June 03, 2006

Chef Nathan Anda from Tallula Restaurant will lead the tour on June 10th. Meet at the corner of Courthouse Rd and 14th St at 10 AM.

Looking farther ahead, Chef Cathal Armstrong from Restaurant Eve will lead a tour on July 29th

AFM producers bring to you every week so much fresh fruits and vegetables, meats and dairy, baked breads, pies and all manner of treats, flowers and honey, plants for your garden, and soap to wash-up when your done. Plus VCE Master Gardeners Plant Clinic 8 to 11 am.

A recently issue told you about the fruits and vegetables coming in May and June. The Arlington Farmers Market covers more than the produce section.

Eco Friendly Foods brings you a variety of meats and cuts, including beef, pork and lamb, as well as fresh eggs. Currently they are featuring cutlets from a heritage breed Turkey and also Hot Italian Sausage de le Rabbit. Raising heritage breeds of Turkey and Pig helps protect genetic diversity in livestock species, as well as our own national heritage. These are the breeds that farmers traditional raised, but may not be adapted to feed lot or factory farming methods.

The animals at Eco Friendly Foods are all pasture raised, no confinement, no GMO and no animal by product in the feed. Eco Friendly Foods goes “beyond organic” to include humane treatment of their animals from farm to their own processing plant to you in order to guarantee authenticity and bring awareness to the customer of how your food reaches you. “Vote with your fork” says Beverly Eggleston who is happy to answer your questions about how the animals were raised.

Smith Meadow Meats also offers free range meats including beef, pork, lamb and veal, and fresh eggs as well. Then Smith Meadows Kitchen brings you pasta flavored with herbs from fellow market farmers. Be sure to stop and see what’s cooking this week.

There are several dairy operations at the market. Fields of Grace brings 15 varieties of cheese, though some are not available every week. For example, the Camembert must sell within 2 to 3 weeks of when it ripens. Get it when you can, it’s sure to be fresh. A natural rind is used to age their Gouda and Cheddar at least 60 days. They let some Cheddar age several months longer to develop a strong, sharp flavor.

The cheese is made from milk from their own cows, which are pastured when they can, but this dry spring has limited how much grazing the fields will support. Then the fields are allowed to grow, or are rotated with corn.

Blue Ridge Dairy makes Italian cheese and also whole-milk Yogurt in plain or honey flavor. The mozzarella is flavored with applewood or smoked. Crème Fraiche is like a sour cream. Their Ricotta is made with whey milk and can be used in lasagna or a dessert. The mascarpone is a sweet cheese often used in dessert, or with fresh fruit.

Blue Highland Dairy is best known for fresh milk; whole, 2% skim, and chocolate, in quarts or half gallons. The milk is pastured, but not homogenized, so it may need an occasional shake. There is a deposit of $1.50 for the glass milk bottle, a one-time fee as long as you keep trading in your empties. Don’t overlook the butter or the flavored soft cheeses, made from the same milk. The butter, salted or unsalted, is a rich yellow from the natural milk fats. The cheese are flavored with fresh herbs.

The sorbet from Landovel Farm is non-dairy, made from raw fruit, sugar and water. There’s no corn syrup, gum or other fillers. They make only 4 pints at a time, which freezes in 3 minutes, so additives are not needed, as they would be using larger equipment. They grow some of their own fruit, but the sorbet production outgrew their ability to grow all their own fruit a while ago. Some things, such as lemons and mango, wouldn’t grow in Virginia anyway. So stop by the keeper of the Holy Grail for a taste.