Good Eats in the East This Weekend
Posted by Greg Clow in events, events upcoming on May 26, 2007 at 12:05 am
While we mentioned them in today’s T.O. Events post, there are two new farmers markets launching this weekend that have been eagerly anticipated, especially by east end residents, so we thought they deserved their own post.
The better known of the two is the Brick Works Farmers Market, which has gotten a lot of publicity due to it’s being one of the first steps in the redevelopment of the Don Valley Brick Works into “a centre for experiencing the relationship between nature, culture and community.” The list of vendors for the market reads like a who’s who of Toronto’s local, sustainable and organic food scene, including Merchants of Green Coffee, St John’s Bakery, Chocosol and Jamie Kennedy Kitchens.
For the opening weekend, the Market will be running from 10 AM to 4 PM on both Saturday and Sunday, and tours of the Brick Works will be offered during the same times as part of the citywide Doors Open event. From 9:45 AM to 3:45 PM, shuttle buses will be running every half hour at Broadview Subway Station and every quarter hour from the Loblaws at Bayview Avenue and Moore Avenue. Next weekend, the Market moves to its regular schedule of 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturdays through October 27th.
Also kicking off this Saturday is the Withrow Park Farmers Market, located in its namesake park south of Danforth Avenue between Logan and Carlaw. On opening day, the market will be hosting a special “Spring Fling” event from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, featuring entertainment as well as a cooking demo by Sacha Douglas of Coupe Space and Dish Cooking Studio. The following weekend, it moves to the 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM timeslot, which it will occupy until the final market of the season at the end of October.
If you attend either or both of these markets, please let us know how they are, either by commenting on this post or by contacting us to include your goodies in an upcoming Market Basket post.
Photo from the Brick Works website
May 26th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Withrow Park market was great! Riverdale neighbours turned out in force to snap up fresh produce from good vendors in a lovely setting.
The Brick Works market just didn’t deliver, despite the hype. Not many produce vendors (unless they left by 10:30) - a great absence of fresh things.
May 26th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Given all the hype, I can’t say that I’m surprised the Brick Works turned out to be a disappointment. Especially since they are intended to feature exclusively local products, and there simply isn’t a lot of local produce available yet. I think I’ll give it at least a couple of weeks before checking it out myself.
In the meantime, we’re hoping the rain holds off until at least the afternoon tomorrow so we can head down to the new Liberty Village market, just a few blocks from our place. It’s also very close to Atelier Thuet, so I suspect that we’ll have some fine food-filled Sunday mornings for the rest of the summer.
May 29th, 2007 at 11:46 am
Thanks for the Feedback! We were rushed off our feet and the produce and bread were sold out by 10. My sincere apologies. The Farmers will bring more next week and look for more faemers Quinte Organic will be there as well as Pine River Organic Farm. Bob Felhazi of Pine River is simply one of the Best Organic Farmers and he as many other farmers have been plagued with a slow season. As well Bob’s crops are very popular with the deer who bypass the neighbours conventional crops to graze on the organic. They can smell the pesticide on the conventional. We need to be patient and eat locally and in season. That means gorge on asparagus now and wait till August for corn and peaches. If you absolutely can’t wait, go to Walmart. They have a great selection from China. Please do try the market again! Cheers Elizabeth Brick Works Market Manager
May 29th, 2007 at 1:06 pm
“If you absolutely can’t wait, go to Walmart. They have a great selection from China.”
Huh…what??
I’m confused by this statement, as it seems to directly contradict the whole message of the Farmer’s Market in general, which is to eat locally and seasonally. Imported produce from China, where standards for organics are dubious, seems like an odd thing to be recommending. Likewise the recommendation for WalMart.
I can understand the craving for summer fruit now, but wouldn’t a better option be to frequent a local health food store where the sale of imported organic produce helps keep a small business alive, or even Whole Foods, where at least the customer isn’t supporting union-busting and poor treatment of employees?
May 31st, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Thanks for saying that, Elizabeth. Wow - sold out that early! I’ll definitely check it out again.
If it’s > managing the market I’m sure it will do well! Your work at Riverdale Farm is legendary.
“I’ll be back!” (ominous Terminator voice)