Market Day!

We're 2 for 2 in my goal of getting to the Farmer's Market every Saturday this season. We had been thinking about signing up for a CSA box-- around here, it's about $30 a week for a big box of whatever the farmer harvested that week-- but I had much rather give myself a budget and go to the farmer's market every Saturday.


Last week, I found leeks, spinach, baby carrots, and jerusulem artichokes-- and if anyone knows a good alternative to simply eating them out of hand, I'm all ears!

This week, it's:

• Leeks, because they are amazing. I'd never had them before.
• Bok choy. Reminds me of my sister, and her mother-in-law.
• small Fuji apples. My daughter LOVES apples. So far today, she's snitched three. Yippee!
• Green onions- these are the monstrous things bundled in blue above. They are gorgeous, but what do I DO with them?
• Swiss chard. These have a red center, and I felt like I had altogether too much green in my basket. We love chard, and ours isn't growing yet because I was a pansy and didn't plant any winter crops.

Pickings are still a little slim at our market, but I love having fresh produce in the refrigerator and handing cash to the family. Most of our stalls seem to be run by Hmong families, with Grandma cutting and arranging in the background and her english-speaking grandson handling the cash box. There is one exception, an "organic" farm complete with printed twist-ties on the produce "Don't Panic! It's organic!" and run by a round, jovial man with a pony tie in his short little beard. He looks like he'd be more at home on my dad's motorcycle, but he's there every week weighing out the escarole and misting down the produce.

Oh, and here's today's lovely photographer. I phoned at 8:20 and woke her up, and she still agreed to come with us to the market today. What a gal!