Saturday was an absolutely perfect day to be at the farmers' market. With the beautiful weather came the crowds. Seventeen very busy vendors tended to a steady stream of hungry customers with a beautiful March harvest including:Broccoli, spinach, carrots, cabbage, green onions, red onions, yellow onions, red potatoes, white potatoes, collards, lettuce, swiss chard, kohlrabi, tomatoes, strawberries, dried fruits, eggs, locally roasted coffees, a variety of vegetable and herb plants ready for your home garden, turnips, jams and jellies, a variety of salsas, canned okra, pickles, yeast breads, corn bread, sweet breads, pies, decorative plants, herbs, locally roasted peanuts, whole wheat flour, cornbread mix, cornmeal, olive oil, and lots of craft items. What a list!
Despite the cabbage and onion waiting to be picked in the garden and a pantry full of home-canned, local tomatoes and soups, I couldn't resist the beautiful array of fresh fruits and veggies that call for me to be taken home. This week, I came home with a beautiful variety of greens (spinach, chard, and lettuce), as well as red onions, yellow onions, red potatoes, white potatoes, broccoli (2 bags full of clippings and a large head), carrots, and mint.
Here we are, almost April, coming up on spring and summer harvest. Gone will be the cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower; opening up spots on vendor tables for green beans, cucumbers, and squash. You know, eating locally is truly a beautiful lesson in nature. A lesson that tastes pretty darn fabulous. So, who's gonna help me eat all this?
Have a great week, everyone! And, as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!
9 comments:
Local Farmers Markets are fantastic, such a great outing, and you get to do the shopping while you are there!
If you are looking for some reusable/ green bags that also help out poor communities, check these out (and no, I am in no way affiliated with this company, LOL!)
http://www.freshmesh.com.au/
Yes, I was thinking that the lack of space at Market is going to be a problem very quickly indeed. The outages of popular items is occuring pretty quickly too. I managed a good haul in spite of my lateness Saturday--banana nut bread, pumpkin bread, three bags of organic coffee, two bags of the tender broccoli shoots, several tomatoes, purple peppers, potatoes, onions, dried apples, two dozen eggs, and six jars of salsa. I picked up five gallons of milk yesterday, so...there is a lot of food at the house...especially since I have gardens, too. I have carrots and several herbs with lots of stuff coming.
I have tomato plants lining my greenhouse, some broccoli seedlings, pak choy and squash seedlings. I planted some green pepper plants. I have onions, potatoes, strawberries and garlic planted. New this year--some raspberries and blueberries...we'll see how they grow. My cherry trees gave me blooms and now forming cherries, same with my orange tree, small mulberries forming, too. There were a couple of pear blooms. The seedless grapevines, peach trees, fig trees, apple, etc are all showing leaves to say they are waking up after winter.
My garden beds are pretty close to ready for planting. I want to do spinach, corn, melons, green beans, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes--I think. I have three empty beds at the moment. Anyhow, if I have extra at harvest time, I will happily share.
Oh, and flowers. The irises, roses and hyacinth are blooming, the pansies, petunias and several others are still blooming after the winter. Spring color does inspire the heart.
Did I read that right? Strawberries at the Farmer's Market? Yeah!! I'll be in town next Saturday morning, so I'm looking forward to going!
I'll help you eat it. What time is lunch? :)
I went by our Farmer's Market on Sunday to get a cucumber and zucchini. Yep, they are local this time of year...grown organically in a greenhouse! Tons of other options as well, but I already had too much food at home to be tempted.
Sadly, the organic strawberries were already sold out by the time I got there. They are from California so it's not completely local.
Off topic chuckle: my word verification spells "mutates". LOL!
dixiebelle - Thanks for the link. Actually, the volunteer group at the farmers' market is making their own reusable bags to be sold at the market. So those of you locals, watch for them soon...
Tammy - The one thing we don't have a problem with is eggs. Harvey said we have 7 egg vendors now. I hope that means that we won't run out of those this summer. I remember last summer, you had to get out there pretty early to make sure you had eggs.
We also have quite a few more vendors that will be joining us in the next month or two, so hopefully even on those rare occasions that you don't get out there until later, you can still find what you need.
So cherries, huh? I didn't know you could grow them down here. Awesome!
Sharli - you bet! David had some at his booth. :)
Chile - just finished, but dinner's just around the corner :)
Aren't greenhouses great! That and indoor gardens. I've been growing peppers all year round.
Beautiful greens! Sounds like your market is blooming.
Oh, that all looks SO GOOD! I'm anxious for my CSA and Farmer's Market to start. I still have 2 months to go though. Nothing is open until June.
I am enjoying the local raw dairy products (the milk and eggs are fabulous), and other local products I can get from the delivery service. That will have to hold me until June.
Heather, if I'm ever in Texas, can I please come to dinner? :)
Chile: my word verication is "tramp"!!
ilex - it really is. In fact, it just never stopped. It's wonderful here!
Jen - you bet! Come on over! Glad to hear the dairy is working out. I've never had food delivered to my door. Sounds really great!
So what's with the verification today... tramp and mutates? Is someone trying to tell me something? :)
Post a Comment