Historic St. Andrews Farmers' Market

South of the old Queen Street West garment district, and just west of Spadina, hides a new Saturday farmers' market. I use the terms "old" and "new" very loosely, as the "new" St. Andrew's Farmers' Market is actually a blast from the past. It was one of the earlier farmers' markets in Toronto, and now it's back!

Tasty Tastebuds and I had the chance the check out a sneak peek of the St. Andrew's farmers' market a few weeks back, and were pleased to find close to a dozen vendors selling local produce. It is strawberry season, my friends! Time to indulge in the berries that go best with shortcake! We left the market a few weeks ago with Ontario-made beeswax lip balm, and homemade rotini pasta. The pasta was quite incredible. The farmers boasted milling their own grain, managing the entire production line from field to kitchen. We were told that the pasta would keep in our fridge for up to a week, and also could be thrown directly into a boiling pot of water from frozen. We finally did the latter recently, and had some lovely cold pasta salad, topped with fresh garlic greens and other seasonal delights.

The official grand opening of the historic St. Andrew's Farmers' Market is tomorrow. I'm looking forward to strawberries!