Farmer's Market

In the early foggy cool of Saturday morning I strolled downtown to the little farmer's market. Amazingly, I have lived here for a year and never been - shocking!

There were only about 18 stalls, so it isn't huge by any means, but it was pretty. There were far more plants for sale than anything else. Little starter vegetables for your garden like summer squash, tomatoes, lettuces and broccoli, flowers like impatiens, marigolds (good for fending off bugs), lilies and irises are ready for gardens with houseplants in the mix as well.

There were two stalls with local and organic meats. I didn't get anything this time, but it's good to know for the future. There was also a very tempting goat cheese stand, and I will definitely be visiting that later. Mmmmm.

It is very, very early in the growing season here so there were limited options compared to what I imagine the market will look like next month or in August. Asparagus is one of the largest local crops and it is just past peak season so I got a nice bunch of asparagus. There were only two little scrawny quarts of strawberries and they were hotly fought over by several purchasers. So, I left those for another week or two. Soon the pick-your-own places will be open!

I did, however get a bunch of rhubarb. I love rhubarb, it's a favorite of mine for sure. Rhubarb pie, rhubarb fool, rhubarb compote, oh yes. I wish there had been more strawberries, but I have some frozen and a few canned peaches. Not ideal, but whatever.

I found a bargain in a bag of spinach for $1 and head of bibb lettuce for $2. Then I grabbed a bunch of pretty red radishes to use in my salad. There were onions and chives, but I didn't need them and they were a bit pricey honestly. The luncheon salad I made from these was lovely.














I think that there were bargains to be had and certainly the produce is farm fresh, beautiful and tasty. Some of it was pricier than I expected, but it is a luxury to just walk over and pick out the things that I want. I look forward to going back as the summer moves on and more produce is available.

When I get my car back (cross fingers, the mechanic is back from vacation tomorrow!) I can pick up my cooperative farm share and stop by the more bargain-priced roadside stands.