When you think Frankford, think farm-fresh.
At least, keep that in mind this summer, because a Berks County farm will sell produce outside the Frankford Transportation Center at Bustleton and Frankford avenues every Tuesday afternoon until November.
Landon Jefferies and Lauren Shapiro of Root Mass Farm of Oley, Pa., sold greens, beets, blueberries and garlic scapes on June 19. It was their first time selling in Frankford, and they had a pretty good day, Shapiro said.
“We probably had about 50 customers,” she stated in an e-mail to the Northeast Times. Those customers were a mix of neighborhood people and commuters passing through the terminal, she said.
They stopped by with questions as well as cash.
“People seemed genuinely interested in the farm and how our produce was grown,” Shapiro said.
“Customers unfamiliar with some of our products — golden beets and garlic scapes — asked us things like, ‘What is this and how would you use it?’ ”
Don’t know what a garlic scape is? It is the sort of crescent-shaped top of a garlic plant. Growers cut them off the plants a few weeks before they harvest the garlic bulbs. Scapes taste very “garlicky” and sometimes have a little bite of heat. They can be cut up and used in salads or in cooked dishes.
“We got questions about our growing methods, where we are located and what crops we expect to have in the coming weeks,” Shapiro said.
Tomatoes are coming, and soon.
“By July 3, we should have some pints of our Sungold cherry tomatoes,” Shapiro said last week. ldquo;They’re an orange variety of cherry tomato and delightfully sweet. They can be enjoyed straight from the pint or cooked down into a flavorful tomato jam.”
This is the second summer for the Frankford farmers market, which is sponsored by the non-profit Food Trust, an organization dedicated to increasing the amount of fresh local food in Philadelphians’ diets. ••
