Local diet update - October 6, 2008

I can't exactly say I got up bright and early to head to the farmers market this past Saturday. In fact, for the first time in a VERY long time, I actually slept in until 8:00 (yeah, that's really late for me). By 9:00, I still wasn't doing much in the way of moving, so Dave offered to drive. Yep. That, on a lazy Saturday morning, I could do.

Because I was running a little later than usual, the market was already in full swing - all the vendors were set up and customers were busily purchasing their supplies for the week. As usual, I headed directly for the green beans. We all have our priorities, right? 

With some leftover zucchini, red potatoes, yellow onions, and spinach from markets past, I didn't need much. That's another large bag of green beans (no matter how many I buy we eat every last one of them in a week), a small bag of spinach, two yellow onions, two small zucchini, and a dozen eggs. I also picked up two jars of honey (they make great gifts, so I like to keep some around) and last but certainly not least, some green onion bulbs for my soon-to-be totally awesome garden!

But my small bag full of goodies, of course, is nothing compared to all you can still pick up at the Brazos Valley Farmers Market. Let's see, there was also okra, cucumbers, peppers, lots of potted plants, brown rice, cornmeal, jams and jellies, locally roasted coffees, canned veggies, dried fruits, eggplant, purple onions, purple hull peas, and I'm sure I'm missing a few things here. The bottom line is just because it's October doesn't mean we should head back to the grocery store. The market still has so much to offer - and I have it on good authority that tomatoes will be making a reappearance soon!

After we got home and restocked the refrigerator with all those goodies, we heard a knock at the door... In walks my Dad with a box full of sweet potatoes from East Texas. Yes! I mentioned last week that I couldn't understand why I have never seen sweet potatoes at our local farmers market. I was sure they are grown around here somewhere. I should have known - ASK DAD! Sweet potato heaven, here I come!

Let's see, we also picked up a gallon of raw, whole milk from the local dairy (cows weren't producing much milk this week so we were all limited to one gallon). The weather? Anyone know if that's typical this time of year?

I pulled a bag of strawberries and and a bag of blackberries out of the freezer for a nice breakfast fruit salad (the blackberries taste a little weird though, so we'll see how that goes). I also have local almonds and those eggs for protein, and of course, all the market veggies for a series of yummy stir-fries in about any combo you like it.

I know both vendors and customers will be fewer and farther between in the coming months, but I'm happy to see so many still out there each week enjoying the bounty that the area provides. Have a great week everyone and, as always,

Happy (and  mindful) eating!