North Park Farmers' Market Blog

It’s not too soon to start planning your Thanksgiving Day dinner at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market. Da-Le Ranch is taking pre-orders for naturally raised turkeys from their Lake Elsinore property; they range from about 12-22 pounds. Talk to the Not So Fast food truck about turkey orders as well. 

Find sweet potatoes and yams at Proios Family Farm, pie pumpkins at JR Organics, green beans at Kawano Farms, bread for stuffing at Belen Bakery, plus onion, celery and fresh herbs at Suzie’s Farm. Pick up some kale from African Sisters and put this crispy kale salad on your Thanksgiving appetizer menu. 

Don’t forget dessert; pick up Granny Smith apples from Smit Orchards and pomegranates from Paradise Valley Ranch for this apple-pomegranate pie that’s sure to become a holiday tradition. We sure are thankful for our great local farmers!

Find pumpkins and all your favorite winter squashes at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market. Is the sincerest squash a kabocha from Suzie’s Farm, an acorn from JR Organics, a butternut from African Sisters’ Farm or a pumpkin from Proios Family Farm?

We love simple roasted squash, dressed up with nothing more than a pat of organic butter from Springhill Cheese Company, but we also like to experiment by mixing mashed, roasted squash with chopped Morocco Gold dates, or topping it with roasted almonds from Hopkins AG, or drizzling with honey from Meljess Bees. Try something unique, like this roasted butternut squash tart!

Try stuffing a squash with spicy chipotle chorizo from Ochoa Family Chorizo, or for a milder but still flavorful dish use 5 year vintage Gouda from Taste Cheese. It’s squash-darned delicious!

Looking to make a baked treat with the abundance fo pumpkins? Try this easy pumpkin bread recipe and savor the flavor of fall! 

Find button, shiitake, crimini and portobello mushrooms at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market, grown in Escondido by Mountain Meadow Mushrooms and sold at the Kawano Farms booth. Sautee them with garlic from Proios Family Farm, stir-fry them with broccoli from African Sisters’ Farm, or stuff them with sausage from Ochoa Family Chorizo.

Grab a bag of green or yellow string beans from J.R. Organics and make this easy and scrumptious mushroom-and-bean salad. Add some slivered almonds from Hopkins AG for a little crunch!

Use olives from Lisko Imports, your choice of cheeses from Taste Cheese or Springhill Cheese Company and bella mushrooms and whip up this tasty treat: pizza stuffed mushrooms!

These mysterious mycological marvels resisted human efforts to grow them for thousands of years; only in the 1890’s did scientists learn to reliably cultivate agaricus bisporus, the common brown or crimini mushroom. The now familiar white mushroom is descended from a mutant batch of ‘shrooms that popped up on a Pennsylvania farm in 1926, and the shiitake mushroom has only been grown commercially in the United States since the 1980’s.

Pick up some mushrooms today to add a little magic to your meal!

Pick up fresh broccoli at the North Park Thursday Farmers’ Market from African Sisters’ Farm or Suzie’s Farm and brocc out in the kitchen! Stir-fry it with red bell peppers from Proios Family Farm, onion from JR Organics and almonds from Hopkins Ag, or pick up California cheddar and jack from Springhill Cheese Company for a bowl of broccoli-cheddar soup in a bread bowl from Belen Bakery. 

Dip it in any spicy habanero Bitchin Sauce or hummus from Baba Foods. Toss it with chopped garlic and oil from the California Olive Oil Company, roast in a hot oven and top with parmigiano-reggiano from Taste Cheese.

So versatile, so tasty, so healthy, it’s the brocc star of the vegetable world!