What's new at the farmers' market?

[Canice]

This is the time of year I typically stop going to the farmers' market much, just when everyone else is getting into full swing. (If I were an early bird I'd keep on going, but I'm not, and the place gets packed out with tourists as well as regulars enjoying the bounty of the season). I did go today, though and it was pretty astounding. Since I shop for just one, I have to exercise some restraint but I did come home with:

peaches
strawberries
cherries
figs
baby lettuces
a big heirloom tomato
lemon basil
smoked onion salt
a small loaf of whole-grain bread from my favorite baker
a jar of hot pepper jelly from my favorite pepper farmer
oh yea, and soy "burgers" for ex-DBF who asked me to grab some if there were any left.

Anyone else hit the market this weekend?

[PattiA]

On Wednesday, I got garlic scapes, radishes, and 8-ball zucchini.

When local cherries were ready a few weeks ago, I picked about 10 pounds of them. I would kill for an abundance of fresh figs.

[Canice]

Ten pounds of cherries? Wow! I bought just a small amount because I really, really hate for them to go to waste. Did you make a pie or something with all that?
Figs were definitely in abundance, but I run hot and cold on them, so bought just four; think I'll "grill" them (indoors) and have with cheese.
What did you do with the scapes?

[MaryMac]

Went to a larger farmer's market today than I usually do and I was sooo excited with my purchases....

corn (very early for MI)
blueberries
cherries
raspberries
tomatoes

we've had such hot weather so crops that normally come out in mid-late July are in already. I won't tell you what I paid for the corn but I'm hoping it will be delicious tomorrow when we have it.

Might have to head back to that one next week too!

[tbb113]

My son and I bought:
Strawberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Peaches
Nectarines
Plums
2 Bags of spring mix lettuce
Bag of spinach
Asparagus (last of the season)
Figs
Cheese - Broncha (blend of cow and goat) and Hot Hilda (same thing but spicy)
Cheese danish

Son wanted garlic olive oil, but it wasn't in the budget. Maybe next week

[heavy hedonist]

Edible pea pods-- so sweet and crisp, the DH loves them in his lunch.

I think they make good breakfast food.

[foodie18]

This year we split a CSA share with friends and this weeks take home included:

Butter crunch lettuce
Kale
Snap peas
Strawberries

Went to the FM yesterday and bought:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Pea tendrils
Yellow and red grape tomatoes

We had friends over last night and made:

Grilled striped bass with onions and peppers (DH caught the fish)
Sautéed pea tendrils
Grilled zucchini (from our friends garden)
Strawberry/blueberry trifle using fruit from the FM

I have to use the kale. Open to ideas anyone has. Not fond of the kale chips and it's too hot to turn on the oven.

And DH's friend just stopped by with fresh lobsters from his traps! Life is good!

[margeslp]

This year we split a CSA share with friends and this weeks take home included:

Butter crunch lettuce
Kale
Snap peas
Strawberries

Went to the FM yesterday and bought:

Strawberries
Blueberries
Pea tendrils
Yellow and red grape tomatoes

A friend offered me next week's CSA goodies; looks like most items are good choices for me. What are garlic scapes?

[tbb113]

You can use kale in most recipes that call for spinach or chard. This search has a couple of kale salads on it. I haven't tried them but the massaged kale is supposed to be very good

[Canice]

Wow, Sarah, sounds like you are really making the most of the season and true slow food! I had a pizza a couple of weeks ago with english peas, burrata, pea tendrils and herb pesto - it was sort of having a salad and pizza in one! (Though not so easy to eat.)

As for cold kale, I had this salad a few weeks ago: kale, Brussels sprouts, toasted almonds and Romano cheese - so much more than the sum of its parts!

[cherylopal]

corn, cucumbers, peaches and plums this past sat!

made corn on the cob for dinner last night
and gazpacho with the tomatoes and cucumber

[cherylopal]

canice
here is the recipe for the rice salad- will use my csa green beans thought it would be easier to post here

note- i add closer to a pound of green beans but was thinking of adding edamame for my sil- easier to manage
anyway with the extra green beans the serving size changes

cashew rice salad
ginny callan's beyond the moon cookbook

1 1/2 cups basmatic rice
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 heaping tablespoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot (1 medium carrot)
2 cups diagonally sliced green beans (1/2 pound)
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and cut into thin, 1 1/2-inch-long strips
5 scallions, diagonally slices
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
3/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted cashews
3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt

bring the rice and 3 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, 35-40 minutes. transfer the rice to a medium size bowl.

heat the canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. saute the ginger, carrot, and green beans, adding 2 tablespoons of water after a minute or two. after 2-3 minutes more, stir in the red pepper, and continue to cook until the beans are just tender, 2-3 minutes.

stir the sauteed vegetables into the rice, along with the scallions, cilantro, and half the cashews.

whisk the tamari with the sesami oil, vinegar, and salt.

stir the dressing into the salad. garnish with the remaining cashews, and serve at room temperature.

6 servings

[amyvn]

We have a veggie-heavy CSA share coming on Wednesday, so I focused on fruit at the farmer's market yesterday. My haul:

Peaches
Plums
Apricots
Nectarines
Tangerines
Eggs
A basket of assorted wild mushrooms

I love stone fruit season, and even though we find them in our markets for a long time I feel like the window where they're really good is so short! I've been loading up the last few weeks and loving it.

Something else I've noticed this year is the wide range of pluots that are available. Last week I bought some little yellow ones with apricot-colored flesh that were sweet and apricot-y, and this week I tasted some that were yellow on the outside with red flesh and tasted more like plums. Seems like before this summer the pluots I'd seen were all pretty similar, but I'm loving trying all of these varieties. Have they always been around and I just never noticed?

Amy

[tbb113]

Amy - there are 3 main types of pluots: Apriums (more apricot than plums), plumcots (equal plum and apricot) and pluots (more plum than apricot). Check out the wikipedia entry for more info

[Anne]

Thanks for the clarification on the 'ots' - I've heard about apriums but never seen them. We had pluots show up in local markets last year. I haven't seen plumcots yet.

[margeslp]

On Wednesday, I got garlic scapes, radishes, and 8-ball zucchini.

When local cherries were ready a few weeks ago, I picked about 10 pounds of them. I would kill for an abundance of fresh figs.

What do you do with garlic scapes? I got some today

[cherylopal]

What do you do with garlic scapes? I got some today

chop them up and throw them in a salad

chop them up and lightly sautee and then add to any veggie mix

[Canice]

You can use them as you would green onions, and they're also popularly used in pesto. One of the vendors at our farmers market sliced them thinly into fresh cheese and served on thin crostini, with a drizzle of EVOO on top.

[foodie18]

Wow, Sarah, sounds like you are really making the most of the season and true slow food! I had a pizza a couple of weeks ago with english peas, burrata, pea tendrils and herb pesto - it was sort of having a salad and pizza in one! (Though not so easy to eat.)

As for cold kale, I had this salad a few weeks ago: kale, Brussels sprouts, toasted almonds and Romano cheese - so much more than the sum of its parts!

Thanks Canice! Recipe/photo look great. I will have to check it out. I am sure I will get more kale this week! (Sadly, last week's went uneaten. I don't like to waste food!)

[amyvn]

What do you do with garlic scapes? I got some today

I just ran across this blog post about garlic scapes, with some new (to me) ideas for what to do with them. Now I want to try grilled garlic scapes!

Amy

[heavy hedonist]

Finally got raspberries today-- no strawberries yet, and they may have gotten ruined in the Spring rains.

newly dug, tiny potaotes, too.

I got all the usual suspects: zukes, cukes, peppers, corn, tomatoes...

they had fresh blackberries and peaches, too. no free range eggs, yet.

[tbb113]

I really think I need to stop shopping at the Farmers' market. the produce is gorgeous but I end up spending a fortune

mix and match peaches/plums/nectarines - $2.00/lb ($5.00 total)
figs - $4.00 basket
asparagus - $5.00 bunch
cherry tomatoes - (maybe a pint, 3 or 4 generous handfuls) $3.00
organic strawberries - 3 pints for $10.00
mix and match berries (blueberries/blackberries/raspberries) - 3 for $10.00
garlic olive oil - $15.00

$53.00 well spent?

[margeslp]

I really think I need to stop shopping at the Farmers' market. the produce is gorgeous but I end up spending a fortune

mix and match peaches/plums/nectarines - $2.00/lb ($5.00 total)
figs - $4.00 basket
asparagus - $5.00 bunch
cherry tomatoes - (maybe a pint, 3 or 4 generous handfuls) $3.00
organic strawberries - 3 pints for $10.00
mix and match berries (blueberries/blackberries/raspberries) - 3 for $10.00
garlic olive oil - $15.00

$53.00 well spent?

Understand where you are coming from. I tried to alternate cheaper (there is no such thing as cheap) with a visit to the farm stand. We don't spend more than $2.50 a bunch for gorgeous asparagus at my neightbors farm stand. Where do you live.

[tbb113]

San Francisco burbs (east bay - San Ramon to be exact but I shop the Danville Farmers' Market).

[vbak]

You're paying some fancy prices at your market. In may, I got asparagus for $1 a bunch-maybe 8-10 spears. Yesterday they had all the usual suspects, and I just picked up my regulars-potatoes, peppers, lemons, limes, a melon, zuchs, and yellow squash. $9.75 total.

[Peweh]

DH and I stopped at one on Friday and resisted (most) of the produce because we belong to a CSA, but we did come home with some goodies:
Hearth-Roasted Rosemary Focaccia Bread
Ghost Pepper Hot Sauce
Steamer Clams locally caught
Italian Sausage - Heirloom Pasture Raised Pork from VT
Blackberries
Homemade Dog Biscuits & ingredients for natural insect repellent for dogs
Blueberry Tart

The next morning I got up earlier than I usually do and caught DH scarfing down the blueberry tart for breakfast! He looked soooo happy.

[SusanL]

Peweh- I will bite, insect repellent for dogs? What's in them? New one to me! Nothing finer than a blueberry tart for breakfast

[Peweh]

Peweh- I will bite, insect repellent for dogs? What's in them? New one to me! Nothing finer than a blueberry tart for breakfast

Susan, what we got was a little bag of things she called 'soap nuts' and a spray bottle to use on the dogs after we steep them in hot water. I'm annoyed I seem to have left my brochure about how to do it all on the table there at the market, but DH googled soap nuts and seems to have it all in stride. We haven't done it yet - and yeah, my dogs will LOVE us when we start spritzing them... NOT!

[Kingwell]

Foodie - Try putting some of those blueberries, a banana, and a healthy handful of well washed kale into a blender with some orange or apple juice and an equal amount of water. (You can also add soy milk or yogurt to this, in addition to the juice.) Whiz it up and enjoy kale for breakfast!

My kids happily slurp these down.

Kale-blackberry smoothies are even better because the strong flavor and color of the berries masks the kale.

The key is not having the kale account for more than 20-25% of this mixture. You can overdo it!

You can also steam or saute kale, blend it into tomato sauce, and then make a baked spaghetti, ziti, or whatever. If the kale is chopped up finely, it will disappear into the mix.

I like recipes where the kale is more evident too, but these tend to be crowd-pleasers.

[lahealthyliving]

In my quest to live a healthier life on a budget ( as we all know eating super healthy and organic food can get expensive) I try to find new ways and discover new places to accomplish my mission. I had never really paid attention to Farmers' markets until recently, and I credit that to my parents who came to visit me from Russia for a month back in February. One day they just came back with a huge bag of strawberries for which they only paid 7 dollars. Needless to say, I gave it a shot. Not everything at the Farmers' Market is cheaper compared to big grocery stores but certainly a better quality. Locally grown food can certainly be healthier for people. Fresher produce has a higher nutrient content. Shopping at Farmers' markets can also support and encourage local economy. (Aren't you tired of monopolies controlling our every day life?) So I pick and choose on where I want to spend my money. If you are into everything organic, you can certainly get a lot for your money at the Farmers' Market. Just yesterday, my husband and I went to one by our house in El Segundo. For 2 bags of vegetables we only spent 10 dollars. Pretty good! In essence, I try to give the Farmers' market as much of my business as possible. However, I have to admit that it's not always I choose quality over quantity; it takes time to retrain ourselves to live a quality life.