Tour of the Markets-North Union Farmers Market, Chagrin Falls, OH
Walking through the streets of Chagrin Falls felt like I felt like I took a stroll back in time. While there was traffic throughout the town, the heavy amount of plants and grass scattered around the whole downtown really muted any noises or fact that roads existed, and felt like you were in nature, despite being in the center of town. Overall, very charming and I would highly recommend adding some extra time to explore this area if you visit!
As the name suggested, the river here runs under main street (this shop is directly above the falls, on the bridge), and crossing over the bridge feels like the entrance to downtown. Looking to my left, I am welcomed with popcorn balls and ice cream cones to enjoy my stroll!
Looking to my right, over the other edge of the bridge, we see the same river upstream, surrounded by parks and restaurant patios. The water noise was both comforting and acted as a sound barrier to any street noise, further enhancing the nature and charm of this town!
The heart of the square is a large garden and brick lined park. This is the site for many of their activities, from music to art fairs, and lots of in between! The roads surrounding create a triangle, and the market lined the edge of this central park.
Chagrin Falls is part of the North Union Farmers Market, which works hard to bring the highest caliber of vendors and goods to their markets. Not only are these certified, producer-only markets, but the union performs onsite verification as a part of the certification process, vetting out each operation. Well done North Union!
At this point in the season, herbs were quite plentiful, and really added to the vibe of this market! The smells were fantastic!
Beautiful greenery of plenty! The varieties represented here was very interesting, and above and beyond markets in the area that I have been seeing.
Still in planting season, there were some starters available! This gentleman grows in a large indoor space as well, so his offerings were about 2 months beyond what I had expected, and a fun conversation starter (thank you for some great recipe ideas!).
I am always amazed at the creativity with home made goods here, and combination of smells. These soaps smelled almost edible! Absolutely delicious to walk through.
Not to be outdone, in almost ice sculpture-esque fashion, these beeswax creations were amazing!
There is no caption that can do this photo justice. Free tiger pettings. Enough said. My heart was exploding with this beautiful little town’s nostalgic charm!
The produce offered here was fantastic! It was a very hot day and I felt pity for every leaf sitting out today, but everyone was in great spirits and had lots of friendly words and suggestions to provide! This booth had many types of beets and we chatted quite a bit on uses (see recipes at the bottom).
Aided by some indoor growing season, the extent of greens was really eye opening! I don’t often find this range of Asian greens, and was very excited to try them out!
Bulb season is still in full swing and they were as plentiful as they were beautiful!
While starters are often for earlier in the season, with the types represented, it was easy to think beyond your garden to indoor planters or creative deck arrangements to have easy access to fresh herbs!
This week’s challenge was fun and extremely colorful!! Both of these vegetables were familiar but different varieties than I’m use to cooking with, so I tried to emphasize their appearance as well as flavor. The take away here is that I need to host more dinner parties 🙂 With all of these dishes being so bright and pleasing to the eye, they dress up any table display!
Join me in the kitchen as I play with my produce haul, and I’d love to hear your thoughts or suggestion!
Shrimp and Mustard Green Bibimbap
Rainbow Beet Pasta with Bleu Cheese Alfredo
Beet Green and Goat Cheese Omelet with Bacon and Beet Medallions
Lemon Butter Mustard Greens over Dill Salmon
Roasted Beets and Tomatoes with Rosemary Balsamic Greens
Seared Mahi Mahi with Sesame Mustard Green and Carrot Stir Fry
Walking back up the hill, it would have been impossible to be anything but dancing on clouds! What a wonderful start to the day and gorgeous morning! I can see why this town has the constant flow of events and tourism, and I just wish I had a large brimmed hat and banana seat bike to ride through town! The people were wonderful to meet, pets always friendly and quick with a hello, and sun was shining-how could this be a better stop on the market tour?!
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)
