It was another gorgeous day at the City Market. One of those days when summer seems like it could go on forever, and makes you forget that warm breezes and patio nights are coming to a rapid end. Until that happens, I will be more than happy to revel in the sunshine along with other market patrons.

City Market revellers

I was set to volunteer for the Downtown Edmonton Community League booth this afternoon, so was able to get in about fifteen minutes of frantic shopping before my shift. Thankfully Mack was available to pick up the rest of the things on the list, and helped me snap some photos as well!

Prunes at Steve & Dan’s

Fruit basket at Steve & Dan’s

Swiss chard from Kuhlmann’s

Sea of beans at Kuhlmann’s

Corn at Kuhlmann’s

Vegetable marrow at Kuhlmann’s

Green onions from Jen’s Organic Garden

Cauliflower from Riverbend Gardens

As for volunteering, it wasn’t much work at all: answering questions about community league membership benefits, catching up with old friends, meeting new residents. And by the end of the day, we sold about 40 memberships – not bad for the first day of our fall drive (DECL will be back at the market on September 10, 24 and October 8 if you want to pick up your membership).

Forming a very cheesy “I [heart] Downtown” with Chris and Scott

In other market news, I’m happy that the a winter venue has been secured, so that the transition from outdoors to indoors won’t skip a beat. The City Market will open in City Hall on October 15, 2011.

See you next week!

Apologies for the late post, but after a full day of Fringing, I was too pooped to blog last night. After a rocket-fast trip through the City Market Saturday morning, we caught a bus and just made it to our first of three shows yesterday.

Market square

Still, I’m glad we made it to the market – it’s always nice to catch the produce that is just coming into season that week.

Corn, sweet corn at Riverbend Gardens

Plums from Steve & Dan’s

Bartlett pears from Steve & Dan’s

Celery root from Green Valley Farms

Snow peas from Kuhlmann’s

Cucumbers from Kuhlmann’s

It was also great to see EnSante debut their new, revamped labels, now under the name “Birds & Bees Organic Winery”. All of their wines have been renamed as well, fully embracing flirty connotations – like “Big Tease” and “Little Flirt”.

Birds & Bees Organic Winery

Before running off to Old Strathcona, we stopped by Filistix. They had a new dish on their menu, the Caldereta, a traditional Spanish-Filipino beef stew. Ariel told us that Filistix will be focusing more on traditional Filipino cuisine (look for chicken adobo to be added in the future). They were nice enough to give us a box to try – served over a light coconut rice, we quite enjoyed the flavours. Tender beef, slightly sweet sauce, and their crisp, refreshing slaw made for a meal that was filling but not heavy. Another winner from Filistix!

Caldereta from Filistix

See you at the market next week!

Though I love visiting farmers’ markets while travelling, it’s always a bit frustrating because I’m never able to partake in the produce. I ended up browsing two different markets while in Toronto last week, and though their growing season is a bit further along than ours (corn was already available), it was nice to come home and fill our basket at the City Market this morning.

Long lost sun!

We were treated to a beautiful Saturday, something that has been quite rare this summer. But on a long weekend, it felt extra special.

Squash blossoms from Sundog Organic Farm

Kale from Sundog Organic Farm

Zucchini from Sundog Organic Farm

Squash from Kuhlmann’s

Carrots from Kuhlmann’s

Beans from Kuhlmann’s

Cauliflower from Riverbend Gardens

In addition to a great variety of produce, some stone fruit was also available.

Peaches from Steve & Dan’s

Apricots from Steve & Dan’s

We also tried bacon jerky from Irvings for the first time! It was a marriage of two of Mack’s favourite things – dangerously delicious. Perhaps it was for the best that it was sold out already.

Bacon jerky

Up at the market next week: India Fest on August 6, 2011. Expect traditional folk dances and drumming. See you there!

Hallelujah, sunshine at the City Market! It was great to see large crowds again gracing 104 Street.

Market sun seekers

Mack and I wouldn’t be stocking up on much produce because of our travels next week, so treated ourselves to a late start. I know we probably missed out on a lot (the peas at Kuhlmann’s were nearly gone, for example), but we still managed to see some of what was available this week.

Strawberries from Steve & Dan’s

Raspberries from Steve & Dan’s

Swiss chard from Green Valley Farm

There’s something so comforting about a mound of Riverbend Gardens’ fresh carrots

We loved the sign out in front of Mighty Trio Organics today – there’s no other vendor at the market that can make that claim!

Fit for a Duke and Duchess

I hope the weather holds up next week!

Mack and I weren’t sure we’d even get to the City Market today, as it was moving day for two of our friends. As we should have expected though, many hands make light work, so we were finished loading and unloading by the early afternoon! We made it back before closing, but it was clear the early birds snapped up most of the produce by the time we arrived.

Radishes from Sundog Organics

Cucumbers from Kuhlmann’s

The large crowd today were likely partly due to the long weekend, but also due to the fact that for the first time in three weeks, the sun shone down on the market.

Shoppers out in full force

On to next week!

It was another overcast day at the City Market on Saturday. Thankfully, the rain wasn’t coming down in sheets quite like last week, so for the most part, it was still a pleasant visit.

Almost dry again

We were tuckered out from What the Truck?! the night prior, so gave ourselves the morning to sleep in. By the time we made it to the market that afternoon, most of the prime produce had already been snapped up!

Beets from Riverbend Gardens

Cherries from Steve & Dan’s

We came across a new vendor, though perhaps not a new company to those who have investigated home grocery delivery services. The Organic Box, a business similar to Eat Local First, but with a focus on organic produce, was at the market selling fruit. Most of what they had wouldn’t be considered local (strawberries, cantaloupe and watermelon from California, though they also had BC apples), but they were all clearly marked. We picked up some strawberries – The Organic Box will tide us over until the BC and Alberta strawberries start coming in!

The Organic Box

We also noticed for the first time (although they’ve been at the market for a few weeks) a vendor selling cake pops! Though I think these bite-sized treats became mainstream when Starbucks started selling them, it’s nice to see some local entrepreneurs trying to capitalize on the trend as well!

Adorable cake pops

To help promote the Feats Festival of Dance, which had started two days prior and runs until July 1, 2011, the main market square hosted different dance demonstrations throughout the day. From above, we caught a sampling, including salsa and belly dancing!

Salsa

Belly dancing (with audience participation!)

It’s also great to catch those seemingly spontaneous moments at the market – like a wedding party using the market as a photographic backdrop. It turned out the bride was a cousin of Bamir’s – hence the Eva Sweet love!

Who doesn’t love waffle trucks?

I really hope the rain lets up next Saturday – it’s the long weekend, after all. See you at the market!