Berry talk

[grandgourmand]

Just a little comment on berry/fruit season so far. Mostly good.

Strawberries - ok, this year, not all that sweet and probably weather-related.

Raspberries - really nice ones so far

Cherries - surprisingly sweet. I'm very happy.

Any places to buy a bunch of cherries? When does the season end?

[minto]

Dominion has cherries on sale this week at 2.99/lb. They are very large and very sweet.
I think they are from the US.

I also bought local strawberries from Dominion a few days ago and they were really sweet and tasty. They were at the perfect stage of ripeness.

[Recyclor]

We picked up some tasty cherries at the Bellwoods (Tuesdays) farmers market...

[millygirl]

We thought the strawberries this year have been incredible!

[JamieK]

I got some nice strawberries at the East Lynn market last week. Very tasty! At $5 a quart, what a difference from when I picked up a quart of local strawberries near the Midland area the week before for about $3 (or maybe $4, can't remember now). Ah well, the price you pay for convenience and the cost of fuel.

[millygirl]

JamieK, seems you and I travel in the same circles. East Lynn is where I've been getting my strawberries for about 4 weeks now and every week they have been excellent. In fact last week at Riverdale Farms I was told the berry season was now over, only to find tons at the East Lynn two days later.

[grandgourmand]

I haven't had much luck with the strawberries. I've bougth a few quarts from a variety of producers and they just didn't seem as sweet as in the past. Still really nice, but this year seemed a little different. Actually, one of the better batches I got was some local ones at Loblaws.

[Splendid Wine Snob]

I was searching and searching for wild strawberries-you know-fraises de bois (not the cultivated kind) and let me tell you, I found some at SLM this past weekend that blew my socks off. So deliciously sweet-just like the ones I used to pick off the ground up at my camp as a child. They taste like you are eating a sugar cube and have that perfect tartness-not the sour acidity that is often associated with the cultivated clones. Honestly, a chef's wet dream.

[Googs]

Which vendor?

[Splendid Wine Snob]

I'm sorry Googs-I'm such an ass that I didn't think of asking, I got carried away with excitement by finding them. The vendor told me they were from a small town just outside London. The stall was located outside on Jarvis (east side of the sidewalk), almost at Front.

[Googs]

I *think* you're in or near my neighbouhood. If so, St Jamestown Steak and Chops had some lovely looking sweet cherries this past week. You might also try the Riverdale Farm Farmers' Market although I haven't been this year so don't know if they have them. It's open Tuesday's 3pm-7pm.
http://www.friendsofriverdalefarm.com...

P.S. Whoever deals with their website should make sure the location is listed in such a way that you don't need to be an insider to understand it.

[grandgourmand]

Riverdale farm is very conveniently located, I *think* you're right about my whereabouts. Unfortunately, it's not conveniently timed for me, since I'm usually at work when it's running. I actually called in "sick" one day just to get there once. It was good.

My usual market haunts are Withrow, which has been weak this year and Brick Works, which has been OK. I bought some nice cherries there, but at $4 for a pint (or less), I was looking for a bit better value in that department.

[Googs]

gg, Riverdale Farmers' Market had no cherries yesterday. On another note, the Ontario strawberries I bought at St. Jamestown are delicious.