Market Scene: Brookline Farmers Market in Brookline, Mass.
Note: Each week, one of our various Market Scene correspondents from around the country checks in with what's fresh at the farmstands in a particular region. Today, Penny Cherubino (Boston Zest) drops by from Boston.
The Brookline Farmers Market has been a part of the Coolidge Corner shopping experience for thirty-one years. It's a place of full-flavor shopping with produce, cheese, eggs, ice cream, bakery, specialty foods, beef, turkey, pork, lamb, and fish vendors.
It's a busy market, with long lines forming at favorite vendors like Clear Flour Bakery. This family-operated, artisan bakery specializes in creating the authentic breads of Italy, France and Germany. Clear Flour always appears in any list of the best bakeries in the Boston area.
Another market star is Cindy the "Fish Lady." The queue at her stand is a combination of market shoppers walking up to buy what's on hand, and regular customers who have placed orders for pickup at the market.
Cindy always has a ready supply of cooking tips and tidbits about the seafood you're buying. Once you have the information you need, your order is sealed, then bagged with a couple of scoops of ice for the trip home.
These scallops were shucked on the docks in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the morning of the market. They illustrate just how pristine seafood can smell exactly like the sea.
Middle Earth Farm had a great item for those who love to cook. Their "Chef's Bunch" combined a bit of parsley, scallions and green garlic for $2.
Other farms displayed their latest offerings. Stillman's Farm had a wall of beets on one end of their stand and a sea of blueberries on the other. Enterprise Farm had some of the season's first sweet corn, and Kimball Fruit Farm showed off the first peaches.
The Brookline Farmers' Market is held each Thursday from 1:30 pm to dusk in the Centre Street West Parking Lot off Beacon Street. This market runs until October 29th.
In Season
Beets
Blueberries
Pea tendrils
Carrots
Raspberries
Greens
Cucumbers
New potatoes
Salad turnips
Cut Flowers
Coming Soon
Corn
Field Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Apricots
Apples
View other entries from Market Scene.
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6 Comments:
Protip: Cindy the Fish Lady buys her fish for a high price at other local farmers' markets, then re-sells it in Brookline for an even higher price. It would be nice if there were a rule enforced preventing vendors from selling items they didn't grow/bake/catch themselves.
Luther at 12:46PM on 07/23/09
@Luther - Do you know from what other markets Cindy obtains her fish?
Junie at 2:19PM on 07/23/09
I took a ride over there to see what the fuss was all about. The produce looked good and I even saw orange raspberries for the first time. However, I really wasn't pricing anything out nor did I quiz Cindy the Fish Lady about the provenance of her product.
jayfallon at 9:19PM on 07/23/09
@Junie - There are a lot of "fish brokers" making the rounds in the Boston markets. She doesn't buy her fish from other farmer's markets, she buys it wholesale from the docks downtown. I agree that there should be some sort of rule about middle men selling produce, but it would be tough to enforce. Unfortunately there are a lot of farmers selling produce that isn't their own - site visits are rarely enforced, to the detriment of honest vendors. The fish thing does bother me, because it gives people the impression they are supporting local fishermen. It's good fish, but anyone could go down to the docks in Boston and get it.
embolini9 at 9:49PM on 07/23/09
Yeah, I guess what I said is not exactly correct. She buys her fish from Globe Fish (310 Northern Av Boston), which itself sells at the Bedford, Newton, Lexington and Arlington farmers' markets. It's not as if she actually goes to those markets to get her products, though it may as well be.
Luther at 11:09PM on 07/23/09
@Luther & embolini9 - Thanks for clarifying the situation for me. I agree that it would be nice if there was transparency around the middle-man situation...but it would probably be quite a pain to try to enforce that.
Junie at 10:44AM on 07/24/09