There was just one problem... I didn't really need anything at the farmers market this week. I've been eating lots of these local goodies, but my eyes are always bigger than my stomach (all that farmers market food looks so good it's just too hard to resist) and I already had a fridge full of food: zucchini, onions, sweet potatoes, mustard greens, italian squash (the neighbors shared their harvest - see photo) and a few cayenne peppers from the back porch. I also have the better part of two loaves of the whole wheat bread I made last week, milk from the diary, local rice and nuts, jar after jar of canned soups and tomatoes, and almost a dozen eggs (not including the ones I've already boiled). We just didn't NEED anything. Well, we did run out of green beans again (I must be addicted - is there a therapy group for this?) so I put "green beans" on my mental shopping list and tried desperately to stick to it.
I arrived at the market fairly early but as usual, there was a constant flow of people looking for the best tasting veggies in town. I'm never disappointed! Since green beans were on my list, I bought those first, then allowed myself the freedom to visit with each of the vendors (and drill them for gardening tips when I could slip it into the conversation). Everyone was pretty excited that I was able to get my garden in and that it was doing so well. I'm sure I came across as the proud veggie-mama I am, but hey, I ride a bike to the market every week, so they already know I'm crazy! Although I was a good girl and didn't buy anything more than my 3 pounds of green beans (I usually only buy 2 pounds, but as I said, I keep running out), I made sure to check out all the goodies on display.
Check out this week's market: red potatoes, sweet potatoes, yellow onions, purple onions, purple hull peas, green beans, okra, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, mustard greens, turnip greens, canned veggies, salsas, jellies and jams, dried cranberries and apples, cakes, cornbread, cinnamon rolls, and a variety of sandwich breads, turnips, herbs, honey, eggs, green peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, and I'm sure another dozen things I've already forgotten. What a spread!
I enjoyed my bike ride home and found Dave preparing to work in the yard. I helped turn the compost and then checked on my own little garden. Looking good isn't it? The cabbage have doubled in size, the onions are growing nice and tall, and those snow peas are coming up nicely. I planted more snow peas this week to replace the ones that didn't come up. This way the yield will be staggered. I transplanted the broccoli, but they seem a bit traumatized so I replanted the seeds directly. We'll see how those take. Before long my local diet will be a matter of feet, not miles from home!
Well, I didn't buy much this week (paid all of $6 at the market), but I still have plans for some really tasty meals this week. Watch for Thursday's Market to Table post and be prepared to drool over my photos. Have a great week, everyone, and as always...
Happy (and mindful) eating!
7 comments:
Hi Heather, I missed you at market because I arrived in the last five minutes. In five minutes, I acquired potatoes, green beans, an onion, banana bread, spinach, calabaza squash, dried apples, a taste of dried cranberries, a dozen eggs, cornbread, and an aloe vera plant which had several "babies", I put about five of them into small pots. Four dollars for over six aloe vera plants, what a bargain...my sister wants a baby or two, she took an aloe vera baby from me about fifteen years ago and loved having it until her now ex-husband ruined it. She is presently engaged to another young man and I believe I can spare a plant or two.
I also found a native pecan tree at Lowes that needed love in a broken plastic pot. I bought it for half price(twelve bucks) and put it into the ground about fifteen feet from a fig tree I planted in my fig tree cluster yesterday(I still have a fig tree that is producing figs from the store a few weeks back that I will plant after it is done fruiting(I don't want to shock it and lose the fruit)). I mixed root stimulator and gave the pecan a good dose in the hopes that it survives the rough time it had at Lowes.
Oh, yesterday I also started using a breadmachine my hubby bought for our anniversary (whatever the reason, the thing is pretty cool, even busy people can make bread). I made dough for sweet rolls- actually cherry almond coffee cake and I made a loaf of honey wheat bread...both were amazing, the bread was easy easy. I felt kindda stupid making the coffee cake(because you have to make the dough in the machine, take it out and roll out the dough, spread filling, roll it up, make a loop, cut the dough and turn it out before you let it rise(covered), and then bake it, glaze and decorate it--a lot for a novice bread project), but it turned out yummy if not perfect. All of this made for an unusual partial day off from work...
Good for you for sticking to the green beans. I know what you mean ... every time I go to the farmers market I end up buying WAY more than I need!!
You guys and your green beans! I got some green beans at the farmer's market this weekend and couldn't help but think of your weekly pictures of the HUGE bags of green beans you eat each week!
I'm actually a little embarrassed at how much we get at the farmer's market each week, and how we eat pretty much all of it each week too. We must be piggies!
Your garden is doing wonderfully! We love getting gardening advice from our CSA farmer, and he is always more than willing to give us tips!
I hope your garden keeps growing as nicely as it is now. Oh, and I'm a little jealous that you are just now putting a garden in when I am checking the forecast for frost advisories, so we can get the last little bit of fruit off of ours. :-( Winter.
ttammylynn - what a great deal on aloe! What will you use it for? We've talked about putting fruit trees in but I never thought about pecans. They grow so well here too and I love them. Hmm. You have me thinking :)
Glad you are enjoying the breadmaker! I love the smell that fills the house. Nothing beats it!
ruchi - It was tough, believe me. But I was relieved when I got home to put them away and saw again how much I still have in the fridge. And then a friend brought me some tomatoes and tomatillos from the Austin's Farmers Market (she was in Austin this weekend), so I'm in really good shape. The tomatoes were so ripe, I just had to make them for lunch today (I'm SO not complaining about it). They were fabulous!
jennifer - yeah, it is strange to read everyone else's posts about when things are in season. Local sure looks different wherever you are. A friend of mine when to the farmers market in Austin (about 1-1/2 hours away) and she said they didn't have a lot of the things we do here (onions, zucchini, and squash), but they have things we don't - TOMATOES. Needless to say she was super sweet to have brought some tomatoes home for me!
I am a bit envious of your lengthy growing season - everything is all brown and dormant here already! And there could be snow in a few days....
Your raised bed looks awesome! I'm never disicipled enough to do a square foot garden. Just toss everything in at once. ;-)
Theresa - Snow? Yikes! We don't see the white stuff here very often. Brrr. We've got lots of goodies all year round. Nothing says you can't come visit :)
Green Bean - Actually, it's hard not to plant everything at once. I see empty spaces and I want to plant, but I want to separate plantings by a couple weeks so that I don't have to harvest all at once. I'm looking forward to next week when I plant more spinach seeds :)
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