This Week at the Smart Markets Oakton Farmers' Market

This Week at our Oakton Market
Saturday 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Hosted by Unity of Fairfax Church
2854 Hunter Mill Rd.
Oakton, VA 22124
Map

This Week at the Market

Dear Shopper,

Not only is spring around the corner, but our little corner of Oakton is brightening up already. Wait till you see what we have for you next week — but first, a reminder about this week and what we have at the market for your Easter and Passover feasts.

At Heritage Farm and Kitchen, you will find a wide selection of spring lamb cuts including bone-in and boneless leg-o-lamb, shoulder roasts, and lovely little loin chops four to a pack. They also have lamb shanks and even lamb liver and Marquez, Sage and Sweet Italian sausages. They also have fresh chicken again. I know you have been waiting for that, even though B&D did a wonderful job of filling the void the last two weeks.

Doug Linton at Angelic Beef will also have brisket, short ribs and a variety of roasts if you are planning to serve local beef for Seder this year.

Max and Max, little and big (hard to tell which is which now), will have greens for sure at Tyson Farms, and hopefully broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, potatoes, turnips, and beets to accompany those meats. Heritage Farm will also have lovely baby greens and really tasty carrots — look for an updated carrot and raisin salad recipe at the Smart Markets table.

How about making your own mayonnaise this weekend to mix with those gorgeous eggs we’ve had at the market lately? I made some today, and it’s nearly as gold as the finches will be — it also tastes great and will make a really nice egg salad. Here’s the recipe, and you can pick up copies of a recipe for basic egg salad with variations at the Smart Markets table this week. And what could be better for Easter Brunch than a frittata? You know I have several recipes for my favorite all-around crowd-pleaser:

• Baby Kale, Potato and Red Pepper
• Swiss Chard, Potato and Fennel
• Baked Potato
• Spinach, Potato and Fennel

It’s so easy to serve and eat in the front of the TV if March Madness has taken over your home.

Plan ahead for next Saturday when Doug Linton will bring his Taste of Local food truck to serve you Easter brunch on site. Chef Lauren will cook up Doug’s burgers as well as some brunch specials for the day, and we will have David Giusti and friends to play some great oldtime and bluegrass music for us.

As always, we are hoping for a pretty market day, and we may actually get one this Saturday.

See you at the market!

From the Market Master

Spring has sprung! It may not feel like much like spring, but we will be greeting it soon. I took a lovely picture of the bloomin’ daffodils (use picture if it’s good enough) in my back yard covered in a light dusting of snow the other morning. They survived the attack and now there are even some pink trees scattered throughout the neighborhood. Working at my computer every day, I can see the bird feeder in the back yard, and I have noticed another sure sign of spring -- the gold finches are turning gold once again! I even saw two squirrels mating on a tree limb high above the ground -- seems like the hard way to do it to me. But all of those signs are telling us that spring will surely bring its warmth in time for Passover on the 25th and Easter next weekend.

For those of us who organize or manage markets, this is the most exciting time of year, as we hear from all the farmers and other applicants and get to decide where to assign them for your shopping pleasure. This year I heard from several young farmers who are essentially faming organically and in some cases better than organically as now defined and soon-to-be defiled by the federal government. They are not only careful about what they add to the soil, but they farm so that they are also adding back to the soil every year the nutrients that the plants absorb and pass along to us when we eat them.

I am sure you know by now that you are paying a little extra for that devotion to protecting the environment when you buy from these local farmers. You are supporting farming that creates healthy soil and produces healthier plants naturally without chemical additives of any kind. There is no dangerous runoff into nearby streams and watersheds, the soil is not stripped of its ability to support healthy plant life for us or for animals, and in many cases that care and attention to detail actually creates healthier food -- food that will do what it’s supposed to do in our bodies.

That brings me full circle to what I talk about all the time: Food should be what we eat to nourish us, keep us healthy and make us strong, smart, and disease-resistant. Believing that may narrow your options, but it sure widens your opportunities for a long and healthy life. What better lesson to draw from the coming of spring!