Farmer's market, memorial day weekend

[mme_hardy]

 We'd planned last night to go today; I woke up and said I was too tired.   My husband said "I'll make you some toast, and let's go."  He was right.  He was absolutely right.   My daughter: "Many years of marriage are a good thing."

The market is already in full swing, and we left with ten bags of produce, as well as three bouquets of flowers (sweet peas, yellow iris, anemones) and three plants for the back porch planter (Serrano pepper, marjoram, savory; I anticipate pruning the last two with ferocity).   The bags, oh the bags:  exquisite tiny flavorful pioppini mushrooms, blackberries and raspberries at 3 for $10, tiny beautiful Brussels sprouts, yellowwax beans, hydroponic real watercress (there's something sold a lot as watercress here that's flavorless and doesn't have crunchy stems), a big bunch of basil, pluot, aprium, apricot, nectarine, rutabagas, red buttercrunch lettuce... just damn.  There are more than that, but I can't remember.


You can really see the effects of the drought; Twin Girl Farms and Kawa[argh, forgetting the name; movingfinger would know] peaches, both of which usually sell their stone fruits the size of my clenched fist,  had fruits two-thirds or even half the size of last year.   I actually prefer smaller stone fruits, because the enormous ones are bigger than a serving and you can't keep a cut peach.   Nonetheless, it's obviously bad for the farmers, who are selling more fruit -- and thus a bigger part of a tree's production -- per pound.  One of the stands had a "Pray for Rain" placard clipped to the tent, and I think we all are.

e: My daughter found it, Kashiwase Farms.

Comments

[flea]

We also went to the farmer's market today! There were some flowers, and greens (I saw tatsoi and kale but no spinach, oddly) and spring onions. And that's all. (Oh, California.)

I bought eggs, and Belgian waffles (the real, yeast-risen kind), and seedlings.

[mme_hardy]

What did you get seedlings of?

[flea]

Basil, cilantro, and a biggish tomato (Celebrity.) I was slow off the bat with starting things myself this year (because, moving) so while I have tomato seedlings (cherry and Cherokee purple) they are still only 1 inch tall. I neglected to do basil this year (it takes forever to start from seed) and have never grown cilantro before. (In the garden now I have spinach, mixed greens, shell peas, beans, beets, parsley (wintered over in a pot from last year) and self-started zucchini and cucumbers.) (Can you tell I am really happy to have a yard after 3 years without one, even though I got poison ivy within 2 weeks of moving?)

[mme_hardy]

It sounds to me like you've got a wonderful summer coming. I love Cherokee purple tomatoes so much, so much. And shelling peas takes time but is one of the most soothing things I know. (That parsley is about to bolt, because parsley is biennial; sad but true.)

[madrobins]

I slept through the farmers' market today (shame, shame) but was happy to see the Kashiwase Farms booth back last week--stone fruit and cherries (which I suppose are also stone fruit) are my summer joys. I know it's a hard time for them; I only hope it doesn't get harder.

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I worry.

[thinkum]

I've never heard of an aprium -- is that a cross between apricots and plums? and if so, which one does it take after in texture? *curious*

Yay you! for making it to the market!

[mme-hardy.livejournal.com]

Apriums have the tangy skin of a plum, but the more fragile texture and taste of an apricot. They're only in season for a very short time.

I'm thinking of doing something I've always wanted to try -- roasting half-apriums with almond paste where the seed used to be.