The idyllic scene could come straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting. As the morning light gently filters through the stately oaks, farmers sell their produce in the town square surrounding the old state capitol. But their wares may not be quite what you`d expect.
Instead of sweet corn, fat red tomatoes and bushels of MacIntosh apples, you`ll find ash-coated goat cheese and edible squash blossoms, pheasant and smoked trout, arugula and baby bok choy, plus dozens of exotic herbs that produce a heady smell more reminiscent of Bangkok or Marseille than a midsized Wisconsin city.
This is the Dade County Farmers Market on the Square, commonly known as the Madison Farmers` Market, one of the largest and most sophisticated farmer`s markets in the Midwest. It recently was singled out by Food & Wine magazine as one of the markets that are ”bringing new vigor to home and restaurant kitchens.”
On Saturday mornings from the beginning of April to October`s end and on Wednesdays from May to October, about 200 farmers set up their stalls in the square around the capitol building.
Several things make this market special. First, only plants, edible produce, and home-made food can be sold here. Second, the vendors-who must be based in Wisconsin-actually must produce what they sell; no handicrafts or manufactured goods are allowed.
Market Manager Mary Carpenter estimates that nearly 75 percent of the vendors sell fruits, vegetables and herbs and that more than half grow their vegetables organically, without chemical pesticides or fertilizers.
These farmers are artisans, not mass producers, men and women who plant, weed and harvest their crops themselves and take pride in the quality of what they produce. Some have moved to farming from other professions; others come from traditional farming families but have diversified away from large cash crops to small scale boutique farming.
”The vendors are extremely knowledgeable about their products,” says Carpenter. ”This is the most articulate bunch of farmers I`ve ever met.”
The market is a place for browsing and schmoozing as well as buying. The vendors are eager to talk about their products and to tell you how to prepare them. In return, they want to find out what their customers like, since for many, the Farmer`s Market is their only outlet.
”You get instant feedback; if you don`t make any money you know you`re not doing the right thing,” says David Nedbeck. His Flower Factory offers the largest selection of perennial flowers in the Midwest-more than 1000 varieties, including wildflowers native to China, Siberia and the
Mediterranean. Like many of the farmers, Nedbeck is constantly experimenting with new varieties. He gets seeds and plants from abroad; from nurseries in California, which are at the cutting edge of the new American agriculture, and from his customers, who give him seeds in return for plants.
Because of the proximity of the University of Wisconsin, many of the shoppers are foreign-born students and professors nostalgic for the food of their homeland.
To meet this demand, Frank Romanski, owner of Green Garden Spices, stocks more than 300 varieties of herbs and spices, including 12 kinds of mint (among them Lebanese, Turkish, Austrian, and Korean mint), 16 varieties of rosemary, 14 types of lavender, as well as such exotica as edible rose petals (used in Middle Eastern cooking), Thai lemon grass and Vietnamese basil. Romanski also sells mixtures of ground spices based on recipes provided by his customers. His current repertoire includes Polish, Italian, Greek, German, Indian, Indonesian and Thai blends.
Kingsfield Gardens is another veritable United Nations of herbs and vegetables. Specialties include French red and gray shallots, haricots verts
(small French green beans) and French tomatoes, which have a unusually concentrated flavor and smooth texture; Italian red and green radicchio, grilling peppers, romano beans and stuffing eggplants; sweet yellow Japanese tomatoes; baby bok choi; and edible flowers, including carnations and squash blossoms.
”Our concept is to grow the very best quality food we can, using organic methods,” says owner Richard Abernethy. ”We work with local chefs and try different varieties from seeds imported from all over the world until we find the ones we think are best.”
Richard de Wilde, another organic farmer, grows virtually every variety of vegetable that can be produced in the Midwest at his Harmony Farms. To get an idea of the diversity of his products, try the baby salad mix, sold in quarter-pound bags for $1.75. This gorgeously colored mixture contains red and green romaine lettuce, green oak leaf lettuce, red boston lettuce, red and green mustard, arugula, Mizuma mustard, tatsoi (a Japanese lettuce), kale, amaranth leaves, pepper cress, even a few sprigs of purple miniature pansies. A worthy dressing for such a salad could be made from the herbal vinegars and infused oils created by Alice Pauser of Alyce`s Herbs, who grows more than 100 varieties of herbs, edible flowers and unusual vegetables. ”I keep inventing recipes and testing them until I find one that works,” she says. ”My latest creations are a lemon and crushed peppercorn apple-cider vinegar and a French cutting-celery vinegar.” Her vinegars cost $3.50 for a 12.7 ounce bottle.
Other vendors look to the American past for their inspiration. David and Alice Jackson of Jackson Farms specialize in down-home traditional American vegetables such as tiny, delicately flavored patty-pan squash, red leaf kale and mustard and collard greens.
Bob Willard belongs to the third generation of his family to run Ela Orchard, which grows 30 varieties of apples, including such antique varieties as charlemagne, loveland, golden russet, and raspberry apples. ”Many of the trees go back to my grandfather`s time,” says Willard. ”Unlike corn or soybeans, orchards last for generations.” Ela Orchard`s most celebrated product is the moonglow pear, available in the early fall. Afficionados wax mystical in describing their delicate sweet flavor and smooth texture.
The Summer Kitchen, owned by Jim Schroeder, a retired Air Force protocol officer, features traditional Midwestern jams and jellies. Schroeder, who makes 60 jams in the kitchen of his early 19th-Century farmhouse, gets some of his ideas from old cookbooks, like the recipe for Grandma`s Jam, a combination of snowapples and peaches. Others are based on his own formulations, including Berry Basket, a mix of blackberries, red raspberries, and black raspberries;
Three Seasons, which contains red raspberries, blackberries, and cherries; and Wisconsin, a delicate blend of McIntosh apples, cranberries and honey that has been presented to visitors by state officials. The price is $3 for a 16-ounce jar.
Despite the market`s emphasis on fruits and vegetables, nonvegetarians won`t be disappointed. Terry Romeo, once a computer executive in Chicago, raises Kamloop trout in red clay ponds fed by artesian wells at his Allen Creek Trout Farm. The fish enjoy a diet of shrimp, anchovies, alfalfa, corn and soybeans. Fresh and smoked trout, both delicious, cost $3.50 per pound.
The poultry and game at Turtle Enterprises eat certified organic food and have such a free run of owner Paul Griepentrog`s property that his turkeys recently gobbled up his wife`s carnations and shastas!
”The first time customers buy one of my free-range chickens, they complain about the price ($1.55 a pound), but after they`ve tried it, they line up to buy more and get mad when I run out!” says Griepentrog. He also sells home-raised ducks, pheasants, quail and lamb. Market manager Mary Carpenter, proprietor of Carpenter`s Lambs, also brings her products to sell. Finally, what would a Wisconsin market be without cheese? In addition to a half-dozen vendors who sell standard varieties, Anne Topham and Judy Boren do a thriving business selling the only farmstead goat cheese made in the state. Their Fantome Farms currently produces a fresh soft chevre, plain or with herbs; cheese logs steeped in olive oil and flavored with herbs from Provence; large round boulots; and chevrotin, a tangy disc-shaped cheese coated with ash and salt.
