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Ask a Portlander about spring produce, and chances are she'll name asparagus, strawberries, and fava beans. What many people don't realize is that spring is an ideal time for endives, too. Too much sun causes an endive's flavor to turn acrid, but the cool, moist weather of a Willamette Valley spring makes for the pleasantly nutty, slightly bitter crunch we love in a fresh endive.
The Market's farmers sell both curly and Belgian endives. Curly endive is a head of greens with white-rimmed leaves that part and curl. Belgian endive grows into a tight conical shape. To blanch its leaves, Belgian endive is grown indoors, or covered with only its tip exposed to sun. When Belgian endive is unearthed for harvest, it is opaque white, tipped with green.
John from Gathering Together farm in Philomath, Oregon, has harvested some curly endive for his spring salad mix, but he said that most of his endive won't be ready for harvest until early or mid-June.
Endive's assertive flavor stands up to walnuts, pecans, and blue cheese, making it ideal for hearty salads. Endive also complements mild cheeses like Brie, and can even be sautéed and tossed with pasta. Look for endive at the Market this month and try it in this simple salad recipe adapted from epicurious.com.
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How would you like to be served strawberry and hazelnut crepes with hand-whipped cream from a Cory Schreiber-trained chef in your own home? It can happen! This summer from June through August, Kids Cook at the Market will bring Portland's premier chefs to the Market to share their skills with children between the ages of seven and eleven.
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Jeff Falen of Persephone Farm says it never fails: every July, market shoppers ask if he has tomatoes yet. And every year, he tells them no, that his produce is truly seasonal, and tomatoes won't be ready for another few weeks. Sustainability is a driving tenet of Persephone's practices, and, for Jeff, growing tomatoes under plastic so that they ripen sooner isn't environmentally sustainable. Sustainability has been Jeff's passion since the first Earth Day in 1970. "I don't feel right doing anything that hurts future generations," he says.
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Ever wonder just how much water your lawn needs each week? The Regional Water Providers Consortium has your number. Your “weekly watering number,” that is!
To help you figure out how much to water your lawn, the Regional Water Providers Consortium posts the local weather forecast along with the weekly watering number on its website, www.conserveh2o.org.
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Sure, we'd love to shop at the Farmers Market every day. But when it's not a Market day, or when we can't make it to a Market location, Food Front Cooperative Grocery is the next best place to buy local, seasonal, and sustainable food.
Food Front, our 2008 Ecotrust Market in the Pearl sponsor, shares our passion for bringing local produce directly to people. In fact, some of the Market’s farmers and product makers also supply Food Front. Sponsoring the Thursday market at Ecotrust is a natural extension of Food Front’s mission to build community in the neighborhood it has served since 1972.
Look for Food Front’s booth at the Ecotrust market on opening day, June 5, or visit Food Front at 2375 NW Thurman St. in Portland or www.foodfront.coop
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