Winter Farmers’ Market is Not an Oxymoron

By Pat Tanner

Even though this season marks the fifth year that the Central Jersey Slow Food chapter has mounted monthly indoor farmers markets in December, January, and February, many people still wonder what the heck is available when snow hugs the ground and temperatures struggle to rise into the thirties.

I attended the January market and below is a list of what I purchased. Think of it as a guide to the next market, coming up this Sunday.

1. A hunk of my favorite cheese from Valley Shepherd Creamery: Nettlesome. (Yes, it contains real stinging nettles. No, they do not sting.)
2. Packages of Simply Nic’s shortbread bars in two new flavors: winter spice and espresso with cacao nibs.
3. Empire apples from Terhune Orchards. (I managed to bypass the cider donuts and the cider.)
4. From the table of Princeton’s Whole Earth Center market, a can of Jersey Fresh tomatoes and a Colby cheese wrap. (The latter became my lunch.)
5. A hunk of the newest cheese from Cherry Grove Farm: Maidenhead, a semi soft, creamy, flavor-packed cheese washed with beer from Cherry Hill’s Flying Fish.
6. A bag of six assorted dinner rolls from Village Bakery.
7. A jar of ghee made from grassfed cow butter from Pure Indian Organic Ghee.
8. From Davidson’s Exotic Mushrooms of Kennett Square, a box of shiitakes and a box of cremini. (Which I used to make an excellent mushroom goulash.)
9. Beeswax pillar candles from Woods Edge Wool Farms. (Next time: honey.)

At that point, I had run through my funds, so I bypassed the wines of Hopewell Valley Vineyards, Catherine’s Vegan Treats, Ducky Life Teas, and a perfect antidote to winter doldrums: Stony Brook Orchids.

This week’s market will also feature live jazz and lunch offerings by Tre Piani’s Tre Bar tapas café.

Slow Food Central New Jersey’s Winter Farmers’ Market
Sunday, February 28
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Tre Piani Restaurant
Princeton Forrestal Village
Plainsboro
Restaurant phone number: 609.452.1515
For information on the farmers market phone 609.577.5113