BelAir Farmers Market

Need advice? Ask the grower.

**a note to email subscribers: if you are one of the people that receive our blog updates in your inbox, you may notice that there has been quite a bit of lag time between when a post is written, and when you actually receive an email letting you know that we've updated the site. I'm sorry about this, and I'm working on figuring out why this is happening. Hopefully, things will start to catch up soon.**

I hope by now many of you have had a chance to visit the market as we begin a new season. I was there on opening day, doing my usual thing--taking pictures of lettuce, closeups of radishes or the tangled roots of spring onions, and jotting down shopping lists and notes in my notebook. As I wandered around from stand to stand I was struck by what a personal experience it is to shop locally and to buy your food from the person who grew it or prepared it. Many times I stood in the background and listened to the advice:

"Make sure you bring your hanging basket in if the temperature drops below 40..."

"I love to sautée those in a pan with some olive oil and garlic...Add it to rice or white beans..."

"If it's a stronger tasting green, combine it with a starch...."

"Cut the ends of those one more time when you get home. They'll last longer..."

It is a good reminder to not be afraid to ask the vendors questions:
What is this?
How does it taste?
What do you do with it?
How do you cook it?
How does it grow?
What should I look for when I pick one?

The farmers' market provides such a unique opportunity to interact directly with the people who are providing the food that you put on your table. It's an experience you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else in our retail community. I hope you'll take advantage of it.

Be sure to check out the sidebar on our blog for a list of what's in season right now at the farmers' market. Make your shopping list and we'll see you at there!!

a market sampling :: june 16

farley and miss maggie--market regulars
(by the way, if you'd like to see your pup on this market website, just find me at the market. I'm usually the only person walking around taking close-ups of the produce.)

fantastic live music

sweet cherries

potted plants

market flavors

hanging baskets

and lots of visitors! thank you!

A walk around the website

Things are beginning to take shape around here at the new BelAir Farmers’ Market website. Spring is definitely in the air in Harford County and our market vendors are busy working to get ready for the new season. The market will open in just over a week: Saturday, April 7th from 7am-11am.

In the meantime, I’d like to introduce you to our new website and let you know a bit about the kinds of things you’ll find here as the season progresses. This website is meant to be a resource to you, the market customer. You’ll find helpful information like directions, market hours and special event announcements here on the site. But you’ll also have the chance to learn about what is in season at the market and what’s to come. We’ll give you the heads up each week so that you can get your shopping list together before you even get here. Ever wonder what to do with the funny white eggplant you bought this week or the petite sirloin tip you couldn’t resist? We’ll also be posting recipes for some of the products and produce you’ll find at the market. And eventually, we’d love to hear from you too. Do you have a favorite peach pie recipe or summery tomato salad? Be watching for requests for recipe submissions and maybe even a little contest to come.

Use the resources along the sidebar of this website to get to know your market better: photo albums, recipe archives, vendor lists and links to their websites.  Don’t forget you can subscribe to this site as well. If you type your email address in the box on the left-hand column, we’ll let you know with a short email when we add new articles to the site. I promise, we won’t bombard you with junk mail!

And please, we’d love to hear from you. Click on the word “Comments” at the bottom of any article post to leave us a note. Or feel free to contact us with an email: belairfarmersmarket (at) gmail (dot) com. And if you’d like to get to know a little bit more about me, the fingers behind this website, click on the “About” link for just a few more details.

We hope this website will be a wonderful resource to you and make your trips to the market more enjoyable. We want you to enjoy your experience as part of the market community and hope this site provides a little encouragement and inspiration to shop locally and healthfully for you and your family.