Market Notes for May 24, 2025

Read the full Food & Farm Notes here.

No Inflation at Henry’s Farm Stand!

We heard from many of you last week that Henry has by far the lowest prices at the market for spinach and rhubarb (less than half the price as folks noted at some other stands). We're not sure why this is so. Perhaps some vendors are mirroring the broader trend of rising food prices in grocery stores. But many of those prices have to do with tariffs or other supply chain issues that do not affect us.

As Henry says, "As long as I'm making a living, I figure why raise prices just to match other people's prices?"

Henry has always believed that good food should be accessible and affordable to as many people as possible, so spread the word that inflation has NOT hit Henry's stand, and you can get the best-tasting, healthiest vegetables there at the lowest prices. Also let your friends and neighbors know they can sign up for our weekly emails on our new site.

Henry’s daughter Sora helps Henry sort and bunch the Golden Beets.

MORE of All Your Spring Favorites!

• Golden Beets, and LOTS of them - These are sweet and delicious, whether roasted, pickled, shaved raw, or made into a beet hummus or beet salad. Many people (including children) who are not so fond of Red Beets adore the milder Golden Beets, so pick up a few bunches this week!

• Cilantro -- see Food Notes below

• Dill

• Parsely

• Baby Fennel

• Carrots

• Lettuce

• Green Garlic, Green Onions, and Green (baby) Shallots

• Rhubarb

Dill (left) and Cilantro (right) are cool season crops. As soon as the hot weather comes , they bolt, so get them now while they’re in their prime!

Food Notes: Cilantro

Cilantro loves cool weather, so last week's temperatures in the 80s and 90s caused our first planting to start to bolt (send up a stalk that would eventually flower and produce seeds). So before it does that, we will harvest out all of the non-bolting cilantro for you tomorrow.

We encourage you to buy multiple bunches and use them for soft herb salads (like this one based on Ottolenghi), and for a delicious cilantro pesto, possibly mixed with some parsley, baby fennel, and spinach you get from Henry this week.

Here's a simple recipe you can adapt as you like, using whatever kind of nuts or cheeses you have on hand. I usually spread it on toast, maybe topped with raw radishes, but you can also toss it with pasta or rice, or serve it with eggs or fish.

Feel free to double this recipe! As with any pesto, you can make a big batch, eat some now, and freeze the rest to enjoy later.

Easy Cilantro Pesto

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup nuts (pine nuts, walnuts, almonds)

2 bunches cilantro

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan, Pecorino, or other cheese

1 Tb lemon or lime juice

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon cumin (optional)

Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Put the garlic and nuts in your food processor until finely chopped. Roughly chop the cilantro on a cutting board into 1 to 2 inch lengths and add them to the food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped.

Add about half the olive oil and blend until a paste begins to form, occasionally scraping down the bowl. Add remaining olive oil, cheese, lemon or lime juice, salt, pepper, and cumin. Blend until it's at your desired consistency. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, or lemon/lime juice if desired.

Farm Notes: Hot week, Cold week.
Click over to read the Farm Notes and see the photos.

After a week that felt like August, we had this week that felt more like April, particularly in its "April showers" aspect. The clashing warm and cold fronts brought us some nice thunderstorms, and blessedly cool weather.