Every spring, when Little League games begin, three little words strike terror into the hearts of health-conscious parents all over the country: post game snacks. When I hear the phrase, visions of neon colored sugar water and Costco valu-paks brimming with sodium and artificial colors fill my head.

I try to advocate balance as my son’s chief dietician. As my mom says, one bag of junk won’t ruin your body. As a result, I don’t forbid Thor from taking a bag of Doritos or a bottle of Gatorade but instead let him decide for himself. Fortunately, he usually politely declines knowing that healthier and tastier alternatives await at home (Greater Than coconut water and Tia tortilla chips are delicious natural alternatives to these chemically enhanced treats).

This year, however, is different. My husband, our team’s coach, and I paid for Purple Asparagus to sponsor the team. Forgoing the folksy tone, I’d adopted for past emails as snack mom, I drove straight to the heart of the matter. From my email:

“Some of you may have seen a recent article in the Trib suggesting that kids who play organized sports eat more junk food because of the treat culture pervasive in youth leagues. I’d like us not to be that team. To encourage that, I want to give a few guidelines.

• The post game nosh is a snack, not a treat. If our team track record persists, they’ll be plenty of time for those (both of the kid and adult variety) towards the end of the season – the White Sox like a good party. But after a game, the kids need something to replenish their energy, not send them into sugar shock.
• Please be conscious of allergy concerns. If any of your kids has a food allergy, please let me know. I know we all want our kids to be safe and will accommodate any food allergies.
• Let’s try to avoid foods with artificial colors, high fructose corn syrup, and lots of loaded sugar and salt. I promise I won’t bring your kid kale chips if you don’t bring mine Cheetos.”

You know what? Thus far, we’ve had awesome snacks ranging from a banana and a bottle of water to homemade pumpkin whoopie pies.We’ve got a winning record not only on the field but also in the snack realm. Do I attribute this to my well-crafted email? I wouldn’t flatter myself. I think we lucked into a great group of parents. And, perhaps, sometimes folks just need a little encouragement to pass up the potato chips in favor of the apple chips.

Recently, I made my lemonade pink from a mushy blood orange I had around, but generally this time of year, I make it pink from our wonderful local strawberries.

Pink Lemonade

Serves 4
For three years running, we’ve served Pink Lemonade as the beverage portion of my snack rotation, using strawberries to create the hue.
1/2 pint strawberries

3 lemons, approximately

2 tablespoons of sugar syrup

Hull the strawberries. Puree them in a blender or food processor. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a 4-cup measuring cup. Add enough lemon juice to the strawberry puree to make 1/3 cup of juice. Fill water into the cup to measure 3 cups total of liquid. Stir in sugar syrup. If the lemonade is too tart to your taste, add more sugar syrup gradually.

I know so many of you took the exhortations in April to be a local family to heart, and you all are wrapping up a second month in the locavore life.  I bet you find yourself, like this Local Family, busy.  So, a big pot of Tomato Mountain spinach cooked up, Tunisian style, with brisket and calves neck (yes!), should be enough to last you the whole week.

Like Mama Meichulim before her, my new best friend Tamar Adler knows that being busy once is a lot easier than being busy all the time. Of course, Ms. Adler, like all the local families these days, busies herself a lot more with vegetables than I’m sure Mama M ever did. Tamar’s great advice for the CSA box or market haul: cook it now.

Tamar strides ahead each week by buying:

whole bunches of the leafiest, stemmiest vegetables I can find. Then, I scrub off their dirt, trim off their leaves, cut off their stems, peel what needs peeling, and cook them all at once.

Tamar’s advice follows two key bits of wisdom she expounds in Everlasting Meal. Firstly, she tells us to eat our vegetables at room temperature. She knows they taste better this way, but she also knows that this frees us up from having to prepare at the moment of each meal. Second, she knows that a vegetable once cooked, can wear many different flavors. Tonight’s platter of roasted vegetables is tomorrow’s vegetable salad with the addition of a little dressing.  In other words, there is great value in having your vegetables done ahead.

You don’t have to buy it all each week. You can have it come by subscription. That’s Week 6, or at least a bit of week 6, of our Tomato Mountain CSA*, a very leafy box. Our opportunities for roasted vegetables, followed by a roasted vegetable salad seem limited.  We have greens: swiss chard and kale and red rain (a mustard green). Tamar’s shopping “always includes a few bunches of dark, leafy greens,” and she notes that once they are cooked with garlic and a good amount of olive oil, “they lose their moral urgency and become one of the most likable ingredients in your kitchen.”

So, the other day, my wife got her everlasting meal a-goin’.  She separated stem from leaf when it came to this week’s kale and chard.  She sauteed, from heartiest, to most tender, the kale, chard and red rain in this week’s box.  Using another favored Tamar method, she boiled the asparagus.  Tamar says add balance with big helpings of rice or polenta, or in this week’s case, some wheatberries taking up room in the fridge.  And Tamar says to have your eggs fly, a trick my wife already knows (nobody boils an egg better than her).  At the end of this rush of business, there was a big bowl of cooked down greens, asparagus ready to us; lots of grain, and a dozen of the best boiled eggs to use as the week went on.  Or, as shown above, all combined for dinner one night.

Yes, it’s busy to be a local family, but with advice from Mama Meichulim and Tamar Adler, it’s all very doable. The pleasures of sharing the table with your local family make all that work not seem that much either.

*My wife works for Tomato Mountain Farm.

The markets continue to get more colorful. Green Acres Farm had wild watercress on their table and Ellis Family Farms had strawberries, already. The strawberries were gone by no later than 9:30 though. It only continues to get better from here!! If you want to check if their is a farmer’s market near you, check our farmer’s market locator. Need help with how to shop at a market, check our shopping guide right here! Now on to the week ahead.

WHERE TO FIND LOCAL FOODS

These stores specialize in local foods:

Butcher and Larder 1026 North Milwaukee in Noble Square, Chicago

City Provisions Deli 1818 West Wilson in Ravenswood, Chicago

Dill Pickle Food Co-op – 3039 West Fullerton, Chicago

Downtown Farmstand 66 East Randolph in the Loop, Chicago

Green Grocer 1402 West Grand Ave in West Town, Chicago GG has weekly wine and beer tastings check their website or twitter for details.

Marion Street Cheese Market 100 South Marion St. Oak Park

Provenance Food & Wine - 2 locations Logan Square 2528 N. California Lincoln Square 2312 W. Leland Ave. Provenance has weekly free tastings of food and wine products, check their website for details.

Publican Quality Meats – 835 W. Fulton, Chicago

Southport Grocery and Cafe 3552 N. Southport, Chicago

WHAT TO DO NOW

Ongoing through June 10th Chicago – Feast:Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art Smart Museum University of Chicago Go here for all the projects associated with it.

Chicago Craft Beer week is ongoing through May 17th through May 27th with tons of events throughout the city

May 23

Chicago - Green City Market  7am – 1pm Lincoln Park across from the Farm at the Zoo. Chef demonstration will be Matthew Holmes of Uncommon Ground, 10:30 – 11:30am.

Chicago - Spring Slow Food Chicago Dinner featuring Harvest Moon Farms, Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm &FEW Spirits at Uncommon Ground Devon 1401 W. Devon Ave. $65 includes tax, gratuity and a donation to Slow Food Chicago’s Terra Madre campaign. For reservations please call 773-465-9801.

Chicago – Red Meat Market “Meat-Up” – Goose Island Brewery 6-9pm $62.50 GETS YOU, $100.00 of local, sustainable, all natural Grass-Fed Beef. Save 38% and meet other 100% all natural meat lovers and make it social!
Upon arrival with a purchase of a ticket, you will receive seven pounds of delicious Grass-Fed Angus Beef direct from Black Earth Meats and the lush green pastures of southwestern Wisconsin.

Chicago – City Provisions Dinner with Greenbush Brewing Company from Sawyer, MI. 1818 West Wilson 6pm Featuring Terminator X and Loud Mouth Soup, Cleetus’s two collaboration beers. Greenbush will also be launching the “yet-to-be-released-outside-of-the-tap-room” Lagniappe, a toasted pecan ale. 95$ Please call 773-293-2489 for reservations, only 16 seats are available each night.

Chicago – Castilla La Mancha -Experience the wines of Don Quixote’s Spain in Chicago The Hotel Palomar 505 N. State St. 10:30am – 4:00pm Reserve spot here

Countryside – “Introductions to Chickens…Urban Style!“. The workshop runs from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at their offices in Countryside (near the intersection of I-55 & I-294).  The cost is $10.00 for non-members, and free for members.

May 24

Chicago – The Daley Plaza Farmers Market Opening Day - 7am – 3pm Country Financial will have a booth and will be giving away my absolute favorite market bag!! The design on the Country Financial bag is the student winner of their design contest. I cannot wait to see it!!

Chicago - Edible Chicago and Brooklyn Brewery present  ”A Celebration of Beer, Food, and Stories” Beer Bistro 1061 W. Madison 5-7pm Event is free, RSVP to events@ediblechicago.com Pick up an Edible Chicago, taste Brooklyn Brewery’s latest release  beer and enjoy food by local purveyors. The Second Quarterly Carousal party will be held at Beer Bistro.

Chicago – Cooking With Grayson – Logan Square Kitchen 2333 N. Milwaukee 7-11pm 5 Rabbit Cerveseria teams with Chef Grayson Schmitz (Top Chef Texas: Season 9) As guests will prepare the family dinner with Chef Schmitz paired with 5 Rabbit Beers $125

Chicago – Grilling in the Garden Join the Green City Market Junior Board and Jared Rouben, Goose Island Brew Pub for sausages on the grill and seasonal beers. $20 all in and proceeds go to support Green City Market’s LINK program. 3535 North Clark St. 7-9pm

Chicago – Local First Chicago Multi-Chamber Networking event Copernicus Annex 5214 Lawrence Ave. 5:30pm – 8pm Cost $5

May 25

Chicago – Growing Home Benefit by Modern Conversation at Jerry’s Wicker Park 1938 W. Division 9:30pm – 12:30am 8$ cover at the door. For more information about the band go here.  Growing Home had a recent break-in unfortunately,so can use all the support they can get!!!

Chicago – Kedzie Brewery Grand Opening Party – Revolution Brewing celebrates the opening of its new brewery at 3340 N. Kedzie. 5-10pm $15 Tickets go on sale April 27th.

Chicago – The Art of Fermentation – Chicago Cultural Center – 78 E. Washington 12:15 – 1:30pm Sandor Katz presents his new book about fermentation, culture, and community. Come share kraut, meet Sandor, hear about his new book, get a copy inscribed to you, and ask questions.

May 26

Chicago – Green City Market – The featured chef will be Sean Sanders of Browntrout. The hours are longer 7am to 1pm and the market moves further south in Lincoln Park, right across from the Farm in the Zoo.

Chicago – Edible Gardens Workshop – Necessary Nourishment: Feeding Plants for Healthy Growth and Production.  This is a FREE Monthly Hands-on Gardening Workshop Series in The Edible Gardens with Jeanne Pinsof Nolan, founder of The Organic Gardener, Ltd. Workshops will be held from 9:30am-10:15am.  Respond to RSVP@greencitymarket.org to reserve a spot.

Chicago – 61st Market sponsored by Experimental Station – This market which is becoming “the” market on the south side, opens today, go to their website for further details. New vendors will be there like Penny Pastries, look for him.

Evanston –  The Downtown Evanston Farmers Market 7:30am to 1pm at University Place and Oak Ave.(just east of Railroad Ave.) behind the Hilton Garden Inn. Free parking is at the adjacent 1500 Maple garage.

Geneva - Geneva Green Market – 27 N. Bennett (Geneva Place) – 9 AM – 1 PM – Read a report from Beetnik Melissa Owens who finds, among other things, basil, at this market here.

Grayslake – The Grayslake Farmer’s Market Centennial Park and Center St. 10:00 Am – 2pm

La Fox – Heritage Prairie Farmers Market – 9-1 pm. 2N308 Brundage Road, La Fox, IL

Oak Park –  Oak Park Farmers Market – 460 Lake St just one block west of Ridgeland Ave. 7am – 1pm The Market is much more than a farmers’ market. It is an Oak Park tradition, a Saturday gastronomic event (the donuts have a devoted following), a concert site, a social event and a great place to pick up super-fresh produce, traditional and unusual plants, fresh cheeses, honey, flowers, vinegars, herbs, and much more. The Oak Park Farmers’ Market also features unique items for sale at the commissioners’ table, including items you can’t find anywhere else, such as reasonably priced T-shirts, one-of-a-kind items and bags, all offering a beautiful, functional way to support the market.

St. Charles – The Saturday Farm Fresh Food Stuffs market has moved and is now at Trellis Family Farm 8-4pm 2N492 Kirk Rd.

Woodstock – Woodstock Farmers Market 8am – 1pm at historic Woodstock Square There will be a pie-eating contest!

May 27

Chicago – Taste of Fresh Moves to celebrate the one year anniversary of Fresh Moves, Mobile Produce Market 1-5pm 3750 W. Ogden 4th floor The event is designed to highlight the many talents of theit customers and supporters in the Westside communities that they serve. This celebration will feature live food demonstrations and tastings from local celebrity chefs, performances by Young Chicago Authors featured poets, a student art competition and judging, food games for the young and young at heart, a screening room for food documentaries, acro-yoga demonstrations, raffles and prizes, music and more. All are welcome and it is free but RSVP by May 21st to thetasteoffreshmoves@gmail.com.

Champaign – Prairie Fruits Farm starts their dinner season – “A Dinner of Spring” 4410 N. Lincoln Ave – H2Vino,Caveny Farms Lamb 5 courses, $10

Hinsdale – Terra Brockman speaks at Wellness House, “Changing the World One Meal at a Time” 10:00am – 11:30am 131 N. County Line Rd. Terra Brockman, Author of The Seasons on Henry’s Farm and Founder of The Land Connection will discuss her brother’s organic vegetable farm, her sister’s organic fruit farm, and the ripple effects of our food choices–including the health, economic, and environmental benefits of supporting local farmers.

Frankfort – Frankfort Country Market Downtown Frankfort – 10-2 – Might find paella.

May 28

Chicago – Premier of the documentary “Bitter Seeds” at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival sponsored by The Jane Addams Hull House. 3:15pm 164 N. State St. The film is focused on the farmer suicides surrounding their use of genetically modified seeds and the effects on their crops. Purchase tickets here.

May 29

Chicago – Brown Trout Farmer’s Market 5-8pm 4111 North Lincoln Ave. In North Center, near the Irving Park Brown Line stop, this new “micro” farmer’s market sponsored by “Ground Up Chicago” .

Chicago – Lincoln Square - C & D Family Farms selling their all natural free range meats from 7 to 11 am in the parking lot at Lincoln & Leland.

Woodstock - Woodstock Farmers Market at historic Woodstock Square  8am – 1pm

May 31

Chicago – Green City Market Junior Board Meet The Market – The Bedford 1612 West Division 6-8pm Peter Klein of Seedling Fruit will be there to talk about his farm.

SAVE THE DATE!!!

For the summer schedule including Farm Dinners please go to our Farm Dinner calendar, it is time to make reservations for your summer farm dinners now!!!

He has launched a kickstarter project to build a website where anyone from small, hobby growers to urban farms can drop a pin on a map on the website denoting the location of the garden. If everything goes according to plan, neighbors will find the nearby gardens, and the family who is up to their ears in kale and zucchini can share it with people who need it without it going to waste. As Jones says, “If we make it easier for people to put their garden-grown goods to good use, and allow them to connect with people they’d have never met otherwise, then maybe we’ll inspire more people to grow more food in more places, because fresh, nutritious food can never be an overabundance. It just needs to be directed to the right plates.”

He’s got just 23 more days to go to reach his goal of $10,000, so if you’d like to back this project, now’s the time. Click here for more information.

For the 4th year in a row, Slow Food Chicago will procure several locally raised hogs, get them to a few area chefs who traffic in locavore dining, and build a party around it.  This forthcoming Pig Roast at Goose Island Beer Company raises money to send farmers to Terra Madre this fall in Italy where Slow Foodies from all over the world will convene “support sustainable agriculture, fishing, and breeding with the goal of preserving taste and biodiversity.”  Enjoy the tastes of sustainable and biodiversity, Sunday, June 10, 2-5 PM.  Tickets can be purchased via Brown Paper Tickets.

Goose Island Beer, with the help of Slow Food Board members, including Beetniks Wendy Aeschlimann and Jeannie Boutelle, lined up a great and interesting set of restaurants for this year’s Pig Roast.  The line-up includes Top Chef-testant, Heather Terhune and Sable Kitchen and Bar; underground caterers set to go public, X-Marx/Flour and Bones; great friends of Beet, Mark and Liz Mendez with Vera; vegetable specialists, Green Zebra handling the non-pig portion, and Uncommon Ground, where the Local Family just celebrated a daughter’s birthday, rounding out the savory items.  La Boulangerie will provide dessert, and it’s not just Goose beers to wash it all down.  There will be cocktails by Templeton and coffee from Intelligentsia.  As we always say, the best way to encourage good eating is through good eating (and drinking).

Slow Food Chicago primarily raises its funds through its annual Pig Roast.  We expect you’ll want to go because of the line-up of food and beverages, but you should really want to go to support the important work Slow Food Chicago does for our food community. Part of their mission involves meeting with like-minded folks around the world, learning and sharing, and that’s why it is critical to have funds to send our farmers along. Yet, other parts of their mission stand much closer to home.  Slow Food Chicago helps cultivate a community garden on Chicago’s West Side.  They run workshops on topics like canning, and they are working to put together resources to help us all slow down in the way we approach our food.  Show your support for Slow Food Chicago on June 10th.

Go here for more information and to purchase tickets.

The Huffington Post produced a piece on 16 Great Under The Radar Food Magazines.Congrats Edible Chicago of the Edible Communities group of magazines and the recently published Graze Magazine.

Chicago Craft Beer Week is starting here is the schedule.

A sad event happened this week, Zina Murray announced the closing of Logan Square Kitchen here. I am sure I am not alone hoping that her announcement was premature and something will happen to cause her to keep it open, wishful thinking I admit. Grubstreet Chicago weighed in here. (After I hit the Publish button) More from Zina Murray here.

Ecomyths continues to publish great ideas about greening your home and your life.

A week can’t go by without checking in with Ben Hewitt farmer, writer, philosopher.

Some of the other usual and always insightful suspects , Grist.org, Monica Eng at The Stew Chicago Tribune, The Salt at NPR.

Locally, The Backyarditarian, Lottie and Doof, and Food on the Dole who is taking a hiatus and will be posting on his adventures (hopefully!) in Montana. The Chicagoist has a slide show of the produce they found at the  Green City Market.

The Green City Market Junior Board had their reading club last night and they focused on the speech by HRM Prince Charles of Britian on the Future of Food. Watch and listen to his speech here.

Another “after I hit the Publish button” post. Shout out to Wendy Aeschlimann, Associate Editor of The Local Beet for being quoted in this Chicagoist piece, and she is in quite fine company I will say, “Should Chefs Care About Sustainability?“

UPDATE: To add to the local fruit now in season, we’re here to tell you that there’s already a bit of summer in season in the Chicago area.  Through a combination of odd temperatures and farmer’s using various technology, you may find in area markets, such warm weather treats as cucumbers, hot peppers, zucchini and tomatoes.

We try to get as much of our food from local farmers as possible.  That means even our onions, stock vegetables and miscellaneous herbs come from here (to the strongest extent possible).  And believe us, we can tell the difference in our local veg, but to really see the pleasure in eating local, get the fruit.  Discounting, those long red stalks of rhubarb used in desserts, there’s been no local fruit besides storage apples for a long time around here. The wait is over.  Nothing makes a locavore more than the truly red strawberries found at area markets.  The first local strawberries are now here.  See what else we think you should be able to find buying local.

Here’s our list of likely finds in markets around the Chicago area right about now–do tell us what other items you are seeing in the comments.

• NEW! – Summer’s start – Some warm weather items we are seeing in markets include cucumbers, hot peppers, zucchini and tomatoes.
• Spring fruits – There are local strawberries.  There is local rhubarb.  Enjoy.
• Spring exotica – The morel mushrooms may be gone, but keep you eyes open for other farmer’s market exotica.  Beetnik Jeannie Boutelle espied wild ferns recently at Green City Market, and Mo Tuffy made good use of nettles she found.  Look for various other shoots, leaves, stalks and stems only around now.
• Spring onions, which we mean leeks, scallions, chives, green onions; cooking with these sharp, bright ingredients lends Spring its unique flavor.  You should also be able to find the first bulbs of maturing onions.  Think grill.
• Green garlic, we love how you can use this almost like an herb.  Like, as long as you don’t have a date, how ’bout a green garlic pesto.
• Salad greens, you can use lettuces, watercress, rocket, or as the Chicago Tribune advises, kale in various seasonal salads.  Plenty of arugula, or as we prefer, rocket.
• Asian greens, your 40 sizes of bok choy for instance, tend to do very well in cool weather, so it’s stir fry season around a lot of CSA houses.
• Cabbages – Most of those Asian style greens taking up space in your CSA box and farmer’s table are members of the cabbage family, but you should also start seeing more cabbage-cabbages, including Napa/Chinese cabbage and savoy cabbage.
• Radishes grow so quickly, farmer’s can get them jn and out of their fields pretty quickly.
• Asparagus, still plenty of local asparagus in the markets
• Herbs, early Spring tends to bring a few herbs not seen the rest of the year.  For instance, we’ve seen lovage around a lot.  Remember a little of this celery-ish flavored herb goes a long way.  Another not so common herb we saw in the markets recently, was savory, “the bean herb”, so you know what to do with that one.  Sorrel, which straddles the lines between herb, vegetable and condiment, may still be around.
• Roots, turnips, beets, carrots, parsnips; the amount of big, sweet overwintered crops is probably gone, but instead there will be the seasons earliest tiny, fresh, sweet ones.
• Storage crops, your market may have linger apples and potatoes; they’re still very good

That’s Week 4 of our Tomato Mountain CSA*

Attempt at artistry aside, notice much difference in Week 5?

Last weekend I saw Robin Schirmer of Tomato Mountain Farm. I told her how great the vegetables have been all Spring, but seasonal as I am, I was getting a bit shy of seeing more green in the box.

“Swiss chard”

Swiss chard? According to Robin, the spread of green had been interrupted by Swiss chard in our boxes for weeks four and five. Now, did Tomato Mountain really give me something not green?

Actually, they have. In the form of white Chinese cabbage that my wife cooked up to great success with bacon and canned beans–recipe and pictures hopefully for a future post. There have been white Japanese turnips and white, with a wisp of red, Japanese long radishes. It was my desire to capture some of the non-green as well as my desire to be my most Tamar Adler-thrifty, that I decided to do something.

All those greens with the radishes seemed too good to waste, even if they were green.

As they say in Portland. Pickle it.

That’s my batch brewing.  It’s supposed to be ready in 3 days.  I essentially used the recipe for Middle-Eastern style pickles from Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby’s Quick Pickles.  My pickles in process stem from chard stems, radish leaves and a few hidden away salad onions from last summer.   As with most pickles, it’s not so much a recipe but a ratio to create enough brine to cover the vegetables you have.

3 Cups – Red wine vinegar

3 Cups – Water

1 and 1/2 tablespoons salt

1 long dried local red pepper, crumbled

Combine the water and vinegar, dissolve the salt, and add the pepper.  Pour over the vegetables in a non-reactive bowl.  Let sit in a cool place for three days; then put in a jar and refrigerate.  They say it should last around a month.  I have a feeling we’ll have eaten them by then.

*My wife works for Tomato Mountain.  She’ll be selling stuff at the Oak Park Farmer’s Market this Saturday.  Come and buy!

If you have a favorite event or farm dinner that isn’t listed, we thought we scoured the universe, but maybe not, let us know in the comments section below!

Now on to the summer calendar!!

June 2

Chicago – Templeton Rye Label Photo Party Fizz Bar & Grill 3220 N. Lincoln Ave. 4pm – 8pm First ever consumer label party. Food and a cash bar, there will be a photographer at the event with the Templeton Label shot staged along with costumes. Groups of five can reserve their space at Killmer@templetonrye.com and get their picture taken in the Templeton label set.

New!!! Oak Park - Uncork Illinois Wine Tasting 1-9pm Marion St. Between Lake St. and North Blvd.  Downtown Oak Park’s first Illinois wine festival featuring tastings and purchases of more than 150 Illinois wines. Food pairings provided by local artisans and restaurants.

June 3

Chicago - The Logan Square Farmer’s Market opens for the summer Logan Boulevard

Chicago - Food Sanitation Class Logan Square Kitchen – 9:30am – 12:30pm – 2333 North Milwaukee Get certified with the Chicago Health Department required for all food vendors at a farmers market, special event, street fair. $35 Go here for registration and more information.

New!! Chicago – The Glenwood Sunday Outdoor Market opens!!!!!! 9am – 2pm Glenwood Avenue on the west side of the CTA Red Line between Morse and Lunt Avenues in Rogers Park from June 3 – October 28, 2012

New!! Fairbury - Spring Supper at Spence Farm – 4-7pm 2959 N. 2100 E. Rd. Farm tour, enjoy local food & listen to guest speaker Terra Brockman. This is a fundraiser for the Spence Farm Foundation’s Community Garden Program. Call Carolynne at 815-992-3296 for further information.

June 5

New!! Chicago – Inspiration Kitchens Garfield Park Chefs Night- Join chefs Stephanie Izard, Mindy Segal and Koren Grievson as they cook for a benefit for Inspiration Kitchens 7pm 3504 West Lake St.

June 7

Chicago – CROP (Chicago Rarities Orchard Project) Lecture Series featuring Greg Hall of Virtue Cider 6pm All lectures are free and open to the public and take place at Haas Park Fieldhouse, 2404 North Washtenaw Avenue (entrance on Fullerton), Chicago. More information available here.

June 9

FD!! Champaign – Prairie Fruit Farms Dinner “Early Season Vegetables Unite” – 4410 N. Lincoln Ave,.(Champaign, not Chicago) Go to the link for more information  $85 per person

Chicago - Carnivale University Join Carnivale Chef David Dworshak on a guided tour of the Green City Market 10:00 – 12pm $25

New!! Chicago –  The Plant Spring Open House -1400 W. 46th St. 12pm – 5pm Come on out  for free food and and a home-brewing beer contest! They will ,also, be giving tours of the building every half-hour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for $5 (half off the regular price!). Come see their progress, including a huge step forward on the renewable energy system, a new growing bed in the basement, and tons of work done in the kitchen spaces! More info here.

Elburn – Red, White and Blue Grass Festival Heritage Prairie Farm 2N308 Brundige Road 3pm to 10pm Sponsored by the Farmer Veteran Coalition The event is for all ages, go to the link above for more information.

FD!! Fairbury – Slagel Family Farm Dinner- 23601 E. 600 North Rd.  Slagel Family Farm kicks off their 2012 Farm Tour & DInner Event Series with Chef Paul Kahan and Brian Huston of The Publican. Farm tour, buthcering demo, and family style meal included. Bus transportation provided. Kids welcome 2:30 pm – 9pm BYOB Lemonade and water will be provided $125 including transportation to purchase tickets go here.

June 10

Chicago – Slow Food Chicago Pig Roast – 2-5pm Goose Island Brewery 1800 West Fulton St. $60 per person Matt Troost from Three Aces, Jon Dubois from Green Zebra, Adrienne Lo and Abe Conlon from Xmarx, Heather Terhune from Sable Kitchen and Bar, and Mark and Liz Mendez of Vera. Templeton Rye will have their signature cocktails and Intelligentsia will provide coffee and finally La Boulangerie of Logan Square will offer desserts. The annual fundraiser for Slow Food Chicago is back. Make your reservations here.

Chicago – Frontera Farmers Foundation Benefit – The Festival of the One True Taste Farmers Market Fiesta 12pm – 3pm 15 tasting stations Local wine and craft beer $50 in advance $60 at the door DInner Like No Other 6pm $165 Includes dinner, drinks, gratuities

June 11

Chicago – 6th Annual Taste of Columbia - Columbia Yacht Club’s 6th Annual Fundraiser in support of the Legacy Foundation which allows inner city youth to attend sailing classes at the club. 6:30pm – 9:30pm Probably one of the most scenic venues in Chicago for an event, stay tuned for more details!

June 19

Chicago – CROP (Chicago Rarities Orchard Project) Lecture Series featuring Dan Bussey, Apple Historian, Seed Savers Exchange, Decorah, Iowa 6pm All lectures are free and open to the public and take place at Haas Park Fieldhouse, 2404 North Washtenaw Avenue (entrance on Fullerton), Chicago. More information available here.

June 20

Chicago – Slow Food Pickling Workshop – 6-9pm Logan Square Kitchen – You will be pickling fennel and will take some home after the class is over. $35 for Slow Food members, $45 for non-members Only 15 spots available sign up here. 6-9pm

June 23

Chicago – Slow Food Chicago Sweet Summer Solstice Potluck – 2200 West Grand Ave.

June 28

New!! Chicago – “The Good Food Revolution: Celebrating the Heroes and Sheroes of the Movement” 6-8pm Celebrate Growing Power’s First Anniversary at Iron Street Farm Chef Randy Zweiban of Province and his team will prepare a series of farm to table courses showcasing Growing Power’s produce and meat and poultry. Will Allen will speak about his new book, The Good Food Revolution and will sign copies. Go here to purchase tickets.

June 30

Caledonia – Wind Ridge Herb Farm’s Fourth Annual Herb, Garden and Wellness Fair 9am – 6pm Quail Trap Road

July 14

FD!! Caledonia – Wind Ridge Herb Farm “Dinner in the Garden” 466 Quail Trap Road Local produce dinner with instruction of how to use herbs in cooking. Go to the link and contact the farm for more information.

FD!! Chicago – “A Day in the Country” A Celebration of locally grown cuisine, a bus tour to Indiana to visit the Vandermolen Blueberry Farm, stop at Sweet Corn Patch and tour the Belstra Milling Pork Farm. Sponsored by Chicagourmet

July 18

FD!! Glencoe - Chicago Botanic Garden Farm Dinner Series – 5-8pm Cocktail hour by Death’s Door Spirits Dinner by City Provisions, Finch’s Beer Company and Vinejoy $200 For reservations call the Chicago Botanic Garden (847) 835- 5540.

July 21

FD!! Chicago – City Provisions Farm Dinner – La Pryor Farms in Ottowa, Illinois with Greenbush Brewing Company & Koval Distillery For tickets, please call (773) 293.2489.  $275 This is a mini-vacation, all day affair typically running from 11am to midnight.

June 23

FD!! Champaign - Prairie Fruit Farms Dinner “Smoked” – 4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) Chef Nathan Sears of Vie will be the guest chef.$100 BYOB Go to link for more information

July 7

FD!! Champaign – Prairie Fruits Farms Dinner “Texas in Illinois BBQ” 4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) BYOB $85 per person, go to link for more information.

July 12

New!! Chicago - The Green City Market Chef’s BBQ Fundraiser 5:30 – 8pm Lincoln Park This annual fundraiser for the Green City Market brings out all the chefs in this incredible celebration of the abundance of summertime at the market. Pre-sale tickets for Green City Market members are on sale here.

July 21

FD!! Champaign – Prairie Fruits Farm Dinner – “An Ode to Frances Mallman” 4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) Chris Pandel of The Bristol and the recently opened Balena will be the guest chef. $100 BYOB Go to link for more information.

August 4

FD!! Champaign – Prairie Fruits Farm Dinner - “French Country Cooking” 4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) Thad Morrow of Bacaro Restaurant in Champaign will be the guest chef and the guest farmers will Trent and Jackie Sparrow of Catalpa Farm in Dwight, IL. 5 course meal $100 BYOB

FD!! Fairbury – Slagel Family Farm Dinner – 2-9:30pm 23601 E. 600 North Rd. Chef Chris Pandel of The Bristol and Balena Chef Jason Vincent of Nightwood – A tour of the farm and animals, butchering demo and dinner, transportation included, BYOB Lemonade and water will be provided $125 To purchase tickets go here.

August 8

New!! Chicago – Taste of the Nation – Navy Pier Ballroom 6pm – 10pm An incredible gathering of chefs and mixologists to raise money for the incredible organiztion to fight childhood hunger, Share Our Strength. Buy tickets here.

August 12

FD!! Elkhorn, WI - Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner - Dietzler Farm, Chef Dan Van Rite, Hinterland Erie Street GastroPub Milwaukee $200

August 13

FD!! Elkhorn, WI - Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner - 4pm Dietzler Farm, Chef Jared Wentworth Longman & EagleChicago $200 This is going to be really good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 15

FD!! Caledonia, Il - Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner - 4pm Kinnikinnick Farm – Chef Brian Huston, The Publican$200

FD!! Glencoe - Chicago Botanic Garden Farm Dinner Series – 5-8pm Cocktail hour by Death’s Door Spirits Dinner by City Provisions, Two Brothers Brewing & Illinois Sparkling Co/August Hill Winery $200 For reservations call Chicago Botanic Gardens (847) 835-5540.

August 16

FD!! Chicago - Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner – 4pm City Farm Chicago Chef Jason Vincent Nightwood $220[SOLD OUT]

August 17

FD!! Caledonia - Wind Ridge Herb Farm “Dinner in the Garden” 466 Quail Trap Road Local produce dinner with instruction of how to use herbs in cooking. Go to the link and contact the farm for more information.

August 18

FD!! Champaign - Prairie Fruit Farms Dinner “Al Fresco Cucina Italiana” – 5pm 4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) 3 course meal BYOB $60

FD!! Chicago - City Provisions Farm Dinner - Dietzler Farms in Elkhorn, Wisconsin with 5 Rabbit Cerveceria & Few SpiritsFor tickets, please call (773) 293.2489.  $275 This is a mini-vacation, all day affair typically running from 11am to midnight.

August 19

FD!! South Haven, MI – Outstanding in the Field Farm Dinner – 4pm Seedling Farm – Chefs Michael and Patrick Sheerin ofThe Trencherman $200

September 1

FD!! Champaign – Champaign - Prairie Fruits Farm Dinner -”Fish Fry”  4410 N. Lincoln Ave. (Champaign, not Chicago) Meal prepared by Sunday Dinner Chefs Joshua Kulp and Christine Cikowski out of Chicago, 4 course meal BYOB $65.

September 5

FD!! Glencoe - Chicago Botanic Garden Farm Dinner Series 5-8pm Cocktail Hour by Death’s Door, Dinner by City Provisions, Bell’s Brewery & Lynfred Winery

September 8

FD!! Chicago - City Provisions Farm Dinner - Heritage Prairie Farm & Apiary with Metropolitan Brewing & Templeton Rye$275 This is a mini-vacation, all day affair typically running from 11am to midnight.

Spring in Chicago means you never know what the weather is going to do. Inevitably, it rains while you are trying to shop, which it did this past weekend. Besides a market bag, another farmer’s market must is an umbrella. I couldn’t help myself from taking another picture of the swiss chard from Genesis Farms, it should be called rainbow chard for all the colors that it had. I didn’t get by Growing Homes table at The Green City Market but their swiss chard that I saw in some of the shopping bags was enormous. The other very cool bounty this time of year are wild ferns which I picked up at Green Acres booth. The ferns have a very nutty, earthy flavor and all I do is saute them up in a pan for a few minutes and they are good to go. You can read what Mo does with the nettles she picked up from Green Acres here.  Our full ideas of what’s in season now can be found here.

Another new development that occured is that the Green City Market went live with their third party certification requirement this past weekend. The GCM accepts the American Grassfed Association, Animal Welfare Approved, Certified Naturally Grown, American Humane Certified, Certified Humane Raised and Handled, Food Alliance Certified, The Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program and the USDA Certified Organic. Go to the links to find out the detailed information about each program. Whether you believe in labels or not, these certifications are one way to be assured how the vegetables are grown and the animals are raised without having to do the farm due diligence yourself. Bravo, Green City Market! Now on to the weeks ahead!! A quick heads up that there is a great fermentation workshop on the board for May 25 at the Chicago Cultural Center at 12:15pm.

We’ve listed below some of the markets around now as well as other great eat local events.  For a bigger listing of Chicago area farmer’s markets use our 2012 Market Locator.

Make the most of your market experience with our tip sheet.

WHERE TO FIND LOCAL FOODS

These stores specialize in local foods:

Butcher and Larder 1026 North Milwaukee in Noble Square, Chicago

City Provisions Deli 1818 West Wilson in Ravenswood, Chicago

Dill Pickle Food Co-op – 3039 West Fullerton, Chicago

Downtown Farmstand 66 East Randolph in the Loop, Chicago

Green Grocer 1402 West Grand Ave in West Town, Chicago GG has weekly wine and beer tastings check their website or twitter for details.

Marion Street Cheese Market 100 South Marion St. Oak Park

Provenance Food & Wine - 2 locations Logan Square 2528 N. California Lincoln Square 2312 W. Leland Ave. Provenance has weekly free tastings of food and wine products, check their website for details.

Publican Quality Meats – 835 W. Fulton, Chicago

Southport Grocery and Cafe 3552 N. Southport, Chicago

WHAT TO DO NOW

Ongoing through June 10th Chicago – Feast:Radical Hospitality in Contemporary Art Smart Museum University of Chicago Go here for all the projects associated with it.

****The last day to register for Seven Generations Ahead “Fresh From The Farm” Educator Training workshops is May 16th.

May 16

Chicago - Green City Market  7am – 1pm Lincoln Park across from the Farm at the Zoo. Chef demonstration will be Heather Terhune of Sable, 10:30 – 11:30am.

Chicago – Floriole Monthly Dinner with Guest Chef Nathan Sears of Vie. Floriole Cafe and Bakery  1220 West Webster $75 5 Courses excludes beverage, tax and gratuity. Reserve a space here.

Chicago – Worm Composting 101 – Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum 6-7pm Learn the basics of worm composting, you’ll leave with a completed starter bin. 10$ members $15 non-members register here.

May 17

Chicago – Ladybug Bash Stars and Cars at Grossinger Autoplex to benefit Chicago’s Ladybug Chapter which works on easing the struggles of childhood cancer. 1530 N. Dayton 7pm to 11pm

Chicago – Food Truck A Go Go starts for the summer at 694 Wine and Spirits. 694 North Milwaukee 6-9pm Each week a different lineup of food trucks will park outside the store. Go to the link to see which trucks are showing up this week.

May 19

Chicago – Green City Market – The featured chef will be Meg Colleran Sahs of Terzo Piano. The hours are longer 7am to 1pm and the market moves further south in Lincoln Park, right across from the Farm in the Zoo.

Chicago – Edible Gardens Workshop – Planning For Summer Transplanting Warm Weather Crops This is a FREE Monthly Hands-on Gardening Workshop Series in The Edible Gardens with Jeanne Pinsof Nolan, founder of The Organic Gardener, Ltd. Workshops will be held from 9:30am-10:15am.  Respond to RSVP@greencitymarket.org to reserve a spot.

Chicago – 61st Market sponsored by Experimental Station – This market which is becoming “the” market on the south side, opens today, go to their website for further details. New vendors will be there like Penny Pastries, look for him.

RESCHEDULED for Saturday June 9th (Issues due to road closings from NATO conference)  Chicago – The Plant Spring Open House -1400 W. 46th St. 12pm – 5pm Come on out  for free food and and a home-brewing beer contest! They will ,also, be giving tours of the building every half-hour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for $5 (half off the regular price!). Come see their progress, including a huge step forward on the renewable energy system, a new growing bed in the basement, and tons of work done in the kitchen spaces! More info here.

Chicago - Craft Day Afternoon Fizz Bar and Grill – 1-5pm 3220 N. Lincoln Ave. A joint venture between Fizz and The Map Room in honor of craft beer week. For $60, taste 45 craft beers, food, and a commemorative glass. Make a reservation here. Proceeds benefit the Hamilton School.

Evanston –  The Downtown Evanston Farmers Market opens for the season and will be open today, May 5th through November 3rd. The market is celebrating its 37th year and will be open from 7:30am to 1pm at University Place and Oak Ave.(just east of Railroad Ave.) behind the Hilton Garden Inn. Free parking is at the adjacent 1500 Maple garage.

Evanston – Evanston Garden Fair (5/19, 5/20) – 9am – 4pm Central Street 2 blocks west of Green Bay Road Organic and locally grown seedling sales The Talking Farm will be selling their organic and locally grown herb plants (such as cilantro, dill, oregano, and parsley), bok choi, spinach, kale, and many varieties of tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. They will also have perennials and berry plants. Expert gardening advice, too!

Geneva - Geneva Green Market – 27 N. Bennett (Geneva Place) – 9 AM – 1 PM – Read a report from Beetnik Melissa Owens who finds, among other things, basil, at this market here.

Grayslake – The Grayslake Farmer’s Market Centennial Park and Center St. 10:00 Am – 2pm

La Fox – Heritage Prairie Farmers Market – 9-1 pm. 2N308 Brundage Road, La Fox, IL

Morton Grove – Morton Grove Spring Farmer’s Market –  8am – 12noon 6210 Dempster St.

New!! Oak Park – Opening Day of Oak Park Farmers Market – 460 Lake St just one block west of Ridgeland Ave. 7am – 1pm The Market is much more than a farmers’ market. It is an Oak Park tradition, a Saturday gastronomic event (the donuts have a devoted following), a concert site, a social event and a great place to pick up super-fresh produce, traditional and unusual plants, fresh cheeses, honey, flowers, vinegars, herbs, and much more. The Oak Park Farmers’ Market also features unique items for sale at the commissioners’ table, including items you can’t find anywhere else, such as reasonably priced T-shirts, one-of-a-kind items and bags, all offering a beautiful, functional way to support the market. Today is the start of Oak Park Green Days and will include Slow Food Chicago.

New Location!! St. Charles – The Saturday Farm Fresh Food Stuffs market has moved and is now at Trellis Family Farm 8-4pm 2N492 Kirk Rd.

Woodstock – Woodstock Farmers Market 8am – 1pm at historic Woodstock Square There will be a pie-eating contest!

May 20

Chicago – Glenwood Sunday Market – The Glenwood Bar Glenwood Ave at Morse 9am – 2pm

Chicago – Food Sanitation Class Logan Square Kitchen – 9:30am – 12:30pm -2333 North Milwaukee Get certified with the Chicago Health Department required for all food vendors at a farmers market, special event, street fair. $35 Go here for registration and more information.

Evanston – Evanston Garden Fair continues 9am – 4pm

Frankfort – Frankfort Country Market Downtown Frankfort – 10-2 – Might find paella.

May 21

New!! Chicago – City Provisions Finch’s Beer Dinner 6pm -1818 West Wilson – Join them for the release of Cleetus’s new collaboration, Toasted Summer, a kolsch style ale brewed with pan toasted hops and applewood. They will also be featuring Cleetus’ Slackjawed Dunkel and other specialties from Finch. 95$ Please call 773-293-2489 for reservations, only 16 seats are available each night.

May 22

Chicago – Brown Trout Farmer’s Market 5-8pm 4111 North Lincoln Ave. In North Center, near the Irving Park Brown Line stop, this new “micro” farmer’s market sponsored by “Ground Up Chicago” .

Chicago – Lincoln Square - C & D Family Farms selling their all natural free range meats from 7 to 11 am in the parking lot at Lincoln & Leland.

Chicago – Chicago Rare Orchards Project (CROP) – Inaugural lecture series by leaders of crop diversity and sustainable development. 6pm Haas Park Fieldhouse 2404 Washtenaw Ave. (entrance on Fullerton) The speakers tonight will be Melissa Tobias and Dan Schnitzer Sustainability Educators, The Academy for Global Citizenship. This event is free and open to the public.

New!!! Chicago – Women in Green monthly meeting – Hosted by Shannon Downey of Pivotal Productions at The Greenhouse Loft in The Green Exchange 2545 W. Diversey Ave. 5:30 pm Interested in attending or learning more? Contact Wig.Chicago@gmail.com

Chicago - Food Sanitation Class Logan Square Kitchen – 5-8pm 2333 North Milwaukee Get certified with the Chicago health Department required for all food vendors at a farmers market, special event, street fair. $35 Go here for registration and more information.

Woodstock - Woodstock Farmers Market at historic Woodstock Square  8am – 1pm

SAVE THE DATE!!!!

May 23

New!!!! Chicago - Spring Slow Food Chicago Dinner featuring Harvest Moon Farms, Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm & FEW Spirits at Uncommon Ground Devon 1401 W. Devon Ave. $65 includes tax, gratuity and a donation to Slow Food Chicago’s Terra Madre campaign. For reservations please call 773-465-9801.

Chicago – Red Meat Market “Meat-Up” – Goose Island Brewery 6-9pm $62.50 GETS YOU, $100.00 of local, sustainable, all natural Grass-Fed Beef. Save 38% and meet other 100% all natural meat lovers and make it social!
Upon arrival with a purchase of a ticket, you will receive seven pounds of delicious Grass-Fed Angus Beef direct from Black Earth Meats and the lush green pastures of southwestern Wisconsin.

Chicago – City Provisions Dinner with Greenbush Brewing Company from Sawyer, MI. 1818 West Wilson 6pm Featuring Terminator X and Loud Mouth Soup, Cleetus’s two collaboration beers. Greenbush will also be launching the “yet-to-be-released-outside-of-the-tap-room” Lagniappe, a toasted pecan ale. 95$ Please call 773-293-2489 for reservations, only 16 seats are available each night.

Chicago – Castilla La Mancha -Experience the wines of Don Quixote’s Spain in Chicago The Hotel Palomar 505 N. State St. 10:30am – 4:00pm Reserve spot here

Countryside – “Introductions to Chickens…Urban Style!“. The workshop runs from 7:00-8:30 p.m. at their offices in Countryside (near the intersection of I-55 & I-294).  The cost is $10.00 for non-members, and free for members.

May 24

Chicago – The Daley Plaza Farmers Market Opening Day - 7am – 3pm Country Financial will have a booth and will be giving away my absolute favorite market bag!! The design on the Country Financial bag is the student winner of their design contest. I cannot wait to see it!!

Chicago - Edible Chicago and Brooklyn Brewery present  ”A Celebration of Beer, Food, and Stories” Beer Bistro 1061 W. Madison 5-7pm Event is free, RSVP to events@ediblechicago.com Pick up an Edible Chicago, taste Brooklyn Brewery’s latest release  beer and enjoy food by local purveyors. The Second Quarterly Carousal party will be held at Beer Bistro.

New!! Chicago – Cooking With Grayson – Logan Square Kitchen 2333 N. Milwaukee 7-11pm 5 Rabbit Cerveseria teams with Chef Grayson Schmitz (Top Chef Texas: Season 9) As guests will prepare the family dinner with Chef Schmitz paired with 5 Rabbit Beers $125

May 25

Chicago – Kedzie Brewery Grand Opening Party – Revolution Brewing celebrates the opening of its new brewery at 3340 N. Kedzie. 5-10pm $15 Tickets go on sale April 27th.

New!! Chicago – The Art of Fermentation – Chicago Cultural Center – 78 E. Washington 12:15 – 1:30pm Sandor Katz presents his new book about fermentation, culture, and community. Come share kraut, meet Sandor, hear about his new book, get a copy inscribed to you, and ask questions.

May 26

New!! Chicago – Taste of Fresh Moves to celebrate the one year anniversary of Fresh Moves, Mobile Produce Market 1-5pm 3750 W. Ogden 4th floor The event is designed to highlight the many talents of theit customers and supporters in the Westside communities that they serve. This celebration will feature live food demonstrations and tastings from local celebrity chefs, performances by Young Chicago Authors featured poets, a student art competition and judging, food games for the young and young at heart, a screening room for food documentaries, acro-yoga demonstrations, raffles and prizes, music and more. All are welcome and it is free but RSVP by May 21st to thetasteoffreshmoves@gmail.com.

FD!! Champaign – Prairie Fruits Farm starts their dinner season – “A Dinner of Spring” 4410 N. Lincoln Ave – H2Vino, Caveny Farms Lamb 5 courses, $10

New!! Hinsdale – Terra Brockman speaks at Wellness House, “Changing the World One Meal at a Time” 10:00am – 11:30am 131 N. County Line Rd. Terra Brockman, Author of The Seasons on Henry’s Farm and Founder of The Land Connection will discuss her brother’s organic vegetable farm, her sister’s organic fruit farm, and the ripple effects of our food choices–including the health, economic, and environmental benefits of supporting local farmers.

May 27

Chicago – Premier of the documentary “Bitter Seeds” at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival sponsored by The Jane Addams Hull House. 3:15pm 164 N. State St. The film is focused on the farmer suicides surrounding their use of genetically modified seeds and the effects on their crops. Purchase tickets here.

For the summer schedule including Farm Dinners please go to our Farm Dinner calendar, it is time to make reservations for your summer farm dinners now!!!