Garlic Scape
The Garlic Farm, West Granby, CT

I find that garlic scapes have a milder flavor than the bulbs, but just like the garlic bulb itself, the scape will vary in flavor from variety to variety. Generally if you like the bulb, you will like the scape. They can be used in stirfries, soups, pasta sauce or ground into a pesto sauce. I like to just sauté them in butter and a little olive oil. They keep in the refrigerator for a few days and can be frozen or dried. They are best picked when young and tender, within a couple of days after they first appear. After that they begin to form the bulbils and the stems become tougher.

Garlic Scapes from Smiling Frog Farm Dahinda, Illinois

In fact, if you do not pick the scape, some of the energy that the garlic plant would put into the production of the bulb will go to the production of the scape. This can result in smaller or less bulbs overall. If you do not grow garlic you can still find scapes at a lot of farmers markets. The season for scapes is short, and the demand is high, so you will have to be on the lookout for them.  The freshest scapes will come, of course, from garlic that you grow yourself. It is not hard to grow and with the hardneck varieties you will get more than one reward from the same plant!

Here are several garlic scape recipes:

Garlic Scape Pesto

Ingredients:

1 pound garlic scapes, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Blend the garlic scapes, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper together in a food processor until smooth. Store in the refrigerator to use within two or three days; freeze for longer storage. Scape pesto freezes well, and it holds its green color when frozen usually even better than the traditional basil pesto.

Pickled Garlic Scapes

Ingredients: (For one pint)

About 15 garlic scapes

1 dried chile (optional)

1 cup cider vinegar

4 tsp. kosher salt

4 tsp. sugar

Directions:

Trim garlic scapes, curl them up, and place them in a pint jar with a tight fitting lid.

Work the chile, if you’re using it, into the jar with the garlic scapes.

In a small saucepan heat the vinegar, salt, and sugar with 1 cup of water until simmering and salt and sugar are dissolved.

Pour warm vinegar mixture over the garlic scapes to cover them (you may not use all of the vinegar mixture). Seal the jar. Let sit until cool, then store in the refrigerator for at least 6 weeks and up to six months.

Grilled Venison and Garlic Scape Sandwiches

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds venison, slightly frozen and sliced into 1/16-inch slices

8 garlic scapes, minced

1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup soy sauce

4 hamburger buns, split

4 slices sharp Cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

Place venison strips in a bowl; sprinkle with garlic scapes. Pour in canola oil and soy sauce; mix well. Cover bowl and let venison marinate for at least one hour.

Preheat grill fitted with fine grate grill topper to medium heat.

Evenly spread venison on the grill topper. Stir occasionally to evenly cook meat until no longer pink, about 10 to 15 minutes.

Warm hamburger buns on warming rack of grill. Divide venison among the buns and top with Cheddar cheese.

(Recipes from allrecipes.com)

 THE LOCAL CALENDAR 

It is amazing how the appreciation for local produce is spreading. I stumbled upon the Brave New Art World event that takes place the first Thursday of every month in the River North Arts district from 5-8pm. It represents a marriage of contemporary art, objects d’art and local food, including restaurants like The Local Root of Streeterville, underground dinner clubs like Thurk, Tuesday Night Dinner and Goose and Fox all of whom source from farmers markets, The beverage sponsors were Angels Envy and Lagunitas among others.

The Green City Market BBQ is Thursday July 18. It always sells out and never fails to have a bit of weather drama, be it rain or heat. One thing is definitely for sure, you will have a chance to see your favorite chef because there is such incredible support for the event from the Chicago restaurant community and you will not go home hungry. The Chicago Gourmet Festival, the weekend in September (9/27/-9/29) where Chicago is Ground Zero for the culinary world in the US and abroad has already sold out its early bird tickets. You had better buy your tickets now.

Chief Beet Rob Gardner gives you an updated rundown on what is season. Our full list of area markets can be found here. If you are interested in finding out even more about what is in season, there really are some well written, highly informative market letters and farmers blogs you can access. A few include Terra Brockman’s commentary every week from Brockman Family Farms, Connie Spreen’s weekly market letter for the 61st Market, Farmer Vicky of Genesis Farms is now blogging and Prairie Fruit Farms has a monthly newsletter filled with all sorts of cheesy tidbits! Food Day Chicago (Oct. 24) has now moved on to asparagus for their Eat Real Chicago vegetable of the month.  Check out their Facebook page and “like” it while you are there!

Now on to the busy week ahead including Executive Director of Food and Water Watch Wenonah Hauter reading from her book, Foodopoly at The Book Cellar in Lincoln Square tonight at 7pm. There is a cake walk sponsored by Les Dames Escoffier of Chicago and the proceeds will support the Green City Market and Eli’s Farmers Market with Wright College opens Thursday, now onto the week!

June 12

Andersonville- Andersonville Farmers Market opens 3-8pm (6/5-9/4) On Berwyn between Clark and Ashland

Chicago - Meet Wenonah Hauter Executive Director Food And Water Watch -7pm  The Book Cellar 4736-38 N. Lincoln Ave (Near the Western- Brown Line stop) Come to the Book Cellar in Chicago to meet Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter as she reads from her new book, “Foodopoly” and discusses current campaigns in Illinois!

Chicago - Wednesdays at Wood Street - Growing Home Wood Street Farm Stand 11am – 4pm 5814 S. Wood St.

Chicago - Green City Market Lincoln Park Location 7am – 1pm Chef demonstration 10:30am – 11:30am

Chicago – Wine Wednesdays at Province – Seasonal farm to table 5 course tasting menu with pairings $49 159 North Jefferson A Gold level LEED certified restaurant with 3 stars from the Green Restaurant Association.

June 13

Chicago – Grand Opening of Summer 2013 Season of Eli’s Cheesecake & Wright College’s Farmer Markets  7am!  Fresh fruits and vegetables from Nichol’s Farm and the Chicago High School of Agricultural Sciences, as well as hand crafts, flowers, and more will be available for purchase. FREE Continental Breakfast from 7am – 9am with $5 market purchase. Lunch on the Grill will be served from 11am – 1pm. For more details, contact Kathy at kkirby@elicheesecake.com or call (773) 308- 7000.

Chicago - Daley Center Farmers Market - Market will run May 16th through October 31. There are now microgreens and wheat grass sold by Alex Poltorak of The Urban Canopy and Seasons Soda is there as well!

Chicago – Uptown Market Uptown Farmers’ Market is year round. Every Thursday from 7-1 inside Weiss Memorial Hospital or in the parking lot during the warmer months. 4646 N Marine Drive This is an appropriate day to stock up on Spark of the Heart Soups

Hyde Park - C & D Family Farm delivers 7-11am Harold Washington Park

June 15

FD!! Champaign, IL -  Prairie Fruit Farms  City Pub in the Country 4pm Bar Pastoral is a new cheese and wine bistro adjacent to the original Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread, and Wine Shop in Chicago. Chef Chrissy will be showcasing her love of cheese, charcuterie, pickles, and other local ingredients. $107

Chicago - Sausage Making Class - 10am – 1pm Red Meat Market This will be another class where you will havea hands-on experience learning how to make sausage and take far home than the cost of the class.

Chicago - If Recipes Could Talk: Wisconsin Foods and the Stories They Tell.  Teresa Allen Chicago Foodways Roundtable 10 am Kendall College 900 N. North Branch Chief Beet Rob Gardner has been a big fan of Terese Allen’s books on Wisconsin and farmer’s markets.  She had the eat local beat before there was an eat local beat (or Beet).

Chicago - Growing Home Open House at The Wood Street Farm - 5814 S. Wood St.  11am – 3pm An Organic Farm Stand with affordable locally grown vegetables Free Farm Tours Gardening and Nutrition Workshops Healthy Cooking Demonstrations/Tastings Green and Healthy Neighborhoods Land Use Plan/ New ERA Trail Presentation Come learn about Greater Englewood’s plan to grow into an Urban Agriculture District that will bring more jobs, businesses, resources and healthy food options to the neighborhood! Music, Tasty Refreshments, Fellowship and Fun ! FREE AND OPEN TO ALL! This is our final Open House Celebration this year.

Chicago - Mash Tun Festival - The festival is a celebration of the release of Mash Tun: A Craft Beer Journal issue #3. The Mash Tun is a publication put out by your buddies at Maria’s Packaged Goods & Community Bar and The Public Media Institute, a non profit arts and culture organization based in Bridgeport.

Chicago - Les Dames Chicago Culinary Garage Sale and Cake Walk 10am – 2pm Kendall College This event will include live music, food trucks and a cake walk to compliment the treasures from top Chicago chefs! The proceeds benefit the Les Dames d’Escoffier Scholarship Program & Green City Market.

Chicago - 61st Farmers Market -  9am – 2pm During the outdoor season, which lasts through the end of October, the Market is located on 61st Street between Dorchester and Blackstone Avenues. The 61st Street Farmers Market accepts LINK and Senior Farmers Market Coupons. They also match LINK purchases up to $25 per cardholder, per market day, as long as funding lasts.

Chicago - Green City Market Lincoln Park 7am – 1pm

Chicago - Iron Street Farm Stand - 9am – 3pm 3333 S. Iron St.

Evanston - Downtown Evanston Farmers Market - This market will be held from 7:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. every Saturday through November 2. Location: Intersection of University Place and Oak Ave. (behind Hilton Garden Inn, east of East Railroad Ave.) In 2013, the market will celebrate its 38th year.

Many years ago, before the Local Beet was a good pun waiting to happen, I was explaining my idea of eating local, which entailed putting food away for the colder months, to Joel Smith, Regional Governor for Slow Food USA. Smith said I had to see this place in Western Springs. Paul Virant, formerly of Blackbird, had opened a place called Vie.  At Vie, Virant had his own canning room filled with product set aside for year-round local eating. I got myself a reservation for dinner, had a great meal, and wormed my way into a post meal tour of the kitchen and canning room. Thus began a long relation with Vie and Paul. (See my old blog for some examples of our relationship.)

In the years subsequent, I’ve have the good fortune to enjoy great meals at Vie. When we got the rather miraculous news that my daughter could forsake her scoliosis back-brace many years earlier than expected, we celebrated at Vie. I’ve also have the good fortune to spend much time in the back of the house; getting canning demo’s, seeing a steer butchered, participating in an interview for WBEZ and more. I hit the road with Paul and a few others for a tour of the Ball Jar labs and factory in Minnestra, Indiana.

I have great admiration for the food Vie produces, but I have even more admiration for Paul and what he’s done with Vie. Talk a bit with Paul, and he’ll tell you that many of his fondest childhood memories involve food. He can tell you about family traditions of baking pies and sourdough bread interspersed with weekly visits to the local smokehouse and farmers market. He foraged for mushrooms with his siblings, preserved fruits and pickled vegetables with his grandmothers and visited local wineries with his parents. These experiences have driven Paul, as a chef, to use the highest-quality, best ingredients for every component at his place.

For Vie, the highest quality comes forms three facets to his approach. First, as much as any local chef, Paul has worked with local farmers to supply nearly every ingredient he needs. When it’s an ingredient not available in the Midwest, such as citrus or hearts of palm, he’s found equivalent farmer “as if local.” Vie’s commitment to local foods lasts year round; you will find as much local in January as in June. This, of course, brings up the second facet, and maybe the thing Paul’s most renown for these days, his use of preserved ingredients. Going back to those early days, Paul was canning to ensure he had his high quality ingredients all the time, but over time, the use of preserved ingredients as components to his dishes became one of signatures. Thus, you’ll find pickles, relishes, jams, and more on the menu in June as much as in January. Finally, Vie has been doing for years, what is expected these days. They break down whole animals, using all parts; making sausages and charcuterie in house. They bake their own bread, smoke their own meats. Paul calls what he does, “seasonal contemporary American cuisine, strongly influenced by Western European cultures and rustic fare.” Probably, but to me, it’s always been the Joy of Cooking come to life the way he combines a consummate sense of cooking as well as an appreciation for classics–e.g., his current menu features cassoulet, gnocchi, a burger, and spanakopita. It’s all we respect and clamor for at the Local Beet.

And now we can proudly say, Vie’s a sponsor too.  For the next month, Vie will be sponsoring the Local Calendar that is diligently and expertly done each week by Jeannie Boutelle.  I believe the Local Calendar is our signature piece on the Local Beet, and I believe that Jeannie does an amazing job with it each week, highlighting events, farmer’s markets, dinners, workshops and much more.  Vie’s sponsorship of the Local Calendar and the Local Beet recognizes their respect and admiration for what we’re doing here.  It’s been a great relationship since first hearing about that canning room many years ago.

CT my home state was the first state to pass a GMO Labeling Bill in the country. I feel that it is somehow karmic that Illinois becomes the next state to pass one!! We all have a chance to make a difference and help make that happen!! State Senator Dave Koehler (D-Peoria) who is chairman of the Agricultural Committee introduced legislation this spring requiring companies to label genetically engineered foods SB 1666. Instead of pushing the legislation forward to a vote, Koehler decided to have a series of hearings throughout Illinois to get input from both sides of the issue. The outcome of these hearings will determine whether Genetically Engineered foods are labeled in Illinois. This is your chance to show Illinois law-makers we urgently demand transparent food labeling! The hearings will take place on:

June 20th, 10am – Bone Student Center ISU – Normal

August 7th, 12pm – Southern Illinois University – Carbondale

September 17th, 10am – Michael Bilandic building – Chicago

This is going to be THE deciding factor about whether or not  this bill will carry next year and we need all the support we can rally. If you cannot make any of these hearings, the biggest impact you can have is by writing/emailing your state senator and asking them to support this bill. It takes 2 minutes at the most to be an internet advocate, your email does make a difference!!! For more info: 773.396.6088 – jfujan@fwwatch.org

You have a chance to meet Executive Director of Food and Water Watch Wenonah Hauter this Wednesday June 12 6pm at The Book Cellar. She will be reading from and signing copies of her book, Foodopoly and will ,also, be able to answer questions and discuss the Let’s Label It Campaign. She will be in Winetka, June 13 at The Bookstall in Chestnut Court

Are you confused over GE Labeling, wondering what all the hullabaloo is about Monsanto, read this prior post on the Beet where we published Food and Water Watch’s comprehensive report.

What is this issue about Food Transparency and Labeling?

The introduction of SB 1666.

The Green City Market BBQ is Thursday July 18. It always sells out and never fails to have a bit of weather drama, be it rain or heat. One thing is definitely for sure, you will have a chance to see your favorite chef because there is such incredible support for the event from the Chicago restaurant community and you will not go home hungry. The Chicago Gourmet Festival, the weekend in September (9/27/-9/29) where Chicago is Ground Zero for the culinary world in the US and abroad has already sold out its early bird tickets. You had better buy your tickets now.

Chief Beet Rob Gardner gives you an updated rundown on what is season. Our full list of area markets can be found here (and remember this list will only get bigger) If you are interested in finding out even more about what is in season, or what new product might be for sale at the farmers markets, there really are some well written, highly informative market letters and farmers blogs you can access. A few include Terra Brockman’s commentary every week from Brockman Family Farms, Connie Spreen’s weekly market letter for the 61st Market, Farmer Vicky of Genesis Farms is now blogging and Prairie Fruit Farms has a monthly newsletter filled with all sorts of cheesy tidbits! Food Day Chicago (Oct. 24) has now moved on to asparagus for their Eat Real Chicago vegetable of the month.  Check out their Facebook page and “like” it while you are there!

Now on to the busy week ahead:

Chef Heather Terhune of Sable Kitchen & Bar gave the demo last Wednesday at the Green City Market. She made ricotta and rhubard chutney, chamomile flowers crostini. Yet again, a chef showed how easy it is to cook with ingredients that you buy from the market and how really tasty the end product is. The Wednesday chef demos are such a great opportunity to pick up cooking tidbits that can up your game in the kitchen and a way to get to know the chefs at some of the top restaurants in the city and a really easy forum to ask any kind of  ”stupid question”you may have. Chef Rick Bayless is giving the demo today! Green City BBQ, July 18, tickets are on sale now.

It is never too late to take a produce share at the Green Grocer Chicago. If you just don’t have the time to scour the markets or just want a steady supply of local produce, the Green Grocer makes it easy for you by gathering a wide variety of organic produce sourced from different farmers and all you do is take 5 minutes to pick it up!

Last Saturday, there was a worldwide March Against Monsanto, including here in Chicago.  Here is a video showing events that took place all over the world. The Huffington Post covered it here.  The momentum for clean, GMO free food is building!!You can support Illinois The Right To Know campaign and The Just Label It Campaign. Concerned about how to tell whether what you are buying at the store is GMO free or not? Well, there now is an app for that! Wenonah Hauter, the Executive Director of Food and Water Watch, will be at The Book Cellar, June 9th, signing copies of her book, Foodopoly.

Finally, the Rhizome Alliance needs your help in funding a project, Rooting: Regional Networks, Global Concerns, a symposium highlighting emerging programs and projects around food by artists, cultural workers, radical chefs, rural and urban farmers, and small businesses they want to hold here in October. The program spotlights creative responses to the extreme environmental, social and economic changes facing local and global communities with a focus on the Chicago region and New Delhi, India. They need to raise $12,000 by June 14 to cover airfare, speaker fees, documentation and administrative costs for the symposium. If you can support this project with a donation, in any capacity, they can make this idea a reality!  To donate and learn more, click here. 

Our full list of area markets can be found here (and remember this list will only get bigger) Food Day Chicago (Oct. 24) is celebrating the onion and the many benefits of the allium family for the month of May as part of their Eat Real Chicago campaign. If you check out their Facebook page and “like” a post or their page you stand a chance to win a “grillion” this week, supplied by the National Onion Association, the contest ends Friday at noon, right in time for grilling season.

Now on to the busy week ahead including, of course, the many markets that have opened, a canning class on Saturday at The Experimental Station  and the last day to buy seedlings from The Talking Farm at their Howard Street Farm is this weekend.

The Local Beet and Irv and Shelly’s Fresh Picks started not too far apart in time.  MIT grads Irv Cernauskas and Shelly Herman wanted to have local and organic food for themselves and their kids.  In 2006, they found this goal to be harder than they wanted.  They knew there had to be a better way to get local food on a regular basis.  Then, they realized that they could identify good farmers, aggregate the product, and deliver directly to customers.  From just them, one van and a handful of farmers, Fresh Picks has grown to twenty employees, four vans used six days per week, and over 100 farmers as partners.  Each week, users can go on to their web site  and find a full array of eat local foods.

Irv and Shelly make it possible to fully live the locavore life.  First, they carry much more than you can find at a farmer’s market. They have all kinds of meats, dairy, and prepared foods, including salsas, grains, and way more. Second, they operate year-round; just when you think there cannot possibly be any local food available, Fresh Picks has found it, packed it, and will deliver it to your door.  They’ve been an outstanding resource to our community for nearly ten years.

Irv and Shelly’s impact on the community is not limited to deliveries.  They are both very involved in various good food organizations around the Chicago area.  I personally have worked with Irv on several Good Food Festivals.  We’ve chaired the committee responsible for the Farm to Fork Financing Fair, and Irv has participated in many panels over the years.  Irv and Shelly both have been involved with the Land Connection and Seventh Generations Ahead.

The Local Beet is very pleased to have Fresh Picks sponsor our site.

It’s a balmy 45 and I considered covering my precious tomatoes this evening. I decided against it, convinced that it’s Memorial Day weekend and they will be OK. I’m pretty sure that last year couldn’t have been a more different setting. I feel like everything came early last year and I wasn’t prepared for it. At a recent Chicago Cooperative meeting the ice breaker question was what is your favorite spring vegetable? Without blinking an eye my answer was morel mushrooms… Well, River Valley Ranch had photos of their morels up last week at the market, so if you are able to find them, I recommend this morel mushroom ravioli courtesy of the Parsley Thief as a long weekend project for the family or friends because it’s amazing, albeit a bit time consuming but completely worth every minute of work put in. It’s buttery and creamy and textured and melts in your mouth. Homemade pasta has more flavor and is more fun to eat because there’s more to the experience. The flavors that come out are more surprising and exciting than dried pasta and this recipe with the fresh morels drives it home.

Cut and wash 8-10 ounces of morel mushrooms in water. Beware, ants may fly out of them… totally normal, don’t freak. Drain when you’re sure they’re dirt and bug free. Heat some butter in a skillet and add 2 or 3 large shallots that are minced (if you’er lucky, River Valley Ranch will have some grown from their mushroom compost). Cook until translucent. This is one of those times where you really use real butter… like super awesome high quality butter and don’t skimp ladies and gents, this ravioli is serious (Nordic Creamery I’m looking at you). Add the mushrooms and let them sweat out all the water they absorbed for 10 or 12 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup dry white wine into the pan and let the mushrooms absorb it. Add 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (I used dry from the Spice House and wasn’t disappointed). Remove from heat and let cool.

Drain 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese for 15 minutes. Since you’re already taking the effort to make the pasta from scratch, might I suggest also making the ricotta (seriously, Smitten Kitchen where would I be without you)? Many local farmers have both milk and cream for sale. I have used Kilgus Farmstead but there are many options. Chop the mushroom mixture and mix it into the ricotta along with an egg (farm fresh or bust), a pinch of nutmeg and a cup of grated Parm. Make the fresh pasta courtesy of Mark Bittman and roll it out into sheets. I used a rolling pin (i.e. empty water bottle/wine bottle) to roll my dough out. You don’t have to be fancy about it! Lay out 2 sheets of pasta and take the advice to use cornmeal dusting because it will stick. Spacing an inch apart, mound some heaps of mushroom goo onto one of the sheets of pasta. When you have a reasonable amount, carefully lay the second layer on top. Dip your finger in water and moisten the edges of the pasta so they’ll stick together.

Cut the ravioli with a knife, or a ravioli press, or a cookie cutter… whatever works and lay on a pan covering with a towel until the process is complete. You should get about 24 ravioli out of it. Boil a pot of salted water and carefully drop them in one at a time. Cook for 2-3 minutes until they’re floating on the top. Drain and serve with some melted butter, parm, or mushroom oil and just let the emotion take control. Thank you Parsley Thief for a great recipe and River Valley ranch for delightful morels! Happy mushrooms!

The Green City Wednesday market is a great time to shop and talk to the farmers in a relaxed environment rather than fight the crowds of  the Saturday market. Last Wednesday , I was fortunate to make Chef Paul Virant’s (Perennial Virant, Vie) cooking demonstration where he showed how darn easy it is to make ramp mayonnaise using a blender with tempura fried asparagus. The best thing about the Green City Market chef demos is that you can taste the food and interact with the chef and ask as many questions on how to cook things as you want.  Today Chef Heather Terhune of Sable Kitchen and Bar is up for it at 10:30am. Another new item at the GCM is baby food, Honest Purees, made by chef Dana Cox Lipe. She ,also, has organic, salads at her booth that you can eat as well. The GCM BBQ tickets are on sale already, too.

As we move closer to summer, more local farmstands are opening in the city, including the Chicago Lights Urban Farm that is a collaborative project with Growing Power at 444 W. Chicago Ave. Wondering what is in season? Chief Beet Rob Gardner elaborates on it and gives his advice on how to shop at a farmers market. There are some great farmer newsletters to subscribe to that are full of tons of tidbits and detail on what is season, one is Terra Brockman’s letter of Brockman Family Farms that have a stall at the Evanston Farmers Market and the other is the 61st Farmers Market letter written by Connie Spreen but the only way you will get it is to subscribe. Our full list of area markets can be found here (and remember this list will only get bigger) Food Day Chicago (Oct. 24) is celebrating the onion and the many benefits of the allium family for the month of May on their facebook page (Check it out for some health tidbits, recipes, onion trivia and “like” it while you are there.

Now on to the busy week ahead including International Biodiversity Day at the Field Museum today a kombucha workshop put on by WeFarm tonight, the end of the Chicago Craft Beer fest with a party in the West Loop and of course the many markets that have opened!

One of our Local Beet truisms is that at various times of year, farmer’s markets are all one color.  Spring is generally, mostly green, late summer is ripe red from tomatoes and pepper and fall tends towards browns.  This time of year, we’re lucky that two colors dominant.  It looks a little like the holidays with the reds of rhubarb and the greens of asparagus.

What’s In Season Now

The Green and Their Cohorts

Asparagus is now fully abundant and may also be purple!  Find an array of leafy greens like spinach,  bok choy (and other Asian greens), collard and mustard greens.  Want more, there may also be turnips, kohlrabi and beets with very usable green tops. Make salads with much of what’s around now like radishes (also usable greens!), arugula, and lettuces.

Also very much green this time of year, onions and garlic.

Wild at Heart

Ramps are around as are nettles, various cresses, garlic mustard, dandelion greens, fiddle-head ferns, sorrel, and morel mushrooms.

We Can Still Enjoy Last Year

We think you may still see some nice stored crops including carrots, potatoes, radishes, and onions.

A nice surprise, we’re seeing more dried beans in the market than in prior years.

Ramp Pesto Toasts

WHERE TO FIND LOCAL FOODS

Your ability to purchase what’s in season is finally expanding.  Jeannie, in the Local Calendar is keeping you ascribed on key markets, and we’ll have our fuller 2013 Market Locator up soon.  There’s still plenty of time to find a CSA box too.  See our big list to find a CSA for you.  Our friends at Fresh Picks have a good and growing inventory of local food, or you can try one of these stores that specialize in local foods:

These stores specialize in local foods:

Artisanal Wilmette – 414 Linden Ave. Wilmette

Butcher and Larder 1026 North Milwaukee in Noble Square, Chicago

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

Edible Alchemy Foods Co-op - Located in the near-SW Pilsen neighborhood, the co-op has grown to five locations in, including Hyde Park, River North, Lakeview, and Logan Square

Green Grocer 1402 West Grand Ave in West Town Watch this fantastic video about GMOs, sourcing local and see what you are missing if you don’t shop at the GG.

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.

Publican Quality Meats – 835 W. Fulton, Chicago

Sauce and Bread Kitchen - 6338-40 N. Clark, Chicago

Sharpening By Dave  - Green City Market and other locations throughout Chicagoland. If you want to eat local, you need to have sharp knives to prepare the produce!!  Let Dave know that you read about him in the Local Beet and you will get one dollar off each knife sharpened.