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On November 2nd, my time in Delmarva is done. I’ve eaten some of the best food in my life out here, met some of the best growers and vendors at the local farmer’s market. Milford Farmer’s Market helped me make exciting breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for my husband and I for two consecutive summers, and we now know that there won’t be a third. This is my love letter to the people who feed Delmarva. Thank you for the time and love you put into everything you produce.
Thank you to Fat Cat Farms, who started their first year at the Milford Farmer’s Market with us in 2019. Thank you for always remembering us, for having duck eggs and english muffins for us every single week. You’ve added something special to a small market that often doesn’t exist in larger locations. Your care for your animals shows on your facebook page, and the care for your food shows in every bite. I’ll never forget the last market when you asked if I’d still be doing this. I will be.
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 October 5th was the last day of the Milford Farmer’s Market, and in honor of that day, we made our very last visit to the Milford Farmer’s Market. It was a special morning, the first truly cool Fall morning in Delaware this year. Sunny, beautiful, chilly. In the spirit of that, we highlight for the last time T.S. Smith and Sons, a local grower with their own brick and mortar and a U-pick set up for apples and pumpkins to get you in the spirits for October. With that in mind, let’s talk about what they had to offer at the Farmer’s Market on this beautiful Saturday morning.
Their apples are a strong selling point both at their physical location and their stall. With multiple varieties available, there is something at the stall for every taste-- but that’s not the best part. The best part comes from the fresh apple cider and the donuts they produce from it on location. I’ve lived in apple orchard heaven, southern Illinois, and walking up to their stand today sent me right back home. The apple cider donuts disappeared the moment I got them home. Two went down within ten minutes, and they are among the best apple cider donuts I’ve ever had. Fried, of course, just like they should be, and covered in sugar. These are the great things about fall. While they’ll no longer be at the Milford Farmer’s Market, they can be found at their permanent location during the market offseason. This is just part of the reason they’re our last vendor highlight of the year. All through the year, they showed up every single week with a variety of ingredients. Brussel sprouts, beans, peppers, etc. were among the items I’ve seen on their table each week. Their fall offerings are among their strongest, yes, but all year, they had something worth picking up. Go give them a look at their T.S. Smith Orchard Point Market Facebook page, and if you’re ever in Bridgeville, take a short drive down to visit them at their permanent location. They have things going on for the Fall season. Stay tuned for some news regarding the future of Eating Normal. You may have noticed there was no October cookbook of the month. I’ll let you in on why later this week.  It’s only right that as the season begins to wind down, we highlight some of the produce vendors of the Riverwalk Farmer’s Market who have helped make this season of growth delicious. I have to start with Nash’s Veggies, one of the few stands I will buy from week in and week out when I’m trying to find locally grown vegetables to supplement what I wind up buying at the grocery store.
Without fail, Nash's Veggies is right there under the tree canopy with a variety of offerings from carrots and onions to peppers and okra. They can be trusted to provide local goodies from their own farm, and they are knowledgeable about their product. If you have questions about how best to utilize anything that looks super good one day, they've got you covered with suggestions. Just last weekend, I was very interested in their okra. My husband was skeptical since he has had some negative experiences with slimy okra. The pair manning the stall sated his concerns by bringing up various ways of how to cook it, such as gumbo. That got Rob on board. I've always got space in my refrigerator for their carrots. This week, they were much larger than earlier in this season, and they still had their greens! This was the first time I've seen their offering of microgreens on the table. While not a product I would personally utilize in my home kitchen, it wasn't anything I saw at another stall or even in bigger markets from earlier in life. These unique offerings are but part of the reason that Nash's Veggies remains my first stop for my produce during the season. Their facebook page is a treasure trove in and of itself. While preparing this article, I discovered a section they have created for recipes featuring their produce. I love that! Maybe we'll have to try a few of them next week and give them credit where credit is due. Plus, they are just a few miles south of Milford in Lincoln, growing everything they bring to the market on their own land. Nash's Veggies is exactly what you want from a local grower: knowledgeable, passionate, and kind. Stop by their stall at either the Riverwalk Farmer's Market in Milford, DE on Saturday mornings, or you can find them in Milton, DE for their afternoon market. Enjoy seasonal produce while you still can, and make sure its local by buying from a local like Nash's Veggies.  It’s a new weekend, which means its time for our Milford Farmer’s Market vendor highlight. This time, we’re checking out another new addition for this year, Fortunata’s Bakery. They were not here for the 2018 season, but I understand from the farmer’s market facebook page that they were previous vendors. I’ll tell you, though, I’m so glad they came back. Fresh bread has always been one of my favorite things about farmer’s markets.
Like all good bakery stands, you have to get to Fortunata’s well within the first half an hour of the market if you want to have your pick of their offerings. Even if we show up an hour after open, we sometimes struggle to get ahold of the flavor of focaccia we’re looking for or a good size white loaf. If you plan your morning accordingly, you have a lot of choices. Today is the day: It’s Saturday. Morning has come. I disappear out the door with only one thing on my mind. Duck eggs, and there is only one place in possibly the entire state of Delaware that I can get duck eggs with any amount of ease and regularity  Milford is home to the Fat Cat Farms stand every Saturday morning from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. 2019 is there first year at the market, and when I first saw them there with their duck eggs, cookies, and homemade english muffins, I knew immediately that they deserved my support.
One of the strongest memories I have of farmer’s markets comes from the namesake of this blog, Bloomington-Normal in Illinois, where I first bought a carton of duck eggs. I no longer lived there, but the eggs traveled well after a visit to my husband’s grandparents to our home back in Iowa. We ate them with delight, and every time I crack the shell of an egg from Fat Cat Farms, I am briefly transported to better times. |
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