Permit me to start this blog post with a personal anecdote: In the first few months of Marty’s being open, I was restocking soaps and salves produced by Cherry Valley Organics, a local farm that produces USDA Certified Organic body products and herbal teas as a way to diversify their business and preserve their harvest.

It’s officially Summer by the looks of what’s coming in local.  Who’s excited to do some grilling? Fragrant Fennel                 From Penn’s Corners Farm Alliance Gourmet Cut Lettuce Mizuna Microgreens Cluster Tomatoes Compari Tomatoes   From Clarion River Organics Gourmet Lettuce Mix Romaine Lettuce Green Kale Red and White Scallions Zucchini Baby Fennel Blue Potatoes   From Goose Creek Gardens Rosemary Chives Spearmint, Peppermint, & Pineapple Mint Lemon Thyme   From Brenckle’s Organic Farm and Greenhouse  *Our newest farm partner* Garlic Scapes Green Leaf Lettuce Red Oakleaf Lettuce Rainbow ...

FoodStuff: noun 1.  A substance with food value; specifically: the raw material of food before or after processing. 2.  A series of Marty’s Market blog posts in which we explore how food is always, and was always, more than just nourishment. Every so often a new food makes major waves, often first in a niche market and then floods mainstream food retail outlets.

  Here at Marty’s Market, we strive to connect our customers to regional farms in an effort to provide you with the freshest and most sustainable foods available. So,  last week a few of Marty’s Market staff traded in the city life for some peace and quiet with a visit to Clarion River Organics’ (CRO) farms in Sligo, PA.

This just in!  It’s salad season!  Get creative with making your own dressings with local herbs!   From Penn’s Corners Farm Alliance Compari Tomatoes Cluster Tomatoes Spring Onions Parsley Asparagus   From Clarion River Organics Green Kale Red Kale Collards Lacinato Kale Blue Potatoes Gourmet Salad Mix Green Oakleaf Lettuce   From Goose Creek Gardens Salanova Gourmet Lettuce Blend Spearmint Chives   From Brenckle’s Organic Farm and Greenhouse  *Our newest farm partner* Spinach Kale Red Oakleaf Lettuce

This just in!  The growing season is slowly waking up.  We’ve got spring specialties and organic seedlings for your garden! From Wild Purveyors (storefront located at 5308 Butler St. in Lawrenceville) Saladette Hothouse Tomatoes Gold Potatoes Green Chard Young Sweet & Spicy Salad Mix Wildfire Lettuce Mix Red Leaf Lettuce White Button Mushrooms Portobello Mushrooms   From Penn’s Corners Farm Alliance Compari Tomatoes   From Clarion River Organics Kale Green Butterhead Lettuce Romaine Blue Potatoes   From Goose ...

Celebrating Mothers’ Day usually involves the iconic image of the family (Mom still in bed of course) cooking a haphazard breakfast, to be eaten in bed.  Moms are supposed to take it easy on Mother’s Day.  It’s the day we appreciate them for all they do.* It can be difficult to appreciate this work, not because we don’t love our Moms (of all kinds), but because we often don’t understand or ...

FoodStuff: noun 1.  A substance with food value; specifically: the raw material of food before or after processing. 2.  A series of Marty’s Market blog posts in which we explore how food is always, and was always, more than just nourishment. A series of photos is making the usual rounds on the internet.  The photos, or portraits rather, by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio, depict families around the world posing by a week’s worth of groceries.

On a recent visit to one of our original local farm partners, Goose Creek Gardens, we met two of their new loves, adorable Baby Anna and their new Salanova lettuces.  Inside one of their greenhouses, the rain was amplified, and everything was just so spring you could skip and dance in joy.  (We’ve been really looking forward to local produce, can you tell?) Their romaine was coming in, plump, slow ...

The thing we all have in common is that we are consumers.  We’re shoppers, eaters, chefs, novices; we all consume food.  And, excitingly, we have seem to have some of the same ideas about this food.  Overwhelmingly, the American people have voiced their opinion that genetically modified foods (GMOs or GE food) should be labelled.

Maca root has been used as a health supplement since 3800 BCE.  Who are we to argue with history?  Grown in the Andes of Peru, maca root, now in powder form, includes a multitude of minerals and B, C, and E vitamins.  Maca root health claims include boosting energy, regulating endocrine functioning, inducing a calming effect (which can help with insomnia), even aiding in women’s health issues like PMS and ...

It’s no secret that Post Gazette staff writer, Doug Oster loves dandelions.  This Saturday, April 6th, find out why! You’ll learn how to harvest dandelions, grow your own, and taste how truly delicious they can be! Find out more from Doug’s Blog at the Pittsburgh Post Gazette! This event is free and open to the public.

At Marty’s Market, we love our little bulk section filled with many treasures.  We love that we can buy the exact amount of any ingredient we need for a recipe (not to mention portion control on some of our sweeter options).  We love that we’re helping to reduce landfill waste and recycling mass by cutting down on packaging.

For all of us involved in food, from growing it to selling it, preparing it and eating it, food safety is a paramount concern.  Food scares and illnesses are occasional occurrences, but they have the power to rock our worlds.  It’s terrible to think that something so important to our daily lives, something we both biologically need and artfully love, could also hurt us. Regulations, standards, audits, accountability: these are are crucial ...

New to Pittsburgh?  Back from years in New York and think Pittsburgh is behind the times?  Moved in from the burbs? Parents in town and can’t think of where to go to dinner? If you answered yes to any of the questions then the Urbanist Guide is just the thing for you! Epic Development partnered to bring the Urbanist Guide to Pittsburgh from the sunny shores of ...