Leslieville Farmers’ Market–BaconFest

Tags

BaconFest, Crosswind Farm, Farmers' Market, Forbes Wild Foods, Glas Wine Bar, Haystrom Farm, Hooked, Jonathan Ashbridge Park, Le Matin, Leslieville, This Little Pig, Waffle Bar, Wheelbarrow Farm

On Sunday I attended the Leslieville Farmers’ Market located at Jonathan Ashbridge Park near Queen Street East and Coxwell Avenue. If you are travelling by car there is lots of free parking on Eastern Avenue just west of Coxwell.

The Sunday market was featuring BaconFest. A couple of new vendors were in attendance including “This Little Pig” makers of artisanal bacon: http://thislittlepig.ca/

Also in attendance were members of Glas Wine Bar: http://www.torontolife.com/daily/daily-dish/opening-daily-dish/2012/07/31/introducing-glas-wine-bar/

My first visit is always to the friendly people at Hooked, one of the best fishmongers in the city. They cook up an awesome fish taco for $4.

I believe that BaconFest was a huge success due to the fact that I have never seen it so crowded as it was on Sunday. Kudos to the organizers for bringing in new vendors and keeping things interesting.

BaconFest

The always awesome Fish Taco from Hooked

The hard-working gals from Hooked

Jim Hayward from Haystrom Farms in Picton. His sweet corn is fabulous. I have bought this two weeks in a row. 6 for $3.

Kind Organics featuring Salad Blends & Sprouts, Wheat Grass & Micro Greens, Fine Culinary Herbs, Edible Flowers & Baby Greens.

Merchants of Green Coffe: Fresh Coffee, Fair Trade, Green Business

Merchants of Green Coffee

I purchased a package of this artisanal bacon made by This Little Pig: http://thislittlepig.ca/

This Little Pig Hardwood Smoked Bacon

Cooking up some fine bacon at This Little Pig

$2 tasting samples from This Little Pig

Wheelbarrow Farm, Sunderland Ontario: ecological growing practices including mulch, cover crops, hand tools, and compost. No artificial fertilizers. No pesticides or herbicides.

Forbes Wild Foods: foods are harvested from the Canadian wilderness by trained pickers who practice sustainable harvesting methods

Waffle Bar: handmade Belgian waffles

Le Matin Bakery by Jean-Pierre Challet

A great selection of French pastries and breads from Le Matin

Crosswind Farm, Keene Ontario: goat products including milk, yogurt, chesse and goat meat

Lots of tasty samples from Crosswind Farm

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The Leslieville Farmers’ Market – August 5, 2012

Tags

Hooked, Leslieville, Monforte Dairy

Today’s walkabout took me down Coxwell Avenue to Queen Street East. One block west is the home of the Sunday Leslieville Farmers’ Market: http://leslievillemarket.com/

My favourite vendors include Monforte Dairy: http://www.monfortedairy.com/monforte-ruth-message.html and Hooked: http://www.hookedinc.ca/HOOKEDinc/Home.html

Monforte Dairy has quite an active presence at many Farmers’ Markets across the GTA. On Tuesdays they are at the East York Civic Centre Farmers’ Market: https://www.facebook.com/pages/East-York-Farmers-Market/316211965127347 and on Saturday they can be found at the Withrow Park Farmers’ Market: http://withrowpark.ca/wiki/wiki.php

I love Monforte’s sign:

Here is Tina from Monforte Dairy working hard selling their products. They have an excellent cloth-bound cheddar that I bought last week at the East York Farmers’ Market. One woman was there to purchase their Organic Butter which is churned for 10-12 hours. I will have to get some of that next time.

Hooked is probably the best fishmonger in Toronto. Located at 888 Queen Street East just west of Logan on the north side, the shop is run by Dan and Kristin Donovan. Fish are selected for being sustainable and are hormone and drug free. Everyone that works in the shop is a chef. So never feel intimidated about asking how to cook a particular type of fish, the staff is always glad to provide you with suggestions.

Here is the Hooked booth at Leslieville where they sell fresh fish as well as cooking up some awesome fish tacos:

The fish taco:

And my last treat from the market was this kale and strawberry smoothie. I missed the vendor’s name but will get that for next time: