Local diet update - April 27, 2009

As I watered my backyard garden, I eyed bed after bed of tiny seedlings that will grow up one day soon to feed our hungry bellies. And in that peaceful, pensive moment, it occurred to me... we have ALOT of tiny seedlings! Yikes! Before long, we're going to be swimming in greens, peppers, beans, squash, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Sweet!

Of course, right about now, we're between harvests. There are still enough onions to keep my breath smelling lovely for the next month, but other than that, our backyard harvest is waiting for all these baby plants to mature.

In the meantime, I've counted 13 pints of stewed tomatoes and 21 quarts of soup on the pantry shelves from an overage of fresh, local veggies in months past. It was with this stock in mind (along with a full harvest to come) that I decided I needed to take it easy on the fresh veggies at this week's farmers' market. Other than needing to get wheat flour and a few fresh veggies for Dave, I declared this week Pantry Week (right, like that ever works once I lay eyes on all those goodies at the market...).

As usual, I pulled into the market about 7:30, giving me a full 30 minutes to set up my small market info booth before customers began to arrive. Unlike last week, the rain held off and it was a great day for a market. Eighteen vendors joined me that day selling a beautiful array of fruits, veggies, breads, canned goods, and crafts. Included in this week's display were:

Veggies: beet greens, swiss chard, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, turnips, green onions, yellow onions, red onions, beets, carrots, arugula, spinach, snow peas, red potatoes, white potatoes, peppers, yellow squash, bok choy, tomatoes

Fruits: dried cranberries, dried apples

Canned goods: pickles, jams and jellies, tomato juice, salsa

Baked goods: cornbread, yeast breads, sweet breads, bagel bites

Other: eggs, egg noodles, olive oil, locally-roasted coffees, fido-bites, locally-roasted peanuts, herbs

Crafts: jewelry, pot holders, walker aprons, candles, soaps

Plants: veggie, herb, and ornamental plants

So did I stick to my list in the face of all that beautiful food? Actually, I did a pretty good job. I picked up two containers of locally ground wheat flour, egg noodles, carrots, red potatoes, snow peas, puppy cookies (fido bites), and 2 bars of soap.

So Pantry Week is on (for me anyway)! I'm planning on steaming those carrots and snow peas for Dave to go along with a homemade pizza and/or pasta (with those yummy egg noodles). We also have local eggs still in the fridge and plenty of my homemade toast (honey is local and flour is ground locally). Kelsey, who's 12th birthday is this week, will be munching on her puppy cookies. And I'll be working on those soups and canned tomatoes in the pantry. 

Tune in on Thursday for this week's Market to Table post to see how all these goodies come together, and who knows - maybe I'll keep those red potatoes to myself and try a little something new...

Have a great week, everyone. And, as always, Happy (and mindful) eating!

To find out what's happening in other farmers' markets around the county, check out this week's Farmers' Market Report on To Every Meal There is a Season.