This and that: The Market Report and more

Our correspondent's latest finds for making the most at local farmers markets. Metered parking rolls out in West Lafayette. Greater Lafayette’s pitch to summer interns. And more.

• Thanks to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.

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First up: Welcome back to Based in Lafayette’s newest feature, with a look at what’s in season this week at Greater Lafayette’s farmers markets.

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A great time to try beets and scapes

By Carol Bangert / For Based in Lafayette

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A month into the farmers market season, I continue to be excited and inspired by what I find each week.

Mid-spring produce ranges from the sweetness of strawberries to the pungent bite of spring onions to the earthy tones of turnips, carrots and kale. I hope you continue to hunt out your favorite produce as the days edge toward summer. Now’s a perfect opportunity to try something new, picked fresh from area farms.

Here are a few in-season finds you can weave into your meal plans.

We’ve got the beets

Beets have never been a take-it-or-leave-it vegetable, in my experience. Mention beets, and people say they either love them or hate them. I happen to just adore beets (if you’re of the “Gilligan’s Island” generation, you get the reference), and I was thrilled to see the first bunches at the Lafayette Farmers Market last week. Beets are versatile and nutritious, but they also are messy and take a bit of work. They are great roasted, sautéed and pickled. They can be eaten raw as well, but if you’re new to raw beets, I wouldn’t go the Dwight Schrute route and eat them like an apple (that scene from “The Office” always makes my jaw hurt). Maybe try them grated in a salad for starters.

Beets pair nicely with a range of flavors and work particularly well with goat cheese, oranges and other citrus, walnuts and balsamic vinegar. Beet salads (like the scrumptious version served at Teays River Brewing & Public House) offer a range of colors and textures, highlighting the beet’s natural sweetness.

Brittani Atchley of Atchley Farms says when storing beets, first remove the greens and store them in the fridge in a glass of water – they’re great in a sauté. The bulbs should be wrapped in a damp paper towel then refrigerated in an airtight container. They’ll last one to two weeks.

Don’t let these escape

While browsing fresh herbs, a bunch of bright green, curly shoots caught my eye. These were garlic scapes, the green stalks that emerge from the center of garlic bulbs. Scapes have a subtle garlic flavor and are great in stir fries, in stews, sautéed and even used in pestos. Wash the scapes, cut off the tough bottoms, place them in an unsealed plastic bag in the fridge, and they’ll last a few weeks. You also can place them in a jar of water in the fridge with similar results. They can be frozen, as well. Scapes are in season now through mid-summer.

The produce bonanza is just getting started at area farmers markets. Happy hunting!

• Red and green onions

• Parsnips

• Radishes

• Bok choy

• Greens (kale, mustard, arugula, lettuce varieties)

• Herbs, both plants and cuttings (Chives, spearmint, oregano, sage, basil, parsley, thyme, catnip, lavender)

• Baby carrots

• Salad turnips

• Rhubarb

• Strawberries

Hours/Days at the Markets

West Lafayette Farmers Market: 3:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesdays, through October This year marks the 20th anniversary of the West Lafayette market. The market is held at Cumberland Park in West Lafayette with more than 50 vendors.

Lafayette Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, through October, on Fifth Street between Columbia Street and mid-block to Ferry Street and Main Street between Fourth and Sixth streets.

Purdue Farmers Market: 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Thursdays, through October. The Purdue farmers market is held on the Memorial Mall on Purdue’s campus. This market is a concession-heavy market that allows students, faculty and staff to have lunch options in a unique outdoor setting.

Carol Bangert, editor of Greater Lafayette Magazine, has been a regular at Greater Lafayette farmers markets for more than 20 years. From May through October, she’ll scout out in-season produce at the markets and report back on fresh finds and how to use them.

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NEW PROGRAM LOOKS TO MAKE AN IMPRESSION ON GREATER LAFAYETTE’S SUMMER INTERNS

A new program looking to give interns working in Greater Lafayette over to summer a better taste of the community starts in earnest Friday with opening pitch for the Lafayette Aviators game at Loeb Stadium.

The Greater Lafayette Summer Internship Experience, launched by Greater Lafayette Commerce and the Indiana Destination Development Corp., aims to make a pitch to the roughly 300 interns estimated to be working here for the summer, bringing them together for ballgames, kayak trips, volunteer efforts and other free events to bond with each other – and with the community.

“The idea is to shape their time in Greater Lafayette in a positive way, beyond their work experience,” Chelsie Freeman, vice president for communications at Greater Lafayette Commerce, said. “So, hopefully if one of these companies does extend that job offer to them, they see the community as somewhere they could live and where they could work after graduation.”

Endorsed by Mayors Tony Roswarski in Lafayette and Erin Easter in West Lafayette – “We’re showing interns that this is not just a great place to start a career, but a great place to call home,” Roswarski said – the program evolved from similar ones in Fort Wayne and Terre Haute.

The Indiana Destination Development Corp., an entity created to promote the state as a place to visit, live and work, funded those intern projects and is behind this one in Greater Lafayette, too.

“As these young professionals prepare to transition from school to the working class, many might be wondering, ‘Why Indiana?’” Karen Momper, director of strategic initiatives at the Indiana Destination Development Corp., said in a statement.

She called the program “a critical piece of Indiana’s broader strategy to grow and keep talent.”

Freeman said 45 employers have registered, so far, with a committee of 21 people helping shape the local program this summer.

Heading into the first event Friday, at the Aviators game, 151 interns are registered with a goal of getting 200, Freeman said. Other events have been designed to get interns out on the Wildcat Creek, in downtown Lafayette and to Civic Theatre.

“We've got, obviously, a number of employers here who need talent today and a growing need in the coming years, as well,” Freeman said. “So, we do hope that we can help build that job pipeline for the Greater Lafayette community and help people see this as a good place to be.”

• For more: To learn more about the Greater Lafayette Summer Internship Experience or to help get interns working with you this summer connected, check out: greaterlafayetteind.com/summer-intern-experience.

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(Photo: Dave Bangert)

METER’S RUNNING ON WEST LAFAYETTE PARKING

The first blocks of West Lafayette’s metered parking plan rolled out this week along Brees Way in front of Wabash Landing, Brown Street, Airport Road and the Discovery Park District just west of Purdue’s campus.

Instead of spaces offered with hourly time limits, metered parking covered by a ParkMobile app will be used to manage spots in those areas. The meters started running in those initial 476 on-street spaces on Monday.

The city says a second phase will launch in late July in the blocks tucked between Purdue’s residence halls and main academic campus, typically referred to as “The Island.”

Here are maps of the areas covered by the new metered parking:

The West Lafayette City Council agreed to the system in 2024, calling it a way to guarantee more turnover in spaces near shops and restaurants and a way to break up what amounted to long-term vehicle storage in some parts of the city.

According to the city’s ordinance, parking would cost no less than $1 an hour and no more than $3 an hour.

ParkMobile, which will manage the system, already covers metered parking in several Purdue campus locations. For more information about the ParkMobile app and other questions about the parking plan, go to: www.westlafayette.in.gov/our-city/parking/parkmobile.

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THIS AND THAT/OTHER READS …

GREENFEST IS SATURDAY AT RIEHLE PLAZA: The Greater Lafayette Climate Action Plan’s annual GreenFest will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, June 7, at the Big Four Depot and Riehle Plaza, at Second and Main streets in downtown Lafayette. The free event will feature 20 local organizations with family-friendly activities and workshops. For more information about the schedule and activities, check the GreenFest 2025 page on Facebook.

NOW PLAYING AT IU: This week, after dismissing three Indiana University trustees, Gov. Mike Braun used newly created powers handed to him from the General Assembly to install replacements that marked a conservative shift in the board, including attorney Jim Bopp Jr. – who has been central to arguing cases against same-sex marriage, abortion access and hot-button First Amendment questions – and Sage Steele, a former ESPN anchor. Braun spent part of Wednesday explaining his rationale. From WFIU reporter Ethan Sandweiss: “Braun defends move on IU trustees while terminated members speak out.” And this is from Indiana Capital Chronicle Leslie Bonilla Muñiz, also taking in last week’s layoffs at Ivy Tech Community College: “Braun defends IU trustee removals, appointees.”

THE LESSON OF SANTA ONO: Alex Kirshner, writing for Slate, had an interesting analysis of the imploding candidacy of Santa Ono, former University of Michigan president looking to be the next leader at the University of Florida. The assessment there: “Santa Ono’s career blew up on Tuesday, and so did the illusion that the presidents of the most powerful universities in the country can preserve themselves by pandering to Donald Trump.” Read the full thing here: “The Funniest Face-Plant by a College Official Trying to Appease Donald Trump Is Here. There’s a lesson the size of the Big House.”

MARK YOUR CALENDARS: I’ll join Brian Leung, author and Purdue English professor, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 17, at Second Flight Books, 2122 Scott St. in Lafayette, to talk about “A Terrifying Brush with Optimism,” his latest collection of new and selected stories. We’ll probably also talk about other stuff, too, if you want to stop by for the Q&A. It’s free.

Thanks, again, to sponsor Stuart & Branigin for continued support of the Based in Lafayette reporting project.

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Tips, story ideas? I’m at davebangert1@gmail.com.