Strawberry Festival

photo: S. Duffett

Next Wednesday July 6th, will be our first Strawberry Festival at the Seaport Farmers Market! Sampling of different strawberry varieties will be available. Our vendors are planning strawberry treats! Chef Renee Lavalle has been enlisted by Select Nova Scotia to visit from 11:30 am until 1:30 pm and share some strawberry recipes! Renee will be sampling a strawberry milkshake made with Foxhill gelato, strawberries macerated in rosemary and strawberry shortcake! Pop by and take part in this delicious event! Mark it on your calendar

And to tide you until then, here's a quick and easy strawberry recipe courtesy of Select Nova Scotia. Make some now to have Nova Scotia strawberries available to you all year.

Strawberry Freezer Jam
2 cups crushed strawberries 4 cups sugar 1 pkg. (57 g) powdered fruit pectin 3/4 cup water

1. Combine berries with sugar in bowl; mix well; let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, combine pectin and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil and boil for 1 minute. Add to fruit mixture, stirring constantly for three minutes. Pour into sterilized jars, (LEAVE HEADSPACE for expansion) seal and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Store in freezer.

Hope to see you at our STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL!

P.S .We are also open on July 1st, Canada Day!
Make us part of your celebration. Friday is International Day at the market.

Photo: S. Duffett

Some Changes

Our wonderful roof in action:)

The weather has been less than favourable this Spring but more farmers are beginning to return to the Market. Spring and early summer has always been a dynamic time of year on the Market floor. Many Saturdays this coming season we are fortunate to have available Pavilion 20. The Market is capable of expanding to accommodate the return of farmers without fully displacing all the vendors that keep the Market vibrant over the winter.

A few of our storefronts have seen change in the last two weeks. Julien's Bakery has moved to the North Mezzanine. That Dutchman's Cheese Shop can be found next to Noggins Corner Farm at the south end of the building. Riverview Herbs is right in the middle of everything at centre court.Get Away Farm is now settling in to That Dutchman's vacated storefront space and in a short time will be operating a butcher shop.

Thousand Hills Farm has decided to focus on his Yarmouth business and will not be returning to Market. His fresh poultry product will be available at Get Away Farm.Elmridge Farm, Waldegrave Farm, and Farmhouse Foods are all here this weekend, June 18th Meguma Green, a farm from Upper Granville, will be arriving at Market this coming Wednesday.More farms are returning to Market in the next few weeks.

Something old, something new

Guess what! Eccles cakes have arrived at the market!
Wondering what on earth an eccles cake is? Wonder no more. Here they are, a cross between a butter tart, baklava, and raisin tart only made with currants. Oozing sugary buttery goodness, a traditional English treat. Sometimes called a fly's graveyard (because of the way they look, with the wee studs of fruit ) they are often paired with lancashire cheese but delicious, absolutely delicious by themselves.!
You can find them at the The Maritime Pasty Company booth on the west wall of the market. Pasty makers extraordinaire!
They have also newly introduced the London Cheese Cake. Mmmm.....hungry?.

The 3 Second Rule - Booth Design

Guest post by Daina Scarola: vendor

This past weekend at the Halifax Seaport Market we had the privilege of being visited by Project for Public Spaces from N.Y.C. They came around and spoke with vendors to get feedback on their market experiences, what they like, and where to improve.

As part of their visit they gave a presentation on markets as public space and what role they play in the community. It was quite amazing to see photos and hear stories of markets from around the world and what makes them succeed or fail. The folks behind this Project specialize in helping markets succeed. I'm stoked to be part of our local Halifax Seaport Market and am excited to see what the future brings for us.

One of the issues they touched on is the '3 second rule'. Customers should be able to walk by your booth and know who you are and what you are selling. If you can't provide this visual information in the 3 seconds it takes for them to walk by, they will keep on moving, on to the next vendor.

Before I found out about this idea, I knew I wanted to build an eye-catching Art By Daina booth that properly represented me as an artist and the genre of paintings I create.

Here is my booth that I've been slowly building and adding to, which I began last November...a work in progress.

market view

Grey day on the water today. This is the tall ship Silva, a frequent sight out our window, passing Georges Island.

Tall Ship Silva was built in Karlstad, Sweden in 1939 as a 130' three masted steel schooner. During the first two decades of her life, she was traded with general cargo under sail and motor in Western Europe. In the 1960's Silva was refitted as a bulk freighter, having her sailing rig removed. Silva continued coastal trading in Sweden until 1994. In the summer of 2001, she was towed to North America and restoration was undertaken.

She is now completely re-furbished and rides the water as a charter boat here in our harbour.

To the Market and Beyond

Photo credit: Daniel MacDonald

Guest post by: Lisa Young, shopper

Anyone who knows me at all, most likely knows that I prefer to shop local whenever I can. In past summers, I’ve made a point to visit the local farmers’ markets in Annapolis Royal and Wolfville while on vacation. So when it came time to plan last year’s Nova Scotian-based vacation, I decided to take inspiration from the Halifax Seaport Farmers’ Market! I narrowed down my destination choices to the Sunrise Trail and used the Train Station Inn in Tatamagouche as my base of operations. (sidebar: I highly recommend the place…there’s nothing in the world like living in a Victorian era caboose for 4 days, plus the food is good and the people are super nice.)

Two of my favourite vendors at the Halifax Seaport Market have their bases of operations on the Sunrise Trail: Lismore Sheep Farm and Seafoam Lavender Farm. I planned daytrips around both of these businesses and looked for other small shops and attractions that interested me nearby.

At the Halifax Seaport Market, the folks at Lismore Sheep Farm have a lovely selection of sheepskin products, fleece, yarn and other wool products, as well as their own line of wooden knitting needles. They’re always friendly, helpful and can tell you a lot about their products. I was tickled to be able to visit their barn in River John and see some of the sheep whose wool I had been using to knit clothes and gifts for friends and family. There’s even a small interpretive display where you see wool in different stages and can try carding. Their shop had all of the things at the market and a LOT more. Being a city gal, it was novel (also awesome) to find such a well-stocked yarn store in the middle of the country fields where the sheep are grazing.

Later, I visited Seafoam Lavender Farm operation. The day I went was a quiet one, so I was able to have a nice chat with the operators. I was lucky enough to be there during a u-pick time during the summer, so I was given a brief instruction on how to properly trim sprigs of lavender from the mature plants. Armed with that knowledge, a loaned basket and scissors, I happily wandered the rows, clipping as I went along, surrounded by the heavenly smell of sun-warmed lavender. They also had a weather-protected stall onsite, so I was able to stock up on a few other lavender items that they produce while paying for the bunches of flowers I’d picked myself.

Photo credit:James Lkobos

We spent four lovely summer days enjoying local attractions, eating at small family-owned restaurants, buying roadside fruit and veggies and visiting small shops in the area all around Tatamagouche. It had been more than 15 years since I’d been to the area, but I doubt that I would have chosen it for a vacation destination had I not known about those two Halifax Seaport Market vendors.

rhubarb

Tis the season for rhubarb! We've got lots of it at the market. First, check out these mouthwatering rhubarb recipes at FoodGawker and Tastespotting ...figure out what you are going to make and then pop by and get some :)