Local diet update - November 03, 2008

Saturday is farmers market day for me. We have a Wednesday market though the summer, but it's not within biking distance (ok, it's not within MY biking distance) so even in summertime, I hit the market on Saturdays. This time of year, Saturday's farmers market is the only chance to get a large variety of fresh, local veggies (unless of course you belong to a CSA - it's tempting). But I have made many friends at the market and Saturday also means a chance to catch up with them. 

Next weekend, I'm spending my my Saturday morning at a charity walk for a local animal rescue group, so it was especially important to hit this past Saturday's market to stock up on a few needed veggies as it'll be two weeks before I can restock. But (there's always a but, right), I woke up on Saturday morning in a fog. I'm not just talking about the dense fog that covered town making visibility a little iffy (it was going to be an interesting bike ride), but I couldn't quite wake up. Although I had been feeling wonderful most of last week, Friday was a "bad" day for me. I was in pain for the entire afternoon and evening, had a little trouble falling asleep, and here I was struggling to wake up and still feeling off.

I carried on a somewhat lengthy dialogue in my head (Dave was sleeping so I had to keep it down) about whether to go to the market at all, but again, it was going to be two weeks before I would have another opportunity and I needed just a few things to get me through. Yep, I was going to have to get up. 

I groaned as I dragged my weary body out of bed and threw on some shorts and a t-shirt. Dave was awake at this point and offered to ride with me. Canvas bags in hand, we donned helmets and pedaled out into the gray, fogging morning. Thankfully, Saturday mornings (at least this early) are super light on traffic so I was only partially worried that we'd be run-over by a fog-blinded driver, but we made it to the market intact.

Usually at this point, with a 15 minute bike ride behind me, I'd be feeling just a little bit better, but the funk (and no I'm not referring to the fact that I hadn't showered yet) had followed me all the way into downtown. It was decided we'd make a quick round of the vendors and head straight home. As usual, we started with Lois since that's where I get most of my veggies. She had a huge spread of goodies, but I kept my purchase focused with some onions, green beans, a small zucchini, and a large bunch of mustard greens. I promised Lois I'd swing back around on my way out to say goodbye, and we quickly moved on. Only two booths later, as I was talking to Amy (Jammin' Granny), Dave, and my friend Tammy (who brought me some of her fabulous apples just shipped in from Washington and a bag of soup mixes - Mmmmm), I went ghost white (a little leftover Halloween love?), got dizzy and nauseous all at the same time and had to sit down on the pavement in the parking lot trying desperately not to toss my cookies. 

It was then I realized there were no cookies to toss. Not having felt well Friday night, I didn't eat dinner. Not feeling well Saturday morning, I had not eaten breakfast. Looking back it probably wasn't a good idea, huh? So there I was like a complete goof sitting in the parking lot trying not to pass out. Eventually, the episode passed and we decided we'd better get home right away. 

I missed speaking to everyone else so I was bummed about that, but I needed to lay down. With a quick goodbye to Lois, we got back on our bikes and headed for home (boy am I glad Dave was with me on this trip). The ride was uneventful - mostly. As we pulled into the driveway, I tried to get off my bike just a little too quickly and both I and the box of veggies took a tumble. Um, yeah. I should never have gotten out of bed for sure.

I did manage to get some much needed rest and am feeling better, so no worries there. And with 6 jars of last week's homemade veggie soup, some local rice, fresh whole wheat bread (homemade, of course), jam, local grapefruit (scored some late last week - oh yeah) and a few other local odds and ends gracing my fridge, the little bit I picked up at the market will ensure a hearty two weeks of good, mostly-local eating. Yum!

I can't give you a full run down of the variety at the market Saturday morning since we left pretty quickly, but here's what I remember: red onions, yellow onions, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, okra, mustard greens, peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, italian squash, green beans, spinach, jams and jellies, lots of baked goods, salsa, decorative plants, eggs, dried cranberries... And that would be where I got fuzzy, but there was tons more stuff. The market is still bustling with activity and local supplies, so if you're from the BCS area, it's worth the early Saturday morning. You're taste buds will thank you for it. I promise!

Well, the veggies are calling - it's not enough to buy them, they want me to make something with them too (needy little things) - so stay tuned for Thursday's "Market to Table" post to see what goodies come from all these local ingredients. In the meantime, as always...

Happy (and mindful) eating!

P.S. I did get to talk to Richard at the market and I'm so glad I did. Eager to show me, he brought a few of the tiniest carrots (not ready to eat, but coming along nicely), picked from his garden, to whet my appetite for all the yummy carrots yet to come this fall (we've been talking about his carrots for 2 months). So there are definitely some local carrots on the way soon - but you'll have to beat me to the market!