It’s definitely summer at the market. The breadth of fruits and veggies is overwhelming and I just want to take everything home with me! Here’s a tour of some of what was at the market this past Saturday.
Capay Organic still had asparagus, though it’s getting fat so you’ll need to take a vegetable peeler to it. Summer squash, red spring onions, peaches, heirloom tomatoes, and mixed lettuce were available, as were a trio of melons: honeydew, Yellow Doll, and Galia.
A special treat for me were the sweet Gypsy peppers. Eating local makes it challenging to find sweet peppers, so when they arrive, I’m happy! The peppers are mildly sweet now, and as the season progresses their color will change and they become even sweeter.
Hidden Star Orchards had their usual variety of fruit including two types of cherries (Brook and Chelan), three types of apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady), blueberries (you know how I feel about blueberries!), apple cider, and a selection of dried fruit. Hidden Star also has my favorite box – the cosmetically challenged apples box. All apples in the box are 1/2 off. They’re ugly but they still taste great.
Snyder’s Honey had honey, of course, but also candles and honeycomb (which is delicious on a cheese plate with some sharp cheddar or blue cheese. yum!)
Bennett Ridge Baking Co. was almost sold out when I arrived, but they did have peach crumb cake, and sourdough, pumpernickel rye, and gorgonzola walnut breads still available. It took some willpower to leave them on the table and not add them to my bag. I adore artisan bread.
Swanton Berry Farm was doing a very brisk business in strawberries, their specialty. They also had a few other veggies including artichokes.
Happy Boy Farms displayed their usual wide variety of veggies including all sorts of greens – baby mixed greens (with or without edible flowers), hearts of Little Gem, baby arugula, baby spinach, and romaine and red leaf lettuce.
Summer squash is in full swing at Happy Boy with golden zucchini, green zucchini, pattypan (or sunburst), crookneck, and Ronde de Nice squash, which Happy Boy describes as “A tender, nutty and buttery heirloom zucchini…perfect for stuffing and baking.”
If that wasn’t enough you could also purchase leeks, carrots, radishes, green garlic, sugar snap peas, rapini (AKA broccoli raab), and chard. Oh, and basil, marjoram, chives, rosemary, thyme, and parsley!
St. Benoit Yogurt had their tasty yogurt, and Blue Chair Fruit Company was up front this week with their small batch jams. They had all sorts of mouthwatering flavors – Strawberry Jam with Rose Geranium, Aprium-Orange Jam, and Elderberry Orange Jam were among your choices.
And, the cutest scene at the Market were the kids at this table. Maria from Prospect & Refuge (a garden design business) was helping kids plant a seed. A little boy or girl would walk up and she’d hand them one of those little brown planters that was pre-filled with a little soil. They’d get to put a seed in the soil (for a bean plant), scoop more soil from the soil bucket with a colorful shovel to cover the seed, and then use the watering can to water the seed. To finish it off they’d get a cute little sticker of a bumble bee to stick on the side of the planter.
What more could you ask for at your local Farmer’s Market? And I didn’t even get to cover everything there. See you next Saturday!
