Monday, June 9, 2008

Farmer's Market Monday - Week 2

Here is the bounty from this week! I was hoping for peas and was happy to find sugar snaps and pea shoots - that leafy stuff in the middle. I sauteed some of the shoots last night with the blanched sugar snaps with red pepper and those green onions, and garlic. I overcooked it a bit. I'm going to try it raw in a salad with the spinach. There aren't any snow peas yet. Things are definitely coming in slower this year.



There are also 3 pounds of asparagus, spinach, radishes (I'm not a big fan, but they looked so pretty), bread from a local shop and meats. Okay, now you're thinking I'm a huge hypocrite by buying all this meat, but I did promise my very understanding husband veggie meals no more than 50% of the time and this will last for a while. And my daughter was telling me how yummy her sausage was last night. On the bright side, all the meat I purchased was grass fed, humanely raised with no hormones, antibiotics or animal proteins.

I think the weather around here has been making things harder for the farmers. Prices seem to be higher than they've been in the past and I hear people grumbling that things are 'expensive'. I don't see it that way, for a number of reasons, and I am happy to pay and be able to pay because I think it's worthwhile on many levels.

Did you notice the cool mesh bag my snap peas are in?



I bought it from Reusable Bags. They have loads of cool bags, bottles and other things that are helping me be green. They also have some canvas produce bags, but I was thinking I could use these mesh ones at the grocery store since they're see through. I also bought some safe(r) plastic water bottles to send for lunches to avoid juice boxes and some wraps to put sandwiches in.

What did you find in your market or garden this week?

10 comments:

Carrie K said...

That Cauliflower Cheese pie sounds yummy.

Nice haul from the Farmer's Market! I think people complain about vegetables because they think they can grow them for "free" in their backyard. They forget the costs of growing and bringing to market.

Bybee said...

Everything looks so fresh and wonderful.

I can't hope to outdo you, but I'm sitting here with a bag of cherry tomatoes that I bought from a farmer who was selling them on the sidewalk.

Tara said...

Carrie, it is yummy! I think that's part of it...also that they're hoping for much cheaper prices than the grocery store. Which is the case for some items but not others.

Bybee, homegrown Cherry tomatoes sound fantastic!

Iliana said...

Oh yummy! I'm so excited I finally get to live in a city with a farmer's market! I can't wait to go and this coming from someone who hates to go grocery shopping! ha,ha... Thank you for the link to reusable bags - those mesh ones are cute.

Rachel said...

Radishes are not my favorite either, but I grow them in my garden each year because my hubby loves them in salads and even eats radish sandwiches, but I do enjoy radishes in a nice creamy dip. You can find the recipe if you are interested on my cooking blog, The Crispy Cook.

Books and Cooks, my favorite combination....
-Rachel

Maw Books said...

I'm so excited! Our farmers market opens up for the first time tomorrow! We went most every saturday last summer and have been anxiously awaiting again. Great photos.

Mrs of the Regiment said...

Wow, that produce looks beautiful. I hope you have had lots of fun eating it!

Also, how did the hummus making go?

Tara said...

Pink lady bug, the hummus turned out great! People said it was the best hummus they'd ever had. I think it was the home cooked chickpeas - everything was just so fresh and there was lots of cumin involved!

julochka said...

so cool that there must be farmers in Minnesota providing meats of that quality...wish it would spread west of you to South Dakota where my family all still is...i fear some of the worst corporate farmer types are my cousins! :-(

Tara said...

Julochka, I think so too, and I'm so glad and fortunate.