Area farmers markets either have started up, or will soon. Here’s the latest from the West Windsor Market, below. Princeton Farmers Market is also in full swing each Thursday, 11am-4pm, on Hinds Plaza, and Montgomery’s runs 9am-1pm Saturdays starting June 7, and through Oct 25. Also, the new Forrestal Friday Market starts up on June 6, and runs Fridays (except for July 4), 11am-2pm, through September 26. There are more markets nearby, too, links to several others can be found on the Slow Food Central New Jersey Website.
West Windsor Community Farmers Market June Events
The WWCFM continues to be a popular gathering space each Saturday, rain or shine from 9:00am-1:00pm, for the local community as well as neighboring towns. The Market hosts 15 farms and 11 artisan food and natural product vendors in its 2014 line up. Local fruits, vegetables, pastured meats, dairy, eggs, woven fibers, soap, baked goods, flowers, honey, sauces, jams, fresh juices, crepes and more can be found at the market each week. New vendors to the Market this year include Shibumi Mushroom Farm, Frank’s Pickled Peppers and, Good Enough For Kids.
In addition to other weekly cooking demonstrations by local chefs, the Market is proud to offer a monthly cooking basics series, on the second Saturday of each month, featuring simple, seasonal cooking and preparation techniques demonstrated by board members and/or the market manager. The Market is located in the Vaughn Drive Parking Lot of the southwest side of the Princeton Junction Train Station, one mile from the Alexander Road and Route 1 intersection. Parking is free. For more information, call 609 933-4452 or emailwwcfm@yahoo.com.
Here’s the latest update on this spring’s slooooow progress of produce coming to market, from the NJ Department of Agriculture:
JERSEY FRESH AVAILABILITY FOR MAY 19, 2014
| Arugula | Harvesting in fair to increasing quantity. Volume still picking up. |
| ASPARAGUS | Harvesting a good quantity of very good quality product with all of the recent warming weather and increasing soil temperatures. |
| Baby Spinach & Arugula | Harvest of good quality products starting later than normal due to cool weather which prevented earlier planting. |
| Beets | Harvest of very good quality starting in very light volume. |
| CILANTRO | Harvesting a fair to good quantity of good quality Spring planted product. |
| Collards | Starting to harvest in light to increasing quantity. |
| Dandelions | Variable quality over-wintered bunched harvesting in light to fair volume. Spring planted should be available by end of May. |
| Dill | Harvesting good quality in fair quantity as volume picks up each week. |
| Escarole & Endive | Starting to harvest in very light to increasing quantities. |
| KALE | Variable quality over-wintered product harvesting in light volume as good quality Spring planted product starting to become available. |
| Leeks | A light, & less than normal, volume of variable quality over-wintered product is harvesting. Spring planted starting in very light volume. |
| Lettuce | Harvesting good quality Boston in fair to increasing volume. Red & Green Leaf & Romaine starting in fair to increasing volume. |
| MINT | Good quality harvesting in light to fair & increasing quantity. |
| PARSLEY | Harvesting variable quality over-wintered curly and plain product in light, & much less than normal, volume. Good quality Spring planted product just starting to become available. |
| RADISHES | Harvesting good quality product in fair to good volume. |
| Spinach | A slight supply gap. A light volume of variable quality over-wintered product harvesting as good quality Spring planted product starting to become available. |
| strawberries | Harvesting excellent quality Chandler variety berries in light to increasing volume. The bulk of the crop will be harvested towards late month/early June, with decreasing volumes through mid-June. |
| SWISS CHARD | Harvest of good quality product starting in light to increasing quantity. Volume picking up each week. |
AND COMING UP SOON…
| Cabbage | Won’t be ready until late May or early June. |
| BLUEBERRIES | Minor quantities of early varieties like Weymouth starting in four weeks. The much more widely planted Duke variety will start 3-4 days later and the week of June 23rd should provide our first volume. |
| PEACHES | Winter was longer and colder than normal, & was coupled with a slowly warming Spring. The season will be a bit delayed & start the week of July 7th w/ early PF & Sentry varieties, w/ volume and freestone varieties starting mid-July. White peaches start a week later w/ volume late month. |
| SQUASH | Should start harvesting field grown zucchini in about 3 weeks with yellow squash starting later that week. |
| Turnips | Should begin harvesting in early June |
NJ SPICE 