Dudley Farmer’s Market

Today, my mom and I checked out the Dudley Farmer’s Market in Guilford.  It’s a beautiful day, and the market was nicely set up in the shade on the historic Dudley Farm.  We saw a bunch of vendors, including crafts, yarns, jewelry, baked goods, grass-fed beef, and dairy.  And of course, Melissa was there with clams and oysters, as well as some maple syrup.  Ed’s brother Chris and his wife Melissa own C.W. Shellfish, and sustainably raise clams and oysters in the sound on the coast of Branford and Guilford.  Unlike farm-raised salmon, farm-raised clams and oysters do not pollute the environment, and they help to bring back some of the natural population, since it’s not fished as heavily.  Ed loves to help out with the clam business on the weekends and sometimes on the week days, and I don’t mind when he comes home with some fresh fish they caught.  Ironically, Melissa is allergic to shellfish, and although I’m allergic to lobster and shrimp and could eat clams, I don’t really like them.  Although I do enjoy fried clam strips and stuffed clams.

Here’s Melissa at the C.W. Shellfish stand.

Melissa weighing some clams for my mom.

Little neck clams.

Oysters.

Large clams or “Stuffies,” as Ed’s Grammy calls them.

A clothes line with aprons decorates the area.  Craft vendors are set up in front of them.

Mom, me and Melissa.

The restored barn.  I took this picture from the car…

I ended up buying some fresh country bread and some fresh roasted red pepper cheese.  I’ll definately check it out again, especially for the grass-raised beef.  There was beautifully dyed hand-spun Alpaca wool, but it was too hot for me to think about knitting or crocheting!  The woman selling it said she agreed, as she sat at the loom spinning more yarn.  There was a pretty yarn that was blue, purple, and green.  I had my eye on it, but it was $48.  I guess I’d charge that if I raised the Alpacas, sheared them, cleaned and dyed the wool, then spun it by hand.  I’ll have to stop back in the fall when my mind’s back on knitting.

I also got a good tip that there’s a new farmer’s market in Durham on the green on Thursday afternoons.  Mom and I decided to check it out when we’re out of school.

All this talk about clams makes me think that I can’t end this post without a recipe.  Here’s an easy one.

Grilled Clams

Place little neck clams on a hot grill just until they open.  Serve with horseradish, cocktail sauce, hot sauce, or marinara sauce.

Green Mamma, when your family’s in CT we’re definitely going!