Having missed last week, I was determined to get to Midtown Farmers Market with Tom despite this morning’s stay-in-bed weather. We suited up in rain pants and rain coats and made our way into the downpour. In exchange for soggy feet Tom found eggs, asparagus, and rhubarb. I picked up a zeppolo for my mom, who’d seen a picture of Rebecca’s doughnuts in our last post.

As I photographed the first asparagus of the season, I felt as if I were in the woods after a storm. I enjoyed the droplets of water on each asparagus crown, and I can’t wait to see what creations Tom brings to the table with these slender green beauties.

Tom made sure we’d arrive at Midtown Farmers Market right at 8 a.m. on its Opening Day on May 7. He promised to head straight for the produce—be it spinach, asparagus, or even last year’s apples. He swore he wouldn’t talk to anyone or even buy a coffee before making sure we had some of the season’s first veggies in hand. That was the plan. As Tom fell into conversation with friends from Gardens of Eagan upon our arrival, I started wandering the market stalls, exploring the newest vendors at Midtown Farmers Market.

Near where Gardens of Eagan had set up their tent I found Midtown’s newest bread vendor, Black Paws, who’ll be selling breads from a collective of makers working together to bring their bounty to market. As a group, Black Paws’ bakers create a nice variety of breads. We picked a focaccia, thinking sandwiches. A word of advice: if you’d like to get your paws on one of these breads, arrive early! I remember hearing they sold out around 10 a.m. on Opening Day.

Maybe you’re not into bread, though. Maybe you don’t even care about vegetables. Maybe you’re more of an Italian-American doughnut lover. If that’s the case, Rebecca’s Bakery has you covered:

As I was talking to the vendors from Rebecca’s (Rebecca herself wasn’t there), I noticed they also had a few coolers on hand, so expect to find chilled dessert options (tiramisu!) as well as fresh eat-while-you-shop zeppolle.

We didn’t get a chance to try it, but Food by Greg is another new breakfast option at Midtown. Greg specializes in kabomelettes, $3 for Kabobs and $3 for Omelettes according to the May 7 signs. Instead, per our usual, Tom and I shared a La Loma’s Oaxacan tamal and a couple of coffees from Lisa & Dave at Fireroast Mountain Café. Finally, we had our coffee.

What did we take home? This sandwich sums it up. Focaccia, picked-that-morning Spinach from Peter & Carmen, and over-wintered apples from Havlicek’s. With a little cheese from a non-market source, it was a perfect spring farmer’s sandwich:

Tomorrow, Saturday, May 20, Midtown is hosting market #3 of the year at its usual location on Lake & 22nd Ave S from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Unfortunately, we missed week 2, but we hope to make it early tomorrow morning to pick up that conversation right where we left off.

With a little bit of a chill in the air this morning (it’s the first time I’ve seen temperatures in the 40s in a while) the ride to the market on the Greenway was a little lonely and the market seemed a bit quiet compared to previous weeks. Still, we were able to find some colorful produce. As we’ll be heading to Michigan on Wednesday Tom was conscious not to overbuy; my only requirement was that we get something purple. And we did:

Just as we were about to leave, I spotted a bouquet of gorgeous dahlias at the market manager’s table and headed back to get one for our place. It was very difficult to choose from the many cheerful clusters Va Vang’s farm had put together! With my own bouquet peeking from my tiny backpack on the ride home, the ride wasn’t so lonely—many a passerby offered a smile or a thumbs up. The sun is out and it’s going to be a great day.

May in Minnesota, however mild, is not exactly a month of abundant agricultural production. Plants just haven’t had enough time to shake off the winter chill and start the reproductive cycle that brings us delicious veggies all summer. Given that fresh local produce is hard to come by in this early month, one might question why Martha and I bother to strap on bike helmets every Saturday morning and pedal down to the Midtown Farmers Market. Why not wait till June?

The answer is, of course, that there is more to the market than the vegetables. In addition to talented artists and some intriguing specialty food options, Midtown is boasting a very impressive lineup of prepared food vendors this year. There are the favorites from last season: the Magic Bus Cafe, Crêperie Mala, Taco Taxi, and Fireroast Mountain Cafe (who fill the much-needed tamale niche). But there are also some exciting new vendors: this week brought the debut of Olive Pizza, who are cooking wood-fired pizzas to order at the market.

Olive Pizza is the brainchild of Elizabeth Vossen, who also serves as lead pizzaiola. After a summer spent lugging pizza screens to friends houses to satisfy a seemingly-never ending demand for grilled pizza, Elizabeth and her husband decided it might be fun to try their hand churning out pizzas professionally at the farmers market. Although they loved their grilled pizzas, they figured the seven minutes it took to bake them would be a little too long for a production environment. And so they took the plunge and invested in a very impressive mobile set-up, with a brand new trailer made in Colorado (still boasting a temporary CO license!) and an oven from Forno Bravo.

When I asked Elizabeth if she had any previous food service experience she replied, “Only if you count working at Dairy Queen in high school.” Experienced or not, I was impressed by the professional operation they were running. I ordered, paid for, and received my pizza all within a few minutes, and enjoyed passing the time in between chatting with fellow pizza nerds.

As for the pizzas themselves, they are excellent. With wood-fired pizzas, the crust is paramount, and the Olive Pizza crust is just as it should be: cracker crisp on the edges but soft and slightly chewy throughout and, most importantly, spottily charred—top and bottom. The sauce is bright with acid and just slightly sweet. I ordered the mushroom and Italian sausage pizza and Martha the pesto-tomato. The toppings were great — I am excited to see what they will do with some of the fresh market produce as it begins to arrive in the weeks to come.

Oh, speaking of produce, there’s some of that, too. Gardens of Eagan continues to bring some of the sweetest strawberries I’ve ever had, as well as a variety of lettuces including some artful baby romaine new this week. Rhubarb also made its first appearance, so I made sure to buy way too much of that as well. It’s a small variety of vegetables to be sure, and lacking these early arrivals I’m not sure I’d be able to bring myself to come; but then again, the wood-fired pizza alone might be worth the trip.

It’s finally here! It’s been pretty warm in Minnesota for about a month, but that only made the lack of fresh local produce seem even crueler. As of yesterday, the food drought was over with the advent of the Midtown Farmers Market. Martha and I were so excited that we arrived shortly after market open at eight and within a few minutes were enjoying our traditional farmers breakfast of tamales and coffee.

It was fun to see all our friends from last summer back at the market, as well as to welcome some new faces. Particularly promising is the stall for Gardens of Eagan, which in addition to the expected herb and veggie starters already had strawberries. Apparently hoop houses and a crazy-warm April can make this happen. For those who missed the market’s opener, their chalk board promised more strawberries and lettuce next week.

Looking back at last year, all I bought on the first day of the market (May 2, 2009) was a chicken, mutton and salsa — nothing fresh from the ground. Even though this year’s first market was a day earlier, I did a lot better for fresh produce: in addition to the aforementioned strawberries there were ramps foraged from the wilds of Wisconsion by Brett ‘Real Bread’ Laidlaw. There was also spinach available, had we been so inclined. As with last year, I couldn’t pass up a pound of that delicious ground mutton, and we also picked up a bag of spicy almonds from market fixture Barsy’s. This haul of food — already featuring fresh fruits and veggies — bodes well for the rest 0f the summer.

The Midtown Farmers Market is open Saturdays from May to October from 8am to 1pm and Tuesdays from June to October from 3pm to 7pm. The market is located at the corner of Lake St and Hiawatha, across from the YWCA.