CA Cherries, Native Nettles, and Early Stone Fruit

May 10, 2017May 13, 2017

Early stone fruit arriving from California.

We will have fresh lovage coming from Garden to Garnish Farm in Hanson, MA. French Breakfast radishes will be native next week. Asparagus: best bet for green is Jersey, until MA picks up- hopefully late next week. White Asparagus is now from Holland. Citrus winding down rapidly. The native stinging nettles are plentiful right now.

Limited: **Muscat Grapes and Chantaney Carrots will be done very soon, last of both in the house now**

86: French White Asparagus, Bluefoot Mushrooms

Arriving Friday from Fitz Kelley- Reedley, CA

Debutante Yellow Peaches
Mayfire Yellow Nectarine (v. ltd)
~~Poppycot Apricot (very very ltd)~~

Garden to Garnish Farm- Hanson, MA

~~Fresh Lovage~~

1st of the Season

California Peaches
California Nectarines
California Apricots
California Cherries

Peak Season

NJ Asparagus
Stinging Nettles
Native Ramps
Native Fiddlehead Ferns
Chive Blossoms
Onion Blossoms
Mustard Flowers
Jumbo Dutch White Asparagus
Oregon “Crimson Crown” Rhubarb
Fresh English Peas
Vidalia Spring Onions
Fresh Green Almonds
~~Seedless Pink Muscat Grapes-~~
Fresh Oregon Morels

Life Force Farm- Bowdoinham, ME

Organic Spring-Dug Parsnips

Knoll Organic Farm- Brentwood, CA

Green Garlic
Stinging Nettles
Fava Leaves
Cardoon
Wild Rapini
Pea Tendrils

Equinox Farm- Sheffield, MA

Native Mesclun Mix
Pea Shoots

Ward’s Farm- Sharon, MA

French Breakfast Radishes

Crown O’ Maine Organic Co-op- Gardiner, ME

~~Chantaney Carrots~~
Yellow Carrots
Russian Banana Fingerlings

Available Now

Champagne Mangoes
Chilean Pomegranates
Paige Mandarins
Meyer Lemons
Kumquats
Fresh Fava Beans
Fresh Green Garbanzo Beans
CA Sugarsnap Peas
White Asparagus (Peru)
Fresh Hearts of Palm (pre-order only)
Fresh Trumpet Royale
Maitake Mushrooms
Easter Egg Radishes
Tri-color Cauliflower
Romanesco Cauliflower
Watermelon Radishes

Hayden Mills: Heirloom Semolina UPDATED w/ pasta ratio

May 10, 2017March 9, 2018

What do legendary pizza maker Chris Bianco and pasta master Marc Vetri have in common? Sourcing heirloom durum wheat from Hayden Mills.

Hayden Mills, in Queen’s Creek, Arizona is reviving old landrace varieties of wheat. Among them is the outstanding Bluebeard Durum Wheat. Deep golden in color, it makes an incredibly aromatic, toothsome pasta. We have Bluebeard Durum in three grinds: whole berries (for grinding yourself), semolina, and durum flour. This is the variety to make extruded and dried pastas with. See it for yourself here.

Hayden Mills is also bringing about a revival of White Sonoran Wheat, a slow food that is historically important to the region. Native to the Sonoran desert, which spans Arizona, California, and on the Mexican side of the border Baja California, Sinaloa and Sonora. This is the original wheat used for flour tortillas thanks to it’s glutinous, elastic qualities. We have White Sonoran All-Purpose, which is ideal for tortillas and would probably make a killer biscuit, and the 00 pasta flour, which makes an excellent fresh pasta.

Hayden Mills also makes extruded pastas from their semolina. Their suggested ratio for extruded pasta: 6000 g semolina to 1400 g water

They grind all semolina and flours to order for us, and it is kept in cold storage in our warehouses.

Now Offering:

Blue Beard Wheat Berries, 50 lb. bag

Blue Beard Semolina, 25 lb. bag

Blue Beard Durum Flour, 25 lb. bag

White Sonoran AP Flour, 10 lb. bag

White Sonoran “00” Pasta Flour, 10 or 25 lb. bag

Pizza Flour, 25 lb. bag (a blend of White Sonoran, Red Fife & Blue Beard)

Tibetan Purple Barley Berries, 5 lb. bag

Tibetan Purple Barley Flour, 5 lb. bag

Did You Know?

There are three main species of wheat that we cook with: hard, soft, and durum. The big difference in the durum-variety wheats, for cooking purposes, is it’s relative plasticity, as opposed to elasticity. Elasticity is ideal for breadmaking, because you want a gluten structure that can be stretched by the air bubbles created during fermentation. Plasticity, on the other hand, has less spring-back: if you use force to change the shape, that shape will stick, and that’s exactly what we want for pasta-making purposes. You want your pasta shapes firm, rather than elastic.Durum wheat varieties are more plastic than they are elastic, making them great for pasta, and less great for bread- usually, if used in bread-making, they have to be cut with other flours to get the same rise.

NJ Asparagus, Native Ramps & Fiddlehead Ferns

April 22, 2017

Updates and News: French White Asparagus is back in. Beautiful Bluefoot mushrooms available. Ramps are now native from Hadley, MA and Fiddlehead Ferns are finally coming from the East Coast. “Crimson Crown” Oregon Rhubarb is here, Champagne Mangoes are peak season right now, and seedless pink Muscat Grapes are plentiful.

Say goodbye to: spigarello, mixed chicories, blood oranges and other heirloom citruses, and purple carrots: all 86/done for the season. Artichokes of all sizes continue to be tight.

First of the Season

New Jersey Asparagus
Native Fiddleheads
Native Ramps
Chive Blossoms
Wild Onion Flowers
Mustard Flowers (ltd)

Peak Season

Jumbo French White Asparagus
French Bluefoot Mushrooms
Oregon “Crimson Crown” Rhubarb
Fresh Georgia Peas
Vidalia Spring Onions with Tops
Fresh Green Almonds
Seedless Pink Muscat Grapes
Fresh Oregon Morels

Life Force Farm- Bowdoinham, ME

Organic Spring-Dug Parsnips

Knoll Organic Farm- Brentwood, CA

Green Garlic
Stinging Nettles
Fava Leaves
Cardoon
Wild Rapini
Pea Tendrils

Equinox Farm- Sheffield, MA

Native Mesclun Mix
Baby Arugula
Pea Shoots

Crown O’ Maine Organic Co-op- Gardiner, ME

Chantaney Carrots
Yellow Carrots
Russian Banana Fingerlings

Available Now

Champagne Mangoes
Chilean Pomegranates
Paige Mandarins
Meyer Lemons
Kumquats
Fresh Fava Beans
Fresh Green Garbanzo Beans
CA Sugarsnap Peas
White Asparagus (Peru)
Fresh Hearts of Palm (pre-order only)
Fresh Trumpet Royale
Maitake Mushrooms
French Breakfast Radishes
Tri-color Cauliflower
Romanesco Cauliflower
Watermelon Radishes
Black Radishes

French White Asparagus, Bluefoot Mushrooms, and Rhubarb

April 1, 2017April 1, 2017

French White Asparagus, Bluefoot Mushrooms, and Rhubarb.

Coming Tuesday 4/4

French White Asparagus
Bluefoot Mushrooms

Springtime

Vidalia Salad Onions
Green Almonds
Fava Leaves
Fiddlehead Ferns (WC)
Green Garlic
Ramps ( v. ltd)
Morel Mushrooms
Stinging Nettles
Holland Rhubarb
Champagne Mangos
Favas
Fresh Green Garbanzo Beans
Hershberg Farm Duck Eggs
New Crop Lowman Yellow Grits

Knoll Farm

Cardoon
Wild Rapini
Green Garlic
Stinging Nettles

County Line Harvest

Spigarello Kale
Mixed Baby Heirloom Chicories

Rising C Ranch- Last shipment this year!

Meyer Lemons
Blood Oranges
Seville Sour Oranges
Cara Cara Pink Navels
Paige Mandarins
Kumquats

Equinox Farm

Mesclun Mix
Baby Arugula ( ltd)

Ripley Farm

Chantenay Carrots
Yellow Sun Carrots
Purple Haze Carrots

Crossroad Farm

Jerusalem Artichokes

Green Sunshine Farm

Russian Banana Fingerlings
Yellow Finn Potatoes
Bintje Potatoes

Mushrooms, Wild & Cultivated

~~Fresh Oregon Yellowfoots~~
~~Fresh Oregon Black Trumpets~~
Fresh Oregon Hedgehogs
Fresh Oregon Morels
Trumpet Royale
Chef’s Mix
Blue Oyster
Maitake
King Oyster
Honshemeji

In Season Now

Black Radishes
Watermelon Radishes
Green & Purple Daikon
Parsley Root (ltd)
Champagne Mangos
~~Fuyu Persimmons~~
Spring Vidalia Onions with Tops
Baby Artichokes
Salsify Root

But Wait, There’s More…

Kutik Farm Creamed Honey

Steen’s Cane Syrup

Benton’s Country Ham

Bee Local Scorpion Chili Honey

Kurozo Japanese Black Vinegar

Red & Green Yuzu Kosho

Songbird Red Flint Cornmeal

Heiwa Tofu

From last year:

Fewer California asparagus growers are in business these days. The Victoria Island asparagus, which we’ve loved and carried for years, is gone. It’s gone because cheaper asparagus, from Mexico and Chile, are taking over. The main driver of this trend are the big-box grocery stores, who favor price over quality while trying to appease a year-round demand for what used to be a seasonal product.

And now: all of the above is still true, and unfortunately, we’re seeing this trend spread to Stockton, CA, where the best of the (non-local) asparagus comes from. It’s slow to start this year, and fewer farmers out there are growing it, and it’s uncertain when we’ll see it. Stay tuned.

Green Almonds, Fava Leaves & Muscat Grapes

March 23, 2017March 23, 2017

Green Almonds, Fava Leaves, Ramps & Cardoons.

Notes: asparagus is still currently from MX, CA season starts soon. Rhubarb is from Holland, WC starts soon. Fiddleheads are coming from the West Coast, EC later this season. Two types of pea tendrils in house: slightly bigger, good for flash wilting- Knoll Farm; smaller and best for salad or a party hat for that fish dish- Equinox Farms. Fava leaves are another good wilting option.