The autumn harvest reminds us of one of the real pleasures of shopping at the Brighton Farmers’ Market — the wide variety of varieties of fruits and vegetables available from our local farmers.  Supermarkets stick to the tried and true, but our farmers like to experiment with the rare, quirky, heirloom, or hard-to-find varieties, and customers are all the richer for farmers’ curiosity.    Kurt at Clearview Farm always has some unusual items on his table; this week he’ll have Black Summer bok choy; Da Cheong Chae (similar to bok choy and tatsoi); Osaka Purple mustard greens, mizuna, arugula; Shunkyo semi-long radishes; globe, Asian, and Fairy Tale eggplant; and Aunt Molly’s ground cherries.  Karen and Stan Bischoping will have apples with names that sound straight out of Dickens — Orange Pippin, Holland Pippin, Snow, Fearns Pippin, and Ashmead Kernel.  Karen also reports that some of the Twenty Ounce apples they’re bringing really are that big, and that the season’s first quince will be available.  John and Rhonda Noto will also have a wide variety of apples, including Honeycrisp, Macoun, McIntosh, Gala, Autumn Crisp, and Cortland, plus their own fresh-pressed apple cider, peaches, plums, and nectarines.

R & M Bischoping started harvesting cabbage and winter squash (including acorn, buttercup, and Hubbard), plus pie pumpkins.  They will also have pepper ristras, which are dried hot peppers strung to use through the winter or for decoration.  Seaway Trail  Honey harvested very dark, robust Fall Goldenrod Honey on Friday, in time for Rosh Hashanah.  Todd Lighthouse says it’s the beginning of garlic planting season, and he’ll have three varieties of seed garlic — German White, Ukrainian Red, and French Red.  Brown Hound Bistro will have Roasted Butternut Bisque.  Chicory Blue Gardens is bringing zillions of zinnias in pretty fall colors, and Biscotti for Everybotti will have Seasonal Pumpkin Biscotti, made with Organic Matters Farm’s pumpkins.  Organic Matters will also have loads of watermelons, winter squash, green and dragon tongue beans, and pattypan summer squash.  Freshwise Farm will have field mix, beets, microgreens, and Swiss Chard.  Snow Daze will offer Caramel Apple shaved ice, made with home-made caramel and Noto Fruit Farm’s apples.  New this week:  Le Petit Poutine, a French Canadian regional treat made with hand-cut French fries from local potatoes, local cheese curds, and gravy made daily in the food truck.

The Brighton Fire Department returns to the market, bringing fire trucks and for the kids, a game the firefighters made in which kids can spray water from a fire hose to extinguish a faux fire.  Olivia Frise and Bryan Brown return to the music tent, and it’s Grape Day for kids at the Good Grub Club.

The Brighton Farmers’ Market is held Sundays, 9 am to 1 pm through October 30, in the Brighton High School parking lot, 1150 Winton Road South.  The market is sponsored by the Town of Brighton.  Please visit www.brightonfarmersmarket.org or visit the market’s facebook page.

Article indexed by: Market News