Come Grow With Us! | September 27, 2021

Fresh & Local:

Come Grow With Us!

With the arrival of cool weather this past week, it sure feels like fall is here. But while we are all eager to embrace the vegetables and citrus that come with cooler temperatures, Hurricane Ida’s impact has delayed or destroyed many of these expected crops. We may be late and/or low on some of your favorite fall produce this season, but we encourage you to check out the great array of plant starts and plant vendors we have at market. Come on by and find our vendors Mizell’s Farm, Too Tall Farm and Nursery, and Hot Plants. Each of these vendors experienced loss due to Hurricane Ida alongside our produce vendors, but plant starts take a lot less time than ripe fruits and vegetables to bounce back and these resilient vendors have returned. What better way to get outside and enjoy the cooler weather than to get your gardening on? Click here to see WWL’s coverage of the impact of Ida on our plant vendor, Too Tall Farm and Nursery and how you may be able to help. Also, check out the GNO Gardening Magazine September issue for a great September guide to vegetable planting for our area.

Picks of the Week:

Market Umbrella Celebrates 26 Years

In the last two years, our community has managed multiple disasters, both world-wide and local. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the Delta variant and, most recently, the damage brought by Hurricane Ida, we are all trying to find what a NEW-new-new normal looks like. Still, with all that change, it is comforting to me to think about how Market Umbrella has withstood these and so many other major events in our now 26 years of operations. We are proud that attending our markets is a standing feature of so many of your weekly routines, and that Crescent City Farmers Markets are not just a place to shop for groceries but also a place to create and sustain our community connections. As we celebrate 26 years of markets, I want to say a special thank you to our amazing vendors, shoppers, community partners, staff and board members for your continuing support. Here’s to many, many more years of markets to come!

Sincerely,
Cordelia Heaney
Market Umbrella Executive Director

All About Persimmons

Typically harvested when they are hard and then ripened on the countertop at room temperature, the persimmon is native to both Asia and North America with two distinctly different types of fruit and many varieties within each type. Astringent varieties, such as the heart-shaped Hachiya or Tanenashi, must ripen fully to a pudding-like consistency before they are eaten. You will know when they are perfect when their skin becomes a translucent orange and their flesh is extremely soft and supple - you do not want to eat the astringent type too soon or you will experience the extremely unpleasant drying, puckered, tongue tingling effects of tannin! Non-astringent varieties, such as the short, squat, almost square Fuyu, can be eaten when they are still firm, producing a sweet mild flavor and smooth texture, but can also be left at room temperature to soften to a custard consistency.

A good persimmon at its peak will taste sweet, mild, and rich with many people describing its flavor as “honey-like.” Persimmons can be eaten fresh as a snack, tossed with salads, roasted, mixed into ice cream or yogurt, or cooked into desserts. Freezing a persimmon, cutting off the stem top and spooning out the cool, smooth insides is a special treat.

Support Farmers Market Recovery with “It Shoulda Been Jazz Fest: Part Deux”

Looking for a way to support the Crescent Fund while enjoying an action-packed evening of virtual festivities, wine and cheese from one of New Orleans’ most notable restaurants? Good news - Commander’s Palace is hosting a virtual party for everyone that loves Louisiana, New Orleans, and Jazz Fest to come together, sample coveted wines and specialty cheeses along with classic Creole cuisine, and support the South Louisiana food system recovering from Hurricane Ida on Wednesday, October 13 at 7pm!

Hosted by James Beard Award nominated “Wine Guy” Dan Davis, tickets to the event include uniquely curated wines, cheeses and bites from Chef Meg Bickford and the Commander’s Palace kitchen team that will be delivered to your home to taste alongside access to streaming live music from a fantastic lineup of Jazz Fest artists.

Proceeds from the event will go to organizations supporting Hurricane Ida relief including Louisiana Hospitality Foundation, New Orleans Culinary & Hospitality Institute, and Crescent City Farmers Market’s Crescent Fund. Tickets on sale now!

Can’t make the event? You can still support the Crescent Fund with a donation that will be distributed directly to the farmers, fishers, and other food producers in the CCFM network that suffered devastating damage from Hurricane Ida to aid in their recovery and return to market.

Vendor of the Week:

Orange you glad fall is here?

Welcome fall, welcome citrus season! Normally with October comes the introduction of our citrus vendors, but similarly to all of our produce vendors, L’Hoste Farms and Star Nursery have experienced some delays and loss from Hurricane Ida. Star Nursery’s owner, Dawn Camardelle, is a fourth-generation cultivator and is looking forward to bringing their satsumas, navel oranges, and grapefruits to market come late October or November. L’Hoste Farms has been serving the CCFM community with their certified organic navel oranges, blood oranges, grapefruit, kumquats, and more for over 25 years and is currently working to recover from the storm and return to markets.

Recipes of the Week:

Persimmon Cookies

It is fall and persimmons are here! Enjoy this delicious autumn recipe and celebrate the cooler weather with this warm treat.

What’s your favorite dish to make after visiting the Crescent City Farmers Market? Share your recipes with us on Instagram or Facebook and it might be featured in our weekly newsletter!