Tour of the Markets-Hudson Farmers Market, Hudson, OH
Join me as I head over to this quant little bedroom community of Cleveland for their weekly market! It was clear by the traffic entering town that I was not the only one excited for farmers market season to start! The streets were lined with cars far past the distance I would have expected for pedestrians, and with kids and pets of all ages, the park was packed! This limited some photography, but I still tried to grab the essence of this great market to give you a tour.
The park is located directly in the center of town, right under the clock tower. Ironically, the Rotary Club of Hudson Clock Tower was the group spearheading this market in 2007, joining with other residence to have this established as a 501c3. It really did feel like the heart of the town, and later pictures will give more of a visual to that effect.
As I entered the park, I was greeted with local, homemade goods, particularly maple syrup and kettle corn. Unlike kettle corn you may have tried, this was a really interesting corn, glazed with their syrup!
Across this aisle was a vast array of balsamic vinegars in many flavors. There were lots of ideas around for how to use combinations, that created lots of ‘food’ for thought. 🙂
The park opened to a live painting demonstration. How wonderful! In all of the markets I’ve toured, I can’t say I’ve ever seen a painting demonstration, and this was a very welcomed pause to watch.
Still early in the season, many flowering plants were available, including lots of colorful ground coverings.
Not to be outdone by their beautiful friends, there were starter plants of plenty, predominantly strawberries and tomatoes.
Every week I see a variety of plants, and it is always a nice gauge of the season with what I find, and at what stage of growth they are in. This market was still full of pepper plants and lots of herbs.
This. Smell. Was. AMAZING! I wish a picture could do justice here, but as you can tell from the photo, they must have just placed a fresh batch of pierogi on these hot pads. The line of people seemed to understand when a fresh batch was ready and quickly blocked my view!
As I crossed over to the other side of the park, the street was lined with a needed heat break-ice cream. A few food trucks were present, and as the summer heat was picking up, this was a popular place to congregate.
There was an abundance of apples of many different varieties, as well as apple products made from the orchard.
I caught this photo right at the onset of garlic scape season and they were flying out of here! This was the last of the basket right before they refilled (don’t worry, I brought some home for the week’s challenge).
More flavored popcorn to be had, along with farm fresh eggs, herbs, and lots of summer greens to try out!
Not only were there table upon table of sweet cookies, pies, and pasties, but many of these booths also had individual hand pies and quiches (and oh, the varieties!)!
Word to the wise, apparently this is a hot seller and should be one of the first stops if visiting this market. I chatted with the woman running this pasta stand, and they are usually sold out quite early in the day. I loved the variety that they had represented!
Along the park there was also a few vendors selling arts and crafts, and this particular booth had some hands on options for the kids.
As I rounded my way back to the front of the park, the entire mall area was full of dogs, happy kids with ice cream cones, and friends chatting excitedly. The overall atmosphere was so wonderfully contagious!
I’m including a little stroll to give a full impression-the block radius of the park was surrounded by a road, but everything was incredibly pedestrian friendly and had more crosswalks than I’m use to seeing.
I parked one block away facing this ‘town square’. At other times of the day, this is often the crowded mall area, as it is surrounded by lots of local shopping and restaurants, but today was fairly quiet.
At the head of the square is their beautiful library, almost as if making a welcoming bow to any visitors new to town.
Each side of the street is lined with small shops and cafes, most with doors open and music playing.
Cobblestone roads. The picture says 1,000 words. Just charming.
I headed back to my car, bag full of goods, heart happy. What a beautiful Saturday morning and great start to a gorgeous weekend. Off to experiment in the kitchen!
For this week, I picked up a bunch of swiss chard and a bundle of garlic scapes. I do not have much experience with either of these, so they will be a great way to start out farmers market season! Early greens can have strong and/or bitter flavors, depending on how they are prepared, so I tried to cook in a variety of ways to see how they reacted. I was really pleased overall!!
Let me know if you try any of these recipes-I’d love to hear any thoughts/feedback/alterations!
Seared Mahi Mahi with Leek and Garlic Scape Butter Sauce
Stuffed Salmon with Olive and Garlic Scape Tapenade
Garlic Scape and Shallot Vinaigrette
Thank you again for following along on this journey! While the season will show different produce at different times, a big reason that I like to explore venues is to see the culture the market provides-radius of farmers it brings in, types of vendors, meeting local people, and being a part of the environment. Hudson brings about 40 vendors from almost 100 miles around, and was a great, diverse selection of edible and visual art-a wonderful place to visit!
If you haven’t been following along, this is a part of the Tour of the Market series that I started in the summer of 2022, as a way to explore various farmers markets and try cooking with the local and seasonal offerings that they provide. I’d love to have you follow along with me as I continue this journey! Check out the past tours here.
You can also catch the recipes as they are published by liking and following Goddess of Garlic via Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest! If you’d like to see video tours, many of these are also available on TikTok.
Thanks again for tagging along on this journey!
Hannah (your fearless culinary visionnaire)
