Ridgeville Farmer's Market soup to nuts...or beet to berry

Today was the first ever Wednesday night farmer's market sponsored by south Evanston's Ridgeville Park District. I arrived at 4:30 to find the market hiding at the rear of Ridgeville Park, and began my search for companionable foods for the chicken I planned to roast for dinner. Residential street parking was pretty easy to find (though I could easily have biked) It's a respectable little market if you live nearby - I think 5 booths total, 3 with produce, one with 'shrooms and canned goods, one with "gourmet" cryovaced meat. (Most of the vendors said they have booths in both downtown Evanston and Lincoln Park, so no real surprises.) Produce was respectable - mostly greens, root veggies and strawberries - but there was good variety: purple and white varieties of both kholrabi and spring onions, 2 kinds of beets, mizuma, asian greens...

I purchased some lovely yellow beets, gargantuan portobellos (no morels, sorry) asparagus, a garlic-cheese-olive oil sauce, and strawberries.


They were joined by a beer-can chicken - here, nekked and ready for fire.


Everybody got friendly on the grill; the 'shrooms with the garlic sauce, beets with a bit of lime butter and the asparagus were blanched and grilled with just EVOO


They were followed by possibly the best dessert I have ever made: mint-kissed strawberry/apricot shortbread


A very satisfying way to end the day.

Ridgeville Park District
847/869-5640
908 Seward St.
Farmers' Market
4 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays

I've never understood the overlapping park districts in Evanston; however, I'm sorry I missed this mini-farmers' market.

Wow, does that chicken look good...................

nr706 wrote:I've never understood the overlapping park districts in Evanston; however, I'm sorry I missed this mini-farmers' market.

it goes thru till Sept so there is time.

G Wiv wrote:Wow, does that chicken look good...................

Awww, shucks! Thanks, Gary

See you (Evanston) folk next Wednesday, then!

FYI: Nichols is one of the vendors at the Ridgeville Wednesday market. Didn't catch the other farm, but things seemed much better produce-wise.

Just realized I missed opening day, which was last Wednesday - but I'm planning to go tomorrow. Same place, same times. There's also a blog page that shows the vendors, photos, and what they had here: Ridgeville Market

Mhays wrote:Just realized I missed opening day, which was last Wednesday - but I'm planning to go tomorrow. Same place, same times. There's also a blog page that shows the vendors, photos, and what they had here: Ridgeville Market

I was there, you didn't miss much.

There was a call for support on another blog I participate in: apparently this market is in a bit of trouble from lack of support - they are down to about 4 vendors...I did stop by last week, and the pickings were indeed slim, though they had season-appropriate produce: strawberries, greens, etc.

It's a pity, because it's made for a nice evening last summer. I hope it picks up...

I went last week, and yes, it was a bit sad. But at least, since there were so few people, it was easy to strike up a conversation with some of the few vendors. With Ridge Ave as badly torn up as it is now, though, I'd be surprised if it did well - it's challenging to get there these days.

Can you provide the name/url of the blog rallying the troops for this market. I'd like to join the fray. I'll post something on my blog.

I don't know this market specifically, but one of the issues I cited in my talk the other day was that farmer's markets did not necessarily put themselves there where when shoppers needed them. I think of the many suburban markets for instance, that are in the AM during the week. Convenient? On the other hand, more people may be able to shop weekend markets, but people (me for sure) often eat out during the weekend. So the food is less there than when they need to cook it--markets should be for cooking not a bunch of flowers and a bag of fruit. I believe, or at least I contend, that we need farmer's markets like this one, mid-week, into the evening. I'd hate to be wrong about that contention!

I sent a PM, VI - thanks very much, I concur; even though we have a non-traditional schedule, I find this market serves us well for those reasons and more.

Another issue that's probably hurting the market a bit (though it was struggling last year) is the construction on Ridge - so if you're planning to go, keep that in mind. Ridge is currently only one lane running North from Chicago, though not too bad traffic-wise. The best alternate route is Custer (Damen), and turn at South Blvd. (If you're north of Main, Custer starts at Main and the train tracks, or you can access it from Chicago St. via Madison, Washington, or South Blvd) Also, if you've been looking for it - keep in mind that it's not fully visible from Ridge, it's nearer to Elmwood on the basketball court.

I also forgot to mention, for our avid gardeners, the gardening booth offering heirloom tomatoes and peppers is quite nice, has varieties I hadn't seen before - and they're also selling bags of worm castings and a free-if-you-bring-your-own-container kelp fertilizer.

I know that this market is sponsored by the Ridgeville Park District, but I think that the location is problematic--even if you discount the traffic construction on Ridge.


The site is a bit hidden and there is minimal foot traffic in the neighborhood.

They would be MUCH more successful if they set this up somewhere by the Main St. Metra/CTA stations. With the number of vendors they have now, they could set up in the dingy park on Chicago Ave. by the CTA stop. If they had more vendors, the little street between the Metra and CTA stations would be a great spot.

A midweek, afternoon market is a great idea and would surely be a hit in Evanston--but I think that they would get more casual traffic in a better location. The Main-Chicago corridor has plenty of foot traffic as well as parking. Ridgeville is hidden and out of the way (and I say this as someone who lives right near the current site).

Sad to say this was my first visit to the 2010 Ridgeville market (not counting my time as a vendor) There are two suppliers of produce: Lyon's Farm (who is OK) and Kap farms (somewhat better - a nice range of produce that I was very happy with)

Even better, this week they offered a stand by CraftHouse Market Goods sausages - a decidedly pricey artisianal sausage company, offering sausages made from heritage pork. I purchased the HogBordelaise sausage for dinner tonight - the ingredients list: pork, pork stock, red wine, shallots, salt, garlic, spices. Can't wait for dinner.

Definitely worth a visit if you're in the area on Wednesday evening - and tonight there's free Shakespeare following the market.

Hi- The few times I have gone there, I have wondered how they are able to stay in business. I was there once this year to buy some asparagus, and there were hardly any customers, and the vendors were sub par. The Wednesday market at the Y only has one vendor, but she does as much business as all the vendors at Ridgeville do combined. She gets a lot of business from people visiting the Y, and people that live in the neighborhood. Hope this helps, Nancy