Market Watch: Into Autumn we go
It's hard to believe we're just a week short of October 1, into football and soccer season, watching the leaves turn, etc. One would think things would be winding down at Market at the Square, but as readers can see from the produce list below, there's as much food in evidence now as there was in July — just not the same stuff.
This week's food:
Several varieties of apples, peaches (final week), sweet corn, fennel, fresh herbs, leeks, onions, potatoes, heirloom tomatoes, chard, cabbages (including Napa — our favorite), lettuces and salad mixes, green beans, okra, eggplant, hot & sweet peppers, broccoli, squashes; also, locally-raised meat and eggs, award-winning goat cheese, honey, and much more.
As we get closer to the end of the season, we'd like to suggest something: bring a friend to the Market with you. Heck, bring two! Urbana-Champaign is loaded with Market faithful who're out every week no matter what the weather (you guys know who you are), but there are also an awful lot of people who'd like to come, but just aren't in the habit of swinging by and scoping out the scene. Won't you Market devotees help out your friends and neighbors? Give them a nudge!
Offer your neighbor a ride, or make it a date with a friend you haven't seen in awhile. Introduce them to your favorite farmers and encourage them to try something they've never tried before.
Take them to your favorite baked goods purveyor/enabler. Help your pal pick out their pumpkin, show them where to get that breakfast sandwich, offer to show them who has the great soap and the wonderfully-smelly bath bombs. You'll bump into friends and acquaintances as you walk the five rows, and the people-watching is always excellent. So get on out there and bring someone with you, would ya?
This weekend at the Market, the Eastern Illinois Foodbank and FACET (Friends Against Children's Empty Tummies) will be working together to fight child hunger by holding their annual bake sale. Their goal this time is to raise $2000 — look for them at the north end of the Market for the duration.
See you out there!
Most Recent Food Comments
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
Also worthy of a mention: Most Oddly Named Restaurant with Fantastic Food: Let’s Take Seat http://letstakeaseat.com/
Other possibilities along this vein: Most Bizarre Restaurant Decor, Runner-Up: The new Merry Ann’s Diner on Nevada has a mural of the scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “North by Northwest,” where the plane is chasing Cary Grant on a desert landscape. Never understood how that ambiance is supposed…
As a teenager too broke to actually buy anything, I indulged in many a free cup of Kopi water.
Excellent additions, LY.
Possible Honorary Categories: Most Bizarre Restaurant Decor: Mas Amigos on Springfield Av. With painstaking attention to shelving, the owner proudly displays his NFL football helmet collection. WTF? Best Pancakes: Courier Cafe. Huge, fluffy, served with hot syrup. If you can stuff 3 of these down, you don’t…
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Most Recent Comments
The Alan Partridge lookalike on the right in the first small photo has nothing to condescend to anyone about. AH HA!
Snell and the little Hitlers of the neighborhood association need to chill out. Legitimate businesses should have the freedom to exist without having to endure the slings and arrows of ignorant and misguided opposition.
represent, Matt.
Yeah, I’d agree that Transporter Room 3 is the worst house venue I’ve ever seen.
Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…
Not so much far-right Tea Party as a balanced, moderate viewpoint between letting businesses succeed and protecting society with reasonable regulations. In spite of what the city reps are saying, the interpretation of policy on this issue certainly has changed. Letting a business start up under one…
I think it’s neat that SP has turned rightward, now espousing a Tea Party-style frustration with government regulations & taxes.
This makes me so sad. (Happy to live in Urbana, though!) Crave Truck has been a GREAT addition to the food choices in C-U, and it’d be a travesty to chase them away. This town should be supporting small businesses. I’m glad to hear that they’ll still…
*slow. clap.* Still offering no threat of intelligence…. I know I said I thought you should just write this whole column yourself next year, Isaac, but now that you’ve gone and taken a “part deux” run at it, I’d like to modify my request: Best Music 2013,…
Actually, it’s kind of nice, the quiet. John Heoffleur’s engaging commentary/dialogue is sorely missed, however. In lieu of someone intelligent saying something, I’ve compiled a list of Honourable Mentions: BEST ROCK BAND: Take Care ::these gentlemen have four completely different sets at their disposal right now (which…
What? Echo! (Echo!) Where’s the dischord and dissent?
This weekend will mark the first appearance of Kayla Brown’s Fire Doll Candle booth at the Market. Check it: http://www.facebook.com/firedollcandles
And without bloodshed. Sounds like the Savoy trustees aren’t as narrow-minded as some of their whiny pants constituents. Do you think quack Snell is already planning an asinine counterattack or is he still laying low after those “threats” against his person?
hey, if hair ain’t gon’ be over your head, my jokes may as well be.
Okay, almost 24 hours later and I finally got Issac’s Summer joke. I’m an idiot.
Excellent. I am glad sometimes American dreams are encouraged, rather than stifled.
Swap the dog for a fire pit and it sounds like you’re writing about my back yard. Very nice.
funny, as your summer begins, another Summer ends.
@Dan - Wow. Unfortunately, I have to refrain from further comment due to a previous employment relationship. But with that brief context you might be able to imagine possible comments or responses I could have.
Oh, by the way, the “Champaign County YMCA” no longer exists. The official name is now the “Stephens Family YMCA” (the website has not been updated, but check out the latest program guide). And no, it’s not just the name of the building. It’s the name of the organization.
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Food trucks are the start-up, small businesses of the future for those unable to afford real estate. No surprise, that merchants who pay rent, utilities, and maintenance on a property would despise the traveling competition. Or developers who build more empty retail spaces would want to close…