I am so very grateful to those farmers and market gardeners who provide vegetables to Around the Sound. Growing vegetables is very hard work, made all the more challenging by the soil and climate of Grey and Bruce counties and this year's weather in particular. Every one of our growers has made the choice to use natural, sustainable practices to grow your food. Some like Persephone Market Garden in Allenford and Wolf River Farm in Leith are new to market gardening, and others like Hemstock Mill, Twin Creeks and Bayview Organics are more experienced, but all of them are committed to continually learning more about their land and the good food it can grow.

I'll know in the morning exactly what we'll have this week - last week we had carrots, beans with summer savory, yellow and green zucchinis (summer squash), six kinds of heritage lettuce and two bagged lettuce mixes, two kinds of radishes, rainbow chard, red and golden beets, red and yellow tomatoes and the first garlic of the season.

One of my highlights last week was hearing a girl in her twenties say to her friends "What do you mean what is this? It's kohlrabi ...it is the BEST vegetable." If you haven't tried it yet you can steam it, eat it raw, or add it to curries, stir-fry or stew.

This week Wolf River Farm has promised "Black Raspberries, Carrots, Snow Peas, Purple Peas, A few Hungarian Hot Peppers, Parsley, Cut Flowers and pounds of Cucumbers".

If you like a little something on your vegetables, try our Ontario sunflower oil, fair-trade olive oil, organic butter or a little grated pecorino or cheddar cheese.

New potatoes, Laura's lemon sage mustard and mayonnaise make a great potato salad accompaniment to Winston's pickerel or rainbow trout. Steamed beans or snow peas, the canned organic mixed beans and Laurel's balsamic vinaigrette make a great main course salad - serve with mixed greens and some of Kelsey's great bread. For dessert? A warm cranberry ginger oat square from the Williamsford Pie Company with a little scoop of Mapleton's Organic Vanilla or Ginger Ice Cream.

I'm really enjoying hearing from newsletter readers from all over, and I do promise that your recipes and ideas will be posted on the website soon. Here's a little challenge. Forward this newsletter and let's gather great local food ideas from far and wide. If your friend from afar writes to me and mentions they got the newsletter from you, I'll put your name in a draw for a $20 gift certificate from Around the Sound.

Around the Sound is at 972 1st Avenue West in Owen Sound, just a block north of the Tom Thomson Art Gallery. We're open Thursday and Friday, 10 until 7 and
Saturday 10 until 4. You can reach us at 519-370-2333 or through www.aroundthesoundfood.com

See you soon
Anne