The Historic Brookland Farmers Market may be small -- in fact there was only one vendor there Tuesday -- but it’s got some gorgeous produce.  And the farmer heading up the stall was willing to share his honest opinions about everything from the quality of his fruit to the politics of organic farming.

Mike Tabor is the farmer behind Licking Creek Bend Farms, a Pennsylvania farm located just north of Berkeley Springs, W. Va., that has been producing sustainably grown fruits and vegetables since 1972. He told a few prospective tomato buyers yesterday that while the perfectly decent-looking tomatoes in his bin were OK, they should wait a few weeks for the sweeter heirloom crops to come out.

It’s not often that I hear anyone selling anything telling customers not to buy it, but that’s the way he is --straightforward.

He passed out free samples of the first peaches of the season, which tasted like real peaches, not the hardened, green things in the grocery store, swapped stories of sugar plum recipes from generations past with one customer, and lamented the difficulties of the Brookland location, which has had its ups and downs in its eight years of existence.

Although Licking Creek Bend Farm grows only organic, he doesn’t advertise it that way. “Organic implies white upper class,” Tabor said, preferring instead to call the farm “sustainable.” He makes a point of reaching out to customers of all financial backgrounds, and even takes food stamps and WIC coupons when he sells his produce at the Adams Morgan market on Saturdays.

The farm  is certified by a non-profit group, Certified Naturally Grown, which requires its farms use no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers on their crops,  nor hormones in their animals. It requires crops be rotated for soil and water health and bans genetically-modified seeds. Naturally Grown also conducts surprise inspections for pesticide residues -- something USDA’s organic program doesn’t do.

Tabor is a strong advocate for healthy, sustainable farming and feeding of the population, and was one of the original proponents of the Maryland Farm-to-School legislation signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley in May. The law is designed to encourage school food service programs to buy locally-grown food, rather than cheaper commodity surplus trucked across the country.

“Obesity and it’s causes should be a national and international embarrassment,” Tabor says in an opinion piece in the June issue of the Takoma Voice.

And it’s true. Schools generally serve the cheapest, least-healthy foods around. Although many are trying to introduce more fresh fruits and vegetables these days, we still have heavy kids with lots of health problems like diabetes and heart disease that can be directly linked to poor diets.

A friend recently sent me an article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about how the American Academy of Pediatrics is now recommending that some children as young as eight should be given cholesterol drugs to ward off future heart problems.

Geesh -- how about serving some carrots instead of French fries before we go straight to the medicine cabinet?

Politics aside, Tabor’s food just tastes good, the way it’s supposed to taste. Straightforward, just like him.

Here’s a recipe I came up with for a quick dinner salad using Tabor’s produce and adding leftover salmon and chopped cashews for a little protein.

Sorrel is a leafy green that tastes strongly of lemon and is great for soups and salads. If the flavor is too strong for you, mix with some Romaine lettuce.

His dark red sugar plums are about the size of racquetballs with a tangy skin that snaps when you bite into it, giving way to a sweet, soft interior. They are the perfect foil for the tart sorrel, particularly with a sweeter dressing like the honey-mustard one I developed. If you add vinegar, you’ll add a permanent pucker to your puss when you pour it over the sorrel.

Sorrel, Salmon & Sugar Plum Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing

For the salad:

1 bunch sorrel, cleaned and stripped of stems (about 2 loosely-packed cups)

3-4 sugar plums, cut into bite-sized wedges

3/4 cup cooked (sustainable!) salmon, flaked, or 1 can good quality salmon or tuna packed in oil

1/4 cup chopped roasted cashews (I used salt and pepper-coated, dry roasted ones from Target)

For the dressing:

1 T. Dijon mustard

1 T. honey

1 t. minced onion

1 t. minced ginger

1/2 cup olive oil

Line a large dinner plate with cleaned and dried sorrel. Spoon bits of salmon around plate, sprinkle with plum wedges. Top with cashews.

Whisk dressing ingredients together, add salt and pepper to taste, then pour gently over salad.

Enjoy.

Serves 1-2.

Historic Brookland Farmers Market

10th and Otis streets NE, Washington DC (near Brookland/Catholic University Metro stop on the Red Line)

202-526-4848

4-7 p.m. Tuesdays, May 20-Oct. 21