The next Saturday Market falls on May 4th.  May the 4th be with you! 

Let’s hope this little bit of white weather leaves town soon because we’ve got lots going on in May and sunny weather makes everything more fun.  Click here to visit our News & Events page for the full listing of May Markets and events.

Wednesday Markets will begin on Wednesday May 22nd and will run till Wednesday, September 4th.  Both floors of the Dove will be open to shoppers from 4 until 7pm every Wednesday!  And don't miss our 17th Birthday Party on Saturday, May 25th:  family fun including food, entertainment and inflatables for the kids.

If you’ve attended Market the past few weeks you already know that greenhouse produce season has officially begun.  DeBruin’s Greenhouses and Veg.e.tate Market Garden are both in full swing with fresh greens (see the story below) and the first herbs and we expect to see others joining them towards the end of the month.

Our Earth Day E-Cycle has been rescheduled for Saturday May 18th.  Just drive up with your old and unwanted electronics, unload and drive off.  Then join us inside the Dove Building where you’ll find Carol Kajorinne of Satellite Studio hosting a kids’ craft workshop on the second floor.  Carol braved the snow on April 20 to join us to put on a robot-making workshop with recycled materials, with adorable and enjoyable results – don’t miss this opportunity with your little artists!

Mother’s Day is coming up on May 12.  Looking for something to tell her how much you appreciate her?  You know our vendors’ tables are full of delicious foods, sweet baking and art from potters, metalsmiths, weavers, sculptors, photographers, painters and more.  Be sure to have a look for something special - the Market is open as usual on Saturday May 11 - and make your Mother’s Day gift as unique as she is.

Found at the Market

Meatless Buckwheat Cabbage Rolls
Folks with meatless and gluten-free lifestyles will want to stop and ask Roman Okonski at London Variety about their buckwheat cabbage rolls. Roman’s talented wife Alexandra wraps huge tender leaves of cabbage around a mixture of rice, carrot, onion, celery and buckwheat in hefty rolls that will satisfy that cabbage-roll craving often denied to vegetarians. Instead of tomatoes or tomato sauce, Roman recommends serving these tasty treats with a nice mushroom gravy (we tried this vegan recipe here http://vegetarian.about.com/od/saucesdipsspreads/r/mushroomgravy.htm) which brings out the slightly nutty flavour of the buckwheat and binds the filling together beautifully.

Buckwheat is really amazing! Not only is it not actually a grain (that name is really misleading) it’s more of a fruit seed, related to rhubarb and sorrel. Buckwheat grows fast and can be grown in short-season climates or as a second crop – in as few as 10 weeks it’s ripe for harvest. Buckwheat flowers attract bees, producing a fine dark honey, and the seeds themselves , we’ve learned, are considered a super-food in some circles, being high in protein, amino acids and minerals, low in calories and gluten-free. If you’ve wondered what it was like, try them this way. We think you’ll be glad you did.

Custom and Ready-to-Wear Printed Tees
ABC Embroidery & Promotions maintains a corner table on the second floor of the Market across from Caribbean Kitchen, where you’ll often see shoppers grinning and chuckling over humorously screen-printed tees great for special occasion gifts and souvenirs of Thunder Bay visits.  Whether your interest is in our National Bird (the giant mosquito) the Sleeping Giant or funny slogans like this Mother’s Day-appropriate “Yes Dear” teeshirt you’ll enjoy a chuckle yourself after a look at their wares.  ABC also offers custom design, so if you’re looking to outfit a sports team, brand your family vacation with matching funwear or sport your business’ logo you’ll want to chat with Randy or Laura about custom screening or embroidery on their amazing selection of shirts, hats, hoodies, jackets, drinkware and more.

Fundraising for Life
Want to enjoy a delicious snack and support one of our vendors in a great cause?  A Little of This’ Ulla Grant is offering variety 3-packs of her best-selling dip mixes for $5 and the entire $5 will go into her fund-raising efforts for the Relay for Life.  Ulla is participating in the Relay, which raises funds to fight cancer through research, education, advocacy and support for those living with cancer.  The Relay runs through the night of June 14 at Fort William Historical Park.  Ulla and her team will take turns walking the route for 12 hours, symbolizing cancer patients’ journeys through a time of darkness.  “Cancer never sleeps, so neither do we.”
In that little bag you’ll find Delicious Dill, Onion Supreme and Heavenly Herbs, Ulla’s three most popular mixes.  Each mix comes with instructions to add sour cream, cream cheese, mayo or yogurt ingredients to create delicious dips for chips, veggies, crackers and pitas.  What a tasteful way to support a great cause!

The Greenhouse Report
We crowed with joy when we got our first email from veg.e.tate Market Garden at the end of March announcing their arrival at the Market.  Justin and Kaitlin have been coming in with a steadily growing supply of their famous greens, and anticipate a good crop for May.  Among their offerings you’ll find the pea shoots and sunflower shoots that addicted so many people last summer, as well as their micro greens salad, which is a tasty mix of sunflower and pea shoots, baby radish, kale and mustard.  Awesomely complex, this salad balances the spiciness of the baby greens with the nuttiness of the sunflower shoots and the sweetness of the pea shoots for a mixture you never want to hide by over-dressing and which can function all by itself as a tasty salad or form a robust bed for other ingredients (don’t forget about the pickled garlic at H&P!).

DeBruin’s Greenhouses have been coming to Market for a couple of weeks now with fragrant fresh basil and their stunningly smooth-leaved lettuces (no hot winds, blowing dirt or bugs mar these beautiful heads) and anticipate having the first tomatoes ready sometime in the next couple of weeks.  Stop by their booth (they're usually in the front foyer) to meet Arjen, Henriet or one of their four beautiful daughters, and watch for flower transplants and hanging baskets coming soon!