I went to a new Farmer's Market on Saturday. I cannot tell you how much I loved it. There were a few organic growers as well as traditional growers. The market was not too big or too small. Since it was my first time, I just walked around to check everything out upon arriving. After I had an overview of it, I got down to some serious shopping.
I had tomatoes and fruit on my list. The first thing I bought was white nectarines. This is the kids' new favorite fruit. It is sweet like a nectarine, but firm like a pear. I bought three. They lasted until Monday evening. Next, I bought some organic grapes, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I found yellow tomatoes as well as the typical red ones. We fell in love with yellow tomatoes when growing our garden this spring before heat and drought forced it into an early death. There is one lonely red tomato left as of Wednesday. We had a couple of store bought tomatoes next to the Farmer's Market tomatoes and there was no comparision. The Farmer's Market tomatoes were incredible. We do have a few more grapes. They lady selling them recommended putting them in the freezer and freezing them. She said it makes they taste like bitting into a slushy. I haven't tried it yet, but there are a few left, so I will tomorrow. We also got some one red and one yellow bell pepper. Those were so good. My daughter generally doesn't eat bell pepper, but she devoured the red one today at lunch with my son and me.
Next we walked past the honey seller. I postponed the kids on this one because I was interested, but didn't want to make my bag any heavier than it already was! At the next booth, I bought some lemons and avocados. My son and I devoured the avocados in two days flat! Yes, they were good. I had in mind to buy some fresh flowers if they were not too expensive. I found a nice bunch for a pretty reasonable price.
Next, I went back to the honey seller. Oh my...I sampled before I bought...yummy! I bought a larger jar of one flavor and let my daughter pick out a miniture honey bear with another flavor in it. Yes, honey is honey, but it has subtle differences in flavor, texture, and color depending on what the bees were pollinating. The honey has been a huge hit. My kids normally eat a lot of store bought honey, but they would eat this like Winnie the Pooh if I let them.
As we were planning to leave, I wanted to get some garlic. We found a stand selling garlic as well as figs. My daughter saw the figs had to buy one. She recited the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree in the middle of the farmer's market. She was reasoning that if Jesus liked to eat figs, she was willing to give them a try. She selected one. I was only buying one because if she didn't like them, I didn't want a bunch. I told the seller I was only buying one to try, they were sold by the pound. He looked at the fig and said she could have it complimentary, but could he pick her out a good tasting one. My daughter had already picked one out, but I convinced her to let someone who ate figs to get her a good one. He selected one for her. She bit into it and raved about how good it was.
She even said, "No wonder Jesus cursed the fig tree when it didn't have any fruit."
I tried a bite and yes indeed it was wonderful. My son passed. We started for the car. I looked down and my daughter's fig was GONE! I asked her where it went.
She grinned and exclaimed, "I ate it!"
Here is a picture of our haul from the Farmer's Market. It was delish and yes, I'll be returning next week! And yes, we will be buying figs. It is the first thing on the list.
