I have to say, being a grasshopper locavore–one who did not spend the summer storing up for the winter–causes one to take some pretty desperate measures, like going to an outdoor Farmer’s Market in the middle of the winter in search of sustenance. (Okay, it’s technically not winter yet, but it’s cold and white out there!)

This Saturday (12/15), we followed up on a lead to City Seed‘s Holiday Market at Wooster Square in New Haven (map). City Seed’s criteria for vendors are:
1. All farm products sold at the market must be grown in Connecticut.
2. City Farmers’ Markets are “Producer Only” markets at which farmers sell what they grow and other vendors sell what they themselves have produced.
Works for me!

I regret to say that I did not take notes about which vendors came out on Saturday. In my defense, it was pretty darn cold and I wasn’t interested in taking off my gloves, except to pay or sample cheeses! City Seed has a Web page listing of their usual Wooster Square vendors. Most of them were there on Saturday, which was rather impressive because, like I said, it was pretty darn cold. For this grasshopper locavore, it was well worth the 32-mile trip. City Seed maintains a Web page with the schedule for their Year-Round markets. The next market dates are: Jan 19, Feb 16, Mar 15, Apr 19 — 10AM – 1PM.

I came home with:
– Artisinal cheeses from Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm in Lyme, CT.
– Chevre from Belthane Farm in Lebanon, CT.
– Fresh yogurt from Trinity Dairy Farm in Ensfield, CT
– Organic kale, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, carrots, and potatoes from Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT.
– Salad greens. (Deep apologies, but I can’t recall the farm name.)

I am delighted that I can continue eating local, sustainable food throughout the winter. I cannot express enough gratitude to these farmers who left the warm comfort of their homes to feed me (and others like me) good and healthy food.

And as an added bonus, Wooster Street is the Little Italy of New Haven, CT! It is home to the original Pepe’s Pizzeria, the legendary Sally’s Apizza, and a host of other restaurants.

Today (12/8) took us to Rich Farm in Oxford, CT for raw milk, New Morning Natural Foods for various sundries, including Murray’s Chicken, and Waldingfield Farm in Washington, CT.

Murray’s chickens are local to Pennsylvania. They are humanely raised by a number of family farms in PA. They are not given growth hormones or antibiotics. They guarantee that all of their retailers are within 300 miles of their farms. Okay, so not 100 miles for me, more like 200, but given the issues with getting chickens in CT (regulations), this is as good as it is for now. I’m not giving up, but Murray’s is not Perdue either.

The drive to Waldingfield Farm was lovely…from Oxford, through Southbury and Woodbury…looked like a postcard from Connecticut. I met Patrick Horan (one of three brothers running the farm) last week at the Sandy Hook Holiday Farmer’s Market. He had lots of jars of his pasta sauce. The organic tomatoes are from his farm, the basil, onions, and garlic are from friends (in CT), and the olive oil is of course, from the world.

I am Italian (4th generation American, but still full-blooded Italian) and I generally do not eat pasta sauces that are not made by blood relatives. It’s not snobbery per se; let’s just say that my expectations have been well managed over the years. But seeings how I am in the dark days of winter and did not spend many of the light days of summer “putting by” the local bounty, Patrick’s sauce, if it worked out, could be a life saver.

Well, it worked out. It is a delightfully delicious marinara. I’m jealous because it takes me longer to make one pot of marinara than it took him to make 5000 jars. The recipe is Waldingfield’s and is produced at Palmieri’s in New Haven, CT. According to Patrick, it’s “one of the last old school Italian tomato processing facilities around.”

This pasta sauce is good, real good. It has a good flavor. So I went to his farm in search of more.

I met his parents and his brother Quincy, the full time farmer. It turns out that the farm first belonged to their mother’s grandfather and has been in the family ever since. I met the dogs too, although I forget their names (because I’m a cat person). But they were good dogs.

Anyway, I left with a case of pasta sauce and very happy.

By the way, those who know me are probably flipping out that I’m calling this “pasta sauce.” Well, that’s what the Waldingfield folks are calling it. And it is a marinara (meatless), so the name “sauce” applies. The meat-based, red tomato, divine-simmered-all-day-Sunday stuff is still gravy in my vocabulary. No meat = sauce. Meat (pork & beef) = gravy.

This week’s foraging adventures were on the light side.

On Saturday (12/1), I went to Holbrook Farm. Although they’re winding down for the season, I did get some broccoli and beets. They’re going to be doing something different for the winter. The Newtown Chocolatier will be minding the store, offering baked goods, coffee, and of course, chocolate. There will be little if any eggs (the chickens have slowed down tremendously). There will be no raw milk and no veggies.

My next stop was Rich Farm in Oxford, a new raw milk source. The link is to their ice cream stand Web site, run by David Rich, which is closed for the season. The raw milk side of the business is run by his brother Don, and is available through the winter. Put your order in a day in advance (203-888-3171) and pick up your milk at the farm.

On the way home, I saw a small “Fresh Eggs” sign and instantly pulled over. Talk about fortuitous!

On Sunday (12/1), we went looking for a Christmas tree. Their are numerous places in Connecticut to get a local tree, but the weather (snow) put a damper on my willingness to drive around much. I went to Masons Farm Market (map only) on Route 25 in Monroe. They have a wonderful selection, reasonable prices, and Connecticut trees.

On this particular day, there was also a special Farmer’s Market and Crafts Day going on at St. John’s Episcopal Church (Google map) in Sandy Hook. I got some home made jams from Stoneledge Hollow and some pasta sauce from Patrick of Waldingfield Farms in Washington, CT.

We hit the road again this Saturday, concentrating on the Bethel area. I must admit, hunting for and gathering our weekly food in this manner beats the heck out of grocery shopping in the supermarket.

Our first stop was Bethel Farmer’s market. The farmers are thinning out, but Don Taylor is still there and so are my favorite apples from Apple Ridge Farm. I couldn’t resist getting another bucket of Macouns. I can’t find a Web site for them, but the here’s the Google Map link. I can’t find a Web site for Don Taylor either, but did find an interesting article. The Bethel Farmer’s Market’s last day is Saturday, October 27.

Then it was off to find Holbrook Farm. We did find it, pretty much exactly where their directions said it would be. The place is surreal–barely noticable from the road, but chock full of the good stuff we’re looking for.
In particular:
Holbrook’s own fresh eggs: we are now addicted to fresh eggs and would not go back to the bleached variety. These were just being washed and set out as we walked in!
Vegetables galore. Carol (I think that was her name) was particularly helpful, letting us know how we could prepare some of the more exotic vegetables. John completely surprised me when he offered me some raw corn (on the cob) to taste. I have never eaten raw corn in my life, nor have I heard of anyone else doing so. John says if the corn isn’t good raw, it’s not going to be good cooked. He cautions us not to buy corn from a farm that won’t let us taste it raw. Let me tell you, this corn was divine. It was quite possibly the best corn I’ve ever eaten. Of course we got some for home. Did I mention that it was raw? (I still haven’t gotten over that!)

Holbrooks carries dairy products from New Pond Farm. We picked up some milk, yogurt, and fresh mozzarella.

And then there were the baked goods; pies, delectabilities (like the raspberry chocolate whatever it was called that I broke my diet for), and breads, including a three-grain French Country bread from Wave Hill Breads–the best “Italian” bread I’ve had in Connecticut. I can’t find a Web site for them, but here’s the Google Map link and a review from roadfood.com.

We dipped that country bread in some Olive Oil from the Olive Oil Factory in Watertown, CT (also available at Holbrook’s).

Whew! There’s lots more there and I can’t wait to go back–between the atmosphere, the education, and the exceptional inventory, this is THE place.

Here’s a picture of John, Carol, and Lynn (John’s wife)

Since we were in the neighborhood, we stopped in at Redding Coffee Roasters where Bill O’Keefe gave us a free cup of coffee (Nicaraguan) and a tour of his coffee roaster. In case you didn’t know, coffee is a passion of mine. (Marco Polo!)

Bill O’Keefe

Next stop was Chamomile in Bethel to fill in the the rest of our weekly grocery needs.

We looked for On the Rocks Farm in Newtown, traveled some undeveloped back roads, found the address, but it no longer seems to be a working farm.