Scapes, strawberries and dog "cashmere" at Pickering market

I like a market that sells something special, something extra fresh and fabulous that can’t be found at the local grocery. Welcome to Pickering’s 100-Mile Farmers’ Market, organized by the Durham West Arts Centre and held every Thursday from 3 to 7 p.m. through October 8, in the back parking lot of the Pickering Recreation Complex on Valley Farm Road.

Immediately, I was drawn to a tartan dog basket filled with hand-knitted mitts, socks and a sign that read “In this dog bed: Items spun from ‘dog hair’. The poor man’s cashmere.” Intrigued, I stroked a soft wooly sock. “That’s golden retriever,” said Lynn Hasson. “Dog hair has been used for centuries, like wool.” When I asked about the reference to cashmere, she explained, “Cashmere is the underbrushing of a goat. This is the underbrushing of a dog.” Also in the basket were items knitted with wool from a red golden retriever, border collie, Akita and malamute. It seems that many people bring their dog brushings to Lynn, in the hopes that she will make a lasting and practical memento of their pet.

Of course, there are many more conventional farm products here, like rhubarb pies from a Cobourg area orchard and these spectacular bunches of sweet Williams.

Just as fragrant as the flowers was the fresh cilantro from River Road Garden near Lindsay, along with Swiss chard, spinach, bok choy and spring mix. Later in the season they’ll be adding heirloom tomatoes and squash to the vegetable bounty.

My unofficial award for the most unusual produce of the day went to Marlene McKay of Willowtree Farm near Port Perry, who brought rhubarb, strawberries and scapes (long, green garlic tops). Marlene, who was keen for me to visit her family farm, explained how these strawberries were grown on plastic, requiring less spraying and advancing the harvest time by two weeks. More on Willowtree Farm in weeks to come.

At Aunt Lily’s Pantry, I found jars of organic pickles beets, roasted garlic and pepper cheese curds, and some very tasty peanut butter cookies.  I’m looking forward to returning as more vendors join the original seven later in the season.