The Renaissance Project and the American Friends Service Committee have partnered locally to coordinate the monthly Fresh Market at Hunter’s Field. We convened the Upper Ninth Ward Farmers Market on St. Claude Ave. for three years and will now sponsor our first Fresh Market at Hunter’s Field from 11am – 3pm on Easter Saturday, April 3, 2010 at the corner of St. Bernard and Claiborne Ave.

This will be the first of planned monthly markets at this site. Markets are scheduled as follows:
Easter Saturday, April 3, 2010
Mother’s Day Weekend, May 8, 2010
Father’s Day Weekend, June 19, 2010
4th of July Weekend, July 3, 2010

The Easter Saturday market will feature bell peppers, onions, potatoes and fresh seafood. In addition, vendors will be on hand selling Easter holiday trimmings. Sweet Lorraine’s will sell fried fish and soft shell crab plates. Healthcare professionals and community-based organizations with share information with the public. At 12 noon there will be an Easter egg hunt for the children and Students at the Center will interview seniors in a Story Circle at 1pm.

This market is made possible with the support of Treme Center, Sweet Lorraine’s, NewCorp Business Assistance Center, Second Harvest Food Bank, Students at the Center, Positive Living Treatment Center and the 7th Ward Neighborhood Center.

Stop by tomorrow, on the 4th anniversary of you know what, to buy fresh catfish, drum and shrimp from Warren Delacroix; fresh and pickled okra, tomatoes, cucumbers and cantaloupes from Backwoods Farm; handmade strawberry lemonade, kettlecorn and pork skins from Don and Deneen Harding; and portabella mushroom sandwiches, beef tamales, banana nut bread and hot pepper jelly from Sally Cobb.

Join 60 volunteers at 9AM in gardening and beautification projects around Douglass High and in front of the Alvar Street Public Library.

Creative Forces performs at 1:30PM in the auditorium. See attached press release.

I remember stopping for the St. Claude bridge and a train at Press St. too, sometimes twice the same day but no less than five times a week, ‘catching’ one or the other, on my way to work downtown. Everyone sat at a standstill, inconvenienced, for blocks in both directions as a tugboat and a couple of barges slowly coasted through the locks or an engine chugged forward half a block then back, over and over again, to the sound of levers, iron and steel, unhitching railcars.

This morning under the comforting breeze and quiet whir of our ceiling fan, I consider the plight and perspective of the bridge operator and railroad conductor as we stop traffic and bring our work to a screeching halt for the purpose of getting on track and directing the course of our projects.

We will close the Upper 9th Ward Farmers market during the month of September to do housecleaning, repair and renovations. We reopen on October 3rd and celebrate our three-year anniversary in November. As we make progress please accept our sincere apologies for the pain and inconvenience.

Now driving down St. Claude from a different direction, the train and bridge still stop us, though less frequently. In my mother’s voice, my two-year old granddaughter laughs as my “toot, toot, toot” mimics the signal for the operator to lower the bridge.

Take good care,

Greta

1-4pm - Upper Ninth Ward Farmers Market

Frederick Douglass High School, 3820 St. Claude Avenue corner Pauline Street

which means more time for you and your friends to make plans to be there! 

New Orleans has, throughout her long history, been the "Queen City" or the capital of the Caribbean.  The movement of people also meant movement of food.  Because of the great love of good food in this city, everyone from every corner of the globe who has something good to eat was welcome at the table. 

This month we return to Jamaica for its spicy and delicious curry goat; a dish that has lots of history and multi-cultures in every bite you take.  The main flavor comes from the male goat seasoned with Indian curry, helped along with the flavor of the scotch bonnet pepper (similar to a habenero). The scotch bonnet is cooked whole in the pot for the fruity pepper flavor. Many cooks in Africa as well as the Caribbean burst open the pepper after it’s cooked to release the juices, seeds and flesh for a dose of spicy heat! Chayote (known in these parts as mirliton) with potatoes, carrots, fresh thyme and garlic round out the dish.

The curry addition comes to the dish from India. Indians were brought to Jamaica after the slave trade was abolished to provide cheap labor, and they made a great contribution to the food.  Curry goat is eaten in 2 ways, with rice and peas, or with Roti; the flat Indian bread, famous in the Caribbean as their version of the Po’Boy, stuffed with curry goat stew. 

So, come on down to the Upper 9th Market on September 20th, 2008 and get your self a delicious plate of history!

The lunch is available from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

FYI: The Market runs on Saturdays, at Holy Angels Parking Lot, 3500 St. Claude Avenue, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Chef Ashbell’s Caribbean Menu:

• Louisiana Raised Jamaican Style Curry Goat
• Jamaican Rice & Peas
• Festival Bread (Fried Bread that’s close to a hush puppy but better!)
• Roasted Creole Tomato Salad
• Corn Meal Cake with Smothered Peaches

In August, Chef Ashbell, the market award-winning international chef, is fixing up a great looking feast:

• Creole Tomato & Green Onion Salad

• West African Chicken Yassa: Chicken marinated in Myer Lemons, chilies, garlic, and cilantro, then grilled & served with grilled sweet onions.

• African Okra, Onion and Eggplant Sautee

• Fig Upside-Down Cake

Come on down on Saturday, August 2nd, 2008 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and enjoy some great cooking before you go shopping!

The next planned "Fridays at the Roch" event is planned for Friday, July 25 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The entertainment will feature local jazz quartet "The Black Notes", Chuck Perkins and appearances by Mardi Gras Indians.

  Sunpie Barnes and the Louisiana Sunspots at the Roch

Getting the hang of hula hoops! 

Checking out the artwork is fun! 

All ages are welcome, so bring your friends, your mama an’ dem, visit the vendor booths and grab a bite to eat!
Across the street, the St. Roch Tavern will be open to sell adult beverages if you are so inclined. 

Easter Saturday, March 22, was a big success.  In the morning we had the Easter egg hunt, attended by kids from the local school and in the afternoon the bicycle beauty pageant.  We were happy to give out toys such as hula hoops, bike bells and helmets, street chalk, and bubble machines.  I drove around like mad in the days prior to the events of that Saturday picking up and drooping off eggs, toys, fruit, and anything else we needed.  Big thanks go out to everyone whose involvement was instrumental in bringing Easter events to local Drew Elementary kids: Roy Zuppardo, of Zuppardo’s Supermarket for providing 15 dozen eggs, Reggie Lawson for boiling and dyeing the eggs, Dr. Denese Shervington for her generous donation to allow purchase of the toys, Kina Joshua for organizational help, and of course, the volunteers who helped judge the bike contest and helped hide Easter eggs.  From all of us at the market thanks go out to the patrons, vendors, and volunteers for making Easter Saturday a hit!

–Pavel 

Events include an Easter egg hunt, a bicycle beauty pageant and, of course, the farmer’s market.

Easter Egg Hunt - 10 am

Bicycle Beauty Pageant - 2 pm

• Three age groups with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes
• Judging on Health/Safety & Creativity/Artistic Merit

Farmer’s Market - 1 - 4 pm

Also, check out this link to Natural Easter egg dyes
 

This was, of course, the day of the Endymion Parade and the African Drum Circle was playing all of our favorite Mardi Gras songs.