great feeling of the first day jitters being over. We had such a fun first day on Wednesday, with so many customers coming in to spontaniously complement us on the new parking lot :)
Wondering what to do for Mom for Mother's day? We know that you're probably making her breakfast in bed on Sunday, so why don't you bring your Mom down to Crampton's on Saturday? We have lots of flowers and bouquets available for her, and all Moms will be getting a special treat on Saturday. Seriously, these women do EVERYTHING for us, it's time for some payback.
Currently in the shop we have a few local items available, hot house tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, radishes and cucumbers are all currently available and DELICIOUS. Clearly a great big salad should be on the Menu this weekend. I have spoken to my fiddlehead and morel harvesters, they figure another 5-10 days until those wild items start popping up out of the ground. I'll be certain to send out an email as soon as they arrive.
Organic herb and tomato plants will be arriving next week. The weather right now is so touch and go, I'd hate to sell a bunch of herbs and tomato plants just to make you keep them in your house for weeks on end, or worse yet, plant them outside and not do well because the soil is still so cold. For next weekend we'll have an excellent selection of organic herb and tomato plants.
Enjoy the sunshine when you can!
Take Care
Erin
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday, Sunday and holidays, 9-6
Ahhh, that great feeling of the first day jitters being over. We had such a fun first day on Wednesday, with so many customers coming in to spontaniously complement us on the new parking lot :)
Wondering what to do for Mom for Mother's day? We know that you're probably making her breakfast in bed on Sunday, so why don't you bring your Mom down to Crampton's on Saturday? We have lots of flowers and bouquets available for her, and all Moms will be getting a special treat on Saturday. Seriously, these women do EVERYTHING for us, it's time for some payback.
Currently in the shop we have a few local items available, hot house tomatoes, lettuces, herbs, radishes and cucumbers are all currently available and DELICIOUS. Clearly a great big salad should be on the Menu this weekend. I have spoken to my fiddlehead and morel harvesters, they figure another 5-10 days until those wild items start popping up out of the ground. I'll be certain to send out an email as soon as they arrive.
Organic herb and tomato plants will be arriving next week. The weather right now is so touch and go, I'd hate to sell a bunch of herbs and tomato plants just to make you keep them in your house for weeks on end, or worse yet, plant them outside and not do well because the soil is still so cold. For next weekend we'll have an excellent selection of organic herb and tomato plants.
Enjoy the sunshine when you can!
Take Care
Erin
Monday, April 4, 2011
It's the one month countdown!
May 4th! Only one month from now I'll be at my store every day. I'll bid farewell to family and friends to spend time with my other cherished groups of people, customers, growers and staff. I'm so looking forward to getting things moving at the shop, implementing the changes that we have plotted over the winter, and eating good fresh food!
Oh the anticipation. I've been stuck inside for the past several weeks working on seemingly never ending paperwork. I've interviewed and hired for all positions at the store, and am now getting very antsy to have some warm weather to that I can start lugging things around at the shop. It takes me at least 2 weeks to physically set up the store...I'm feeling slightly time crunched. But the last thing that I want to do is to wish for warm weather that would send torrents of water rushing down rivers and flooding my farmers who need to get crops in. I'll just have to learn to be patient.
I can't wait to see everyone and hear all about your winter exploits.
Keep warm and dry!
Cheers
Erin
Oh the anticipation. I've been stuck inside for the past several weeks working on seemingly never ending paperwork. I've interviewed and hired for all positions at the store, and am now getting very antsy to have some warm weather to that I can start lugging things around at the shop. It takes me at least 2 weeks to physically set up the store...I'm feeling slightly time crunched. But the last thing that I want to do is to wish for warm weather that would send torrents of water rushing down rivers and flooding my farmers who need to get crops in. I'll just have to learn to be patient.
I can't wait to see everyone and hear all about your winter exploits.
Keep warm and dry!
Cheers
Erin
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Getting into the swing again.
Yes, it's cold outside. But here is a thought to warm you up.
Crampton's Market will be open on Wednesday, May 4th for our first day of the 2011 season!
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday and Sunday 9-6
Sam and Ira's ice cream shop will be open from the July long weekend through to the September long weekend.
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday 12-8
Saturday and Sunday 10-6
Summer must be around the corner...right?
Brrrrrrr..... Is this really March? Seriously?
Last year when I started interviewing staff for the season, it was warm enough to hold the interviews in the store. This year, not so much. I'll be interviewing many many more people for working at the shop this year than I did last year. We had such a busy summer last season and lost a couple of great staff people due to injury just as things were getting really hectic. I hopefully have learned my lesson and am hiring more part time staff to keep shifting flexible. Staffing the store every year is always the hardest thing at the market. I love going out on a treasure hunt in rural Manitoba to find my suppliers. I love my most wonderful, supportive, community minded customers. And I love my staff. I just hate the process of advertising, going through resumees, interviewing and hiring. I can ask as many questions as I would like in an interview, but I really don't know how anyone is going to do until I work beside them for a few weeks. Oh well. It must be done.
I've been back home getting things ready for the shop for weeks now. I love this time of year. I get to meet with new suppliers. I actually have the time to go out to people's farms, commercial kitchens, places of business to talk shop and find new items. Once the Market opens I am either at the store working, or home sleeping, and I don't see my suppliers (or anyone else for that matter), unless they stop in at the store. I am relishing these months of work with freedom!
We're planning lots of new and fun things at the store this summer. If you're not signed up to get the store's newsletter, be certain to do so. Just scroll to the bottom of the blog to enter your email address to sign up. If you don't you could be missing some good times at Crampton's this year!
I hope that everyone had a great winter, didn't put their backs out shoveling snow, and is as ready as I am for local fresh foods. I just can't wait!
Take Care
Erin
Crampton's Market will be open on Wednesday, May 4th for our first day of the 2011 season!
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday 9-8
Saturday and Sunday 9-6
Sam and Ira's ice cream shop will be open from the July long weekend through to the September long weekend.
Hours of operation
Monday to Friday 12-8
Saturday and Sunday 10-6
Summer must be around the corner...right?
Brrrrrrr..... Is this really March? Seriously?
Last year when I started interviewing staff for the season, it was warm enough to hold the interviews in the store. This year, not so much. I'll be interviewing many many more people for working at the shop this year than I did last year. We had such a busy summer last season and lost a couple of great staff people due to injury just as things were getting really hectic. I hopefully have learned my lesson and am hiring more part time staff to keep shifting flexible. Staffing the store every year is always the hardest thing at the market. I love going out on a treasure hunt in rural Manitoba to find my suppliers. I love my most wonderful, supportive, community minded customers. And I love my staff. I just hate the process of advertising, going through resumees, interviewing and hiring. I can ask as many questions as I would like in an interview, but I really don't know how anyone is going to do until I work beside them for a few weeks. Oh well. It must be done.
I've been back home getting things ready for the shop for weeks now. I love this time of year. I get to meet with new suppliers. I actually have the time to go out to people's farms, commercial kitchens, places of business to talk shop and find new items. Once the Market opens I am either at the store working, or home sleeping, and I don't see my suppliers (or anyone else for that matter), unless they stop in at the store. I am relishing these months of work with freedom!
We're planning lots of new and fun things at the store this summer. If you're not signed up to get the store's newsletter, be certain to do so. Just scroll to the bottom of the blog to enter your email address to sign up. If you don't you could be missing some good times at Crampton's this year!
I hope that everyone had a great winter, didn't put their backs out shoveling snow, and is as ready as I am for local fresh foods. I just can't wait!
Take Care
Erin
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Biting the bullet
I've bitten the bullet and made the decision. Crampton's Market will be open until Saturday October 9th. For our last week open, our hours will change to 9-6 every day.
This was a hard choice to make.
This is a rough time of year for us here at the Market.
Most of my staff has returned to school meaning that those of my staff left are working lots of shifts. Today is my 140th consecutive day worked this year. And that's not counting the month and a half that it takes me to open up the shop. Needless to say, I'm a little pooped!
But of course what makes it all worthwhile is getting to support wonderful local farmers, and getting to sell their food to fabulous people like you! It makes the tired worthwhile.
If you love having us open until this late in the season, keep on shopping. If staying open this late proves to be popular and we still have good customer flow we may consider doing it every year!
We still have so many local items in right now. The corn, local tomatoes, melons and squash are all in abundance. Hard to believe that at this time of year we still have so many things in the shop!
Take care
See you all soon!
Erin
This was a hard choice to make.
This is a rough time of year for us here at the Market.
Most of my staff has returned to school meaning that those of my staff left are working lots of shifts. Today is my 140th consecutive day worked this year. And that's not counting the month and a half that it takes me to open up the shop. Needless to say, I'm a little pooped!
But of course what makes it all worthwhile is getting to support wonderful local farmers, and getting to sell their food to fabulous people like you! It makes the tired worthwhile.
If you love having us open until this late in the season, keep on shopping. If staying open this late proves to be popular and we still have good customer flow we may consider doing it every year!
We still have so many local items in right now. The corn, local tomatoes, melons and squash are all in abundance. Hard to believe that at this time of year we still have so many things in the shop!
Take care
See you all soon!
Erin
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