Madison (Dane County) Farmer's Market [Pics]

There are certain things every foodie in good standing knows. The best chef in America is Keller; the most notable restaurant in the world is called boo-yee; the best pastrami may be, as Gold sez, in a neighborhood more used to selling Salvadorean cow foot soup; and the most super-de-duperest farmer's market in the US of A is hard by the capital of Wisconsin.

Saturdays, the market takes over the whole square. It is the Mardi Gras of farmer's markets, the same press of people. In fact, there are so many people that it is hard to move from the flow to the actual vendors. On Wednesday, the market dwindles to about 40 vendors (e.g., still bigger and better than most). On Wednesdays the market just juts out from the capital on Martin Luther King Blvd. Here's a bit of what it looks like this time of year.

I went to law school in Madison and the farmer's market was always a highlight...of the week, of the month, of the year. My third year, I clerked for one of the justices on the Supreme Court (now the Chief Justice, woo-woo) and got to work on the Square. Of course, that many years ago, the crowds were nothing like they are now.... Still, it's reunion time next month and I can't wait to get back!

PS Great pics, VI...

VI -- please tell me you picked up some of those tomatoes.

They made me weep.

I haven't seen anything that good around here this year -- and I've been looking!

And $2.50 / lb?????

The tears are just soaking up the keyboard.


shannon

I haven't seen anything that good around here this year -- and I've been looking!

Have you tried the Evanston Farmer's Market? The tomatoes at the Nichols, Green Acres and Henry's Farm stands look similar.

You could also try my garden--if you can find it.

earthlydesire wrote:VI -- please tell me you picked up some of those tomatoes.

They made me weep.

I haven't seen anything that good around here this year -- and I've been looking!

And $2.50 / lb?????

The tears are just soaking up the keyboard.


shannon

Yup

Gypsy Boy wrote:

I went to law school in Madison and the farmer's market was always a highlight...of the week, of the month, of the year. My third year, I clerked for one of the justices on the Supreme Court (now the Chief Justice, woo-woo) and got to work on the Square. Of course, that many years ago, the crowds were nothing like they are now.... Still, it's reunion time next month and I can't wait to get back!

I, too, am a UW law grad and wish I could say that may memories of the Madison Farmers' Market are as fond. I hated the market. The sunshine, the earnest farmers, cheery parents pushing the double-wide strollers, the pretty, pretty vegetables, the tolerance, the liberalism. I would typically pass through the market on my way back to my studio apt from a Friday afternoon at the Union, that became a Friday evening at Gena's or the 602, that became a Friday night at the Plaza and a Saturday morning at the Caribou and and at the eastside apt of some generous friend or friends trying to convince me that I really should like the Dead and Floyd (God, do I hate the Dead and Floyd) and then on said friend's or friends' couch. The market was full of people who were showered and well-rested. Their contact lens weren't plastered to their eyes. They didn't have to study Administrative Law or Evidence with a splitting headache. They weren't going to eat velveeta and shells or Hormel chilli for dinner. They all seemed so... happy.

It really is a great farmers' market.

Well, I meant to post this for Gypsy Boy, but for Ed too, here's another side of Madison (sorry if the Supreme Court's not as photogenic)

edk wrote:I, too, am a UW law grad and wish I could say that may memories of the Madison Farmers' Market are as fond. I hated the market. The sunshine, the earnest farmers, cheery parents pushing the double-wide strollers, the pretty, pretty vegetables, the tolerance, the liberalism. I would typically pass through the market on my way back to my studio apt from a Friday afternoon at the Union, that became a Friday evening at Gena's or the 602, that became a Friday night at the Plaza and a Saturday morning at the Caribou and and at the eastside apt of some generous friend or friends trying to convince me that I really should like the Dead and Floyd (God, do I hate the Dead and Floyd) and then on said friend's or friends' couch. The market was full of people who were showered and well-rested. Their contact lens weren't plastered to their eyes. They didn't have to study Administrative Law or Evidence with a splitting headache. They weren't going to eat velveeta and shells or Hormel chilli for dinner. They all seemed so... happy.

It really is a great farmers' market.

Tonight, at Las Gaviotas, I'm going to pop the question to The Wife: "Wanna get up at 6:30AM and drive to Madison."

Ed, I appreciate the Doestoyevskian perspective. A lot. Hope that's not an over-share.

That said, I intend to visit the market tomorrow, well-showered and -rested.

I may make it up there tomorrow morning ... on my way to the UW-Whitewater game.

Took some pictures up at the farmers market this weekend, bought some things too. One guy had butternut squash for $2, no matter what size. Also picked up some Thai Eggplant and I need to find out how you cook that. Also if you ever see the Farm Pride Bakery booth, get a donut. They are huge, and delicious.






For more pictures and to see larger versions (click on the image) you can view a gallery here:
http://bwisch.coffeestain.org/displayim ... m=41&pos=0

The Dane County Farmer's Market really had a lot of nice looking stuff this weekend. I've been there pretty consistently, but this past weekend brought out by far the most produce I have seen.

Here are a few pictures:









You can see more pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon_w/ ... 833747296/

I'm trying to take pictures as many weekends as I can to track what's fresh.

Brandon_W, your photos are making me drool on my keyboard!

I'm thinking in a few weeks we may have to go up there for the market before picking up the younger daughter from camp the next day.

Suzy

See the above kettle corn made on an old-timey, labor-intensive, hot-as-hell cooker: http://www.vimeo.com/1291724

The bee guy with the funny hat, his wildflower honey is the best I have ever tasted.

Thanks for the nice comment about my photos.

brandon_w wrote:The bee guy with the funny hat, his wildflower honey is the best I have ever tasted.

We bought some hazlenut flower honey that the Wife liked quite a bit, saying she could taste the hazlenuts (I couldn't, but I still liked the honey a lot).

More pictures because well, I like the Farmer's Market, and I like to take pictures.

Brandon-

I like the farmer's market and I really like your photos. Thanks for sharing.

-Mary

Insanely beautiful photos all around!

Farmer's Pride Bakery is back. They have been back for three weeks now, they have my favorite donuts ever and they are huge. These pictures are from Sept 6th.




I'm going to have to buy one of these and find out what they taste like.


This kohlrabi is huge, bigger than huge. I wish I would have had something on hand to stick next to it for comparison. Are there guys who sell these all over, like giant pumpkins or is it a Madison thing?


I'm loving that apple season is coming into full swing.




The rest:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon_w/ ... 833747296/

This summer when we were in the midst of the great kohlrabi panic of '08; where my wife refused to let me even utter the dreaded k word [as in "honey what shoudl we do with the kohlrabi"], I did much reading of the plant. One think I read was that big 'rabi's are better because their is a higher ratio of good flesh to bad skin. I'm not sure if that applies to mondo veg as pictured, but maybe.

The exciting conclusion to our panic was the realization that kohlrabi were very tasy indeed. Not only do they make delicious salads and slaws, they store very well. Use the greens too.

edited to fix bad typing

Vital Information wrote:This summer when we were in the midst of the great kohlrabi panic of '08; where my wife refused to let me even utter the dreaded k word [as in "honey what shoudl we do with the kohlrabi], I did much reading of the plant. One think I read was that big 'rabi's are better because their is a higher ratio of good fresh to bad skin. I'm not sure if that applies to mondo veg as pictured, but maybe.

The exciting conclusion to our panic was the realization that kohlrabi were very tasy indeed. Not only do they make delicious salads and slaws, they store very well. Use the greens too.

In Hungarian cooking, there is a dish that you make where you hollow out the kohlrabi a bit, and stuff it with ground pork, rice, spices, and then roast them in the oven until done. I know that a lot of times the larger kohlrabi are preferred for this dish, and then the smaller ones are preferred for soup.

brandon_w wrote:
This kohlrabi is huge, bigger than huge. I wish I would have had something on hand to stick next to it for comparison. Are there guys who sell these all over, like giant pumpkins or is it a Madison thing?

Brandon, you should have nabbed this one to add the growing repository of enormous vegetable threads.

(even if their enormous-ness has been called into question by some )

I have a pretty big kohlrabi in the fridge that I plan on roasting this evening, among other things (thanks to this thread for the inspiration).

I was in Madison over the weekend and even though it was a dismal day, it was still packed. Coming from Naperville, I'm amazed at the price of everything - way less than our market. Also, the numerous vegetables and fruits that I can't get at my market meant that I completely overbought. I couldn't stop myself! So far, I've used the tri-colored green beans, already shelled sweet peas, fingerling potatoes and the asian eggplant. That only leaves the cauliflower, broccoli, lemon grass, carrots, numerous chilies, yellow and red beets, heirloom tomatoes.....Lots of cooking left to do.

On another note, we had the best BLT (using heirloom tomatoes) I've ever had at the Old Fashion which is on Pinckney, just along the market.

There is a stand that grills a chicken every week to lure in customers. It always smells great, this fly was very interested in getting it's share:

Here are more pictures of the Madison's Farmers Market - my co blogger went there and told me how good it was!

The market was indeed awesome, but I have a question. It seemed like literally every other table is staffed by vendors of Asian extraction, all selling pretty much the same inventory. Unlike the rest of the tables which identify the farm in question, these have just a generic vendor sign. Anyone know the story there?

cilantro wrote:The market was indeed awesome, but I have a question. It seemed like literally every other table is staffed by vendors of Asian extraction, all selling pretty much the same inventory. Unlike the rest of the tables which identify the farm in question, these have just a generic vendor sign. Anyone know the story there?

I'm not quite sure I understand what your question is but I'll try to answer. Sorry if I'm completely misinterpreting. I can't say this with 100% assurance, but as far as I know, each stand is run by an individual farm (or vendor in the case of the bakeries, meat processors, and so forth). Some of the farms have names (e.g Blue Skies Farms, Flyte Family Farm, etc). Others don't bother. A lot of the Hmong farms tend to be part of the latter group, but I believe each still represents an individual farm. If you want to check out vendors, you can search by product on the DCFM website.

http://www.dcfm.org/index.asp

Glad you enjoyed the market. It was the highlight of my seven years of school in Madison. I still have to go up there a couple of weekends a month this fall for thesis work. I've been leaving Chicago by 5 a.m. just so I can go to the market before heading to the lab. Orange chocolate chip scones and squeaky cheese curds make the ten hours of titrations and computer work infinitely more bearable.

Thanks. I forgot that Wisconsin has a large Hmong community. Duh. I was mainly curious if they were all affiliated in some way. For example, the day we were there these were the only stands that had raspberries. No one else had them, but they all did. So I'd guessed that these were all outposts of one common supplier.

The market was excellent even this late in the year. The spicy cheese bread is great in all the wrong ways.

I'm not sure what great in all of the wrong ways means, but I love the spicy cheese bread.

Yes there are a lot of Hmong vendors that offer very similar produce, but it is often some of the most affordable around the square. Also it is usually, in my opinion, the most beautifully presented.