Broccoli

Rachel Haynes is, among other things, a writer, devout foodie, and former caterer. She lives in an apartment with a comically small kitchen.

Farmers Market Update: St. Stephen’s New York

by Rachel Haynes

Many most people think of NYC farmers markets, they think of the huge one in Union Square. With over 140 vendors each week, it’s not hard to understand why. However, it’s about a 30-40 minute trek for me via subway and unless you get there right when it opens, the crowds are insane.

St. Stephen's Green Market

So instead I usually opt for my tried and true St. Stephen’s Green Market just a few blocks away from my cozy (tiny) apartment on the Upper East Side. This market recently became year-round, much to my delight. Another thing I love about it is that they allow dogs.

A great thing the main GrowNYC information stand does is provide delicious recipes for current produce. This week I took the roasted beet and chevre grilled cheese recipe card.

GrowNYC

I always hit up Samascott Orchards for produce first. Though they’re about two hours from the city, I am going to try to go up there some time this summer because you can pick your own produce.

Being that it is late spring, we got treated to the new arrivals of beautiful broccoli (hooray for leaving the leaves on!) and sweet and crunchy snap peas.

Strawberries

The strawberries here are the sweetest I have ever tasted. In addition to eating them on their own, I have been mashing a couple up with a fork and serving them with champagne at brunch, which people have gone absolutely nuts for.

I love asparagus and am trying to savor every wonderful stalk during its short season. I was inspired by the NY Times article about asparagus and eggs, and have been making that combination for dinner in some fashion almost every night this week.

Asparagus

They also have absolutely amazing baked goods and jams.

No Sugar Apple Pie

For the rest of my produce, I hit up Gajeski Produce, which comes down to us from Riverhead NY.

They always have a beautiful assortment of lettuce, spring mix, kale, arugula, spinach, any salad leaf you could ask for. Today I also found beautifully bright little new potatoes.

Spring Greens

Gajeski always have something a little quirky, and this week it was elephant garlic. This stuff is as big as a tennis ball and it is STRONG.

Elephant Garlic

And then out of nowhere – scapes!

Garlic Scapes

These were my favorite find this week. Garlic scapes are the shoots of the garlic bulb. As the bulbs start to harden underground, the farmer can ensure further growth by snipping the shoots. They taste amazing. They are like garlic but milder and somehow greener and brighter. I have mainly been using them with my egg and asparagus combos, but I hear that scape pesto is not to be missed, so I will be attempting that this week as well.

The rest of the market, which is in a parking lot of St. Stephen’s church, consists of smaller stands which carry meat, cheese, eggs, bread, fish and flowers.

Farmer Dan from Rabbits Run Farm in Pennsylvania introduced me to the delightfully named Goumi fruit.

Goumis

Despite looking like little tadpoles, these things are nutritional powerhouses. Originally from Asia, they have the highest lycopene content of any food, and contain vitamins A and E. The seeds can be eaten and contain essential fatty acids and proteins.

They also help other things around them grow as they are nitrogen fixers and pull the nitrogen out of the air into the soil, which makes it more fertile. They are both sweet and tart and the same time.

Farmer Dan also sells beautiful goat cheeses, goats milk soap and lotions, as well as goat meat.

Soaps

I don’t eat much beef, but when I do, I don’t mess around. I get it from Rising Sun Angus Farms, who carry free range, grass fed angus beef. The farmer showed me some amazingly lean ground sirloin (2% fat).

Ground Beef

It’s gotten to the point where I can do about 70% of my shopping at the farmer’s market, which has not only been a lot healthier, it has been SO much cheaper. (To give you some idea, a quart of orange juice and a quart of milk at the supermarket will cost you $10).

My purchases this week (~$50):

• Romaine Lettuce
• Spring Mix
• New Potatoes
• Shallots
• Garlic Scapes
• Strawberries
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Goat Cheese
• Goumis
• Eggs

Sweetest Strawberries Ever

I don’t usually buy a lot of fruit. It’s not that I don’t like it, I think it’s wonderful. But it tends to be much more expensive than vegetables. And it’s also hard to get soft fruit home without smashing it.

But today, I couldn’t help myself.

Similar to last week, the cherries were just way too good to pass up.

Ranier Cherries

But I also realized that I hadn’t even tried any of the newer fruit in the market, like these amazing blueberries. I sampled a few, and knew some would be coming home with me.

Delicious Blueberries

Then there were the plums. I love plums, but like tomatoes they are one of those fruits that are so rarely good that you forget what real ones taste like. Until you try one.

Fruits

I thought it was a bit early in the season for plums to be good, but I was wrong. These were as sweet and luscious as I’d ever tasted, and of course I had to get some.

Virctoria Heirloom Rhubarb

Amazingly, I still had to restrict myself from buying strawberries, even more cherries, and also some peaches I found that were unseasonably delicious. But I did have to save some of my money to get vegetables.

Radishes

I’m mostly enjoying salads these days. I like them with French radishes, carrots, sugar peas, spring onions and usually some quinoa or lentils.

Beautiful Treviso

I’m not ready to buy them yet, but summer vegetables are becoming more common as well.

Early Summer Squash

The strangest thing I found at the market this week was fresh Japanese ume plums, which I’ve only ever seen pickled. I might pick some up next week so if any of you have a recipe I’d love to hear it.

Ume Plums

Today’s purchases (~$50):

• Cherries (Bella Viva Farms)
• Blueberries (Triple Delight)
• Flavorosa plums (Twin Girls Farm)
• Spring salad mix (Star Route Farms)
• French radishes (Heirloom Organic Gardens)
• Asparagus – last week! (Zuckerman’s Farm)
• New potatoes (Zuckerman’s Farm)
• Red Russian kale (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Mediterranean cucumbers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Whole chicken (Marin Sun Farms)

Mountain of Cherries

I’ve been doing this farmers market thing for awhile now, and I have to say that cherries are without a doubt some of the most difficult fruit to photograph. They’re so bright red that it washes out nearly every detail on the fruit, and drowns every other color in the frame.

Consequently I rarely feature my cherry images, and today would have been no different if I didn’t think leaving them out would be a crime. Because anyone who went to the San Francisco farmers market this weekend knows that the cherries were the star of the show.

Tasty Strawberries

And that’s no small feat this time of year. Today I tasted a strawberry so good I thought it had been injected with sugar, because it reminded me more of the sweetened agua fresca drinks from the taquerias in the Mission district than it did any natural fruit.

But still the cherries were better. Not only that, they’re better than they were last year and possibly the year before that. Honestly it was difficult to not buy some from every farm I stopped at, and I do regret not coming home with more. Don’t miss the cherries this year folks.

Brooks Cherries

Of course there were other notable spring treats as well. Rhubarb is here, and before the season ends I’m determined to try to figure out how to use it. Most of the recipes I’ve seen for it are sweet, which I’m not so excited about. If you know of any good savory recipe, please let me know.

Rhubarb

Generally all the spring vegetables are still amazing. I’m especially loving the sweet spring onions, though I’m normally not a huge onion person. This year I’m adding green onions to everything from eggs to salad. The leeks are excellent too.

Spring Vegetables

Oddly even summer produce is starting to appear. I was stunned today to see watermelon and peppers this early in the season. The vendor told me it was from their farm in Southern California, which makes a bit more sense.

First Watermelons

But as much as I love summer, I’m not ready to skip ahead just yet. I still haven’t tried any of these beautiful blueberries on my morning muesli.

Blueberries

Nor have I found anything to do with green almonds yet this season.

Green Almonds

And the last of the citrus fruits shouldn’t be ignored either. This late in the season tangelos, navel oranges and kumquats are the best. Though we had some spectacular blood orange juice this weekend as well.

Kumquats

It’s truly an amazing time of year for the farmers market. Don’t miss it.

Big Tomatoes

Today’s purchases:

• Mindblowing strawberries (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Red Russian kale (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Heirloom black cherries (K & J Orchards)
• Baby carrots (Knoll Farms)
• Salad greens (Knoll Farms)
• More carrots (Star Route Farms)
• Cilantro (Star Route Farms)
• French breakfast radishes (Heirloom Organic Gardens)
• Red onion (Balakian Farms)

Spring Onions

It’s that time of year again! With spring in the air, farmers markets are opening up all over the northern hemisphere. If you’d like to share your local market with Summer Tomato readers, please read the guidelines then let me know.

Greg Hayes is a father, husband, and unintentional health nut who writes about fitting fitness into busy lives at Live Fit Blog. Check it out to read his ramblings about fitness, healthy living, and being mauled by little boys.

Farmers Market Update: Bowling Green, Kentucky

by Greg Hayes

Over the last several years, my wife and I have slowly made the transition to living a healthy lifestyle here in southern Kentucky. Not a simple proposition in a state with one of the highest rates of obesity in the nation.

For me, the responsibilities of graduate school, career, and starting a family had crowded out thoughts of fitness. Seven year ago, after tearing an ACL, I decided it was time to get my weight under control and make fitness a priority. I learned how to lose belly fat, and made the commitment to start eating healthy. It’s taken some time, and making use of the freshest food in the region has been a cornerstone of that healthful eating plan. For me, that plan starts with the SKY Farmers Market.

SKY Farmers Market

Farmers markets in this area are usually open from mid-April through mid-October, so we’re just getting started with the local harvest. This Mother’s Day weekend the wife, kids, and I wandered out in search of some fresh spring vegetables, and a little camaraderie. We scored on both fronts.

The city of Bowling Green has two farmers markets. The SKY market, open on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, is the newer of the two. They distinguish themselves from their competitors by certifying that the vendors actually produce the wares you’ll find in the market. Membership requires an inspection by the market manager, so you can guarantee the goods available aren’t trucked in from elsewhere. It means you shouldn’t expect to find watermelons in May, but you can be certain to get the freshest possible produce.

Collard Greens

The vendors do a wonderful job of establishing a festive atmosphere, with live music, animals to interest the kids, and even a hot breakfast, cooked right there.

Little Piggies

There are no permanent structures, so the vendors pull their trucks and vans in on Tuesday and Saturday to open for business. Despite being a rather cloudy day with a threat of rain, there was still quite a crowd.

Live Music

Being early in the growing season, the selection of vegetables is currently weighted heavily toward cool season crops. Kale, green onions, asparagus, and many herbs were in high demand, along with early strawberries.

Fresh Herbs

O’Daniel Farms is one of the most well-known family farms, and their asparagus always goes fast. In addition to a great selection of vegetables, they also sell locally raised beef and chickens. Antibiotic and hormone free, of course.

Local Meats

The kids always head over to check out the selection at Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, where you can find locally made cheeses in a variety of unusual flavors. From there, its a beeline to look through the current choices of homemade dog biscuits for their two best buddies, Alvin and Jackson.

Homemade Dog Biscuits

We were there to pick up fresh asparagus but spent Saturday morning celebrating Mother’s Day with my wife, so we arrived late. The asparagus had already sold out, but we found the following items to tide us over until Tuesday morning.

Cheese

SKY Market purchases:

• Kale – O’Daniel Farms
• Arugula – O’Daniel Farms
• St. Jerome Cheese – Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese
• Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits — Zutray Dog Bakery
• Onions – O’Daniel Farms

What special treats were at your farmers market this week?

Perfect Rainbow Chard

Everything was so beautiful at the farmers market this weekend, I’m going to let my images speak for themselves.

Spring Flowers

Spring Strawberries

Red Radishes

Pea Tendrils

Lovely Spring Onions

Organic Green Garlic

Heirloom Tomato

Fresh Sage

Lovely Carrots

Baby Fava Beans

Early Cherries

Bergamont & Chocolate Mint

Purple Flowers

Today’s purchases:

• Strawberries (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Baby artichokes (Iacopi Farm)
• Red Russian kale (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Fava beans (Catalan Family Farm)
• Carrots (Catalan Family Farm)
• Cilantro (Catalan Family Farm)
• Sugar snap peas (Chue’s Farm)
• Italian parsley (Chue’s Farm)
• Morel mushrooms (Far West Fungi)
• Salad greens (Star Route Farms)

Is your farmers market open yet?

Artichokes

Huge thanks to my wonderful boyfriend today for stepping up and covering this week’s farmers market while I was home sick. But boy am I sad I missed it.

First Cherries

This week two of my favorite spring treats made their appearance: cherries and fava beans.

Fava Beans

And though I’ve always known spring is the best time for lamb, I never dreamed of discovering lamb bacon. LAMB BACON! Holy crap is this stuff good.

Lamb Bacon

Since I wasn’t there I don’t have much more to report. Check out the rest of Kevin’s photos below.

Leeks

Asian Pears

Blood Oranges

Daikon

Strawberries

Green Garlic

Sugar Cane

Ruby Chard

Today’s purchases:

• Lamb bacon (Marin Sun Farms)
• Brisket (Marin Sun Farms)
• Rainbow chard (Star Route Farms)
• Red Russian kale (Star Route Farms)
• Carrots (Star Route Farms)
• Cherries (Twin Girls Farms)
• Strawberries (Catalan Family Farm)
• Artichokes (Iacopi Farm)
• Kohlrabi (Chue’s Farm)
• Daikon (Chue’s Farm)
• Mandarins (Paredez Farms)

Is your spring market open yet?

Purple Spring Onions

I’m not sure I’ve done enough yet this year to illustrate what a truly special season spring can be. In the springtime, everything is new.

Breathtaking Tulips

We get the first greens and fresh colors since the final harvest in autumn, but in the spring everything is sweeter and more delicate.

Bloomsdale Spinach

We don’t just have garlic, we have the sweeter and more subtle green garlic. Carrots, while large and husky in the winter are small and tender in the spring. These baby carrots taste nothing like the fake, flavorless “baby carrots” that come in big bags at the supermarket. These carrots are special.

Real Baby Carrots

Swiss and rainbow chard are better right now then they are at any other time of year. They’re so beautiful it’s hard to not bring extra home to put into a vase.

Rainbow Chard

Artichokes and asparagus are also peaking right now. I was so overwhelmed by the sweet, earthy smell of artichokes when I walked up to the farm stand that I forgot to actually take a photo of the beautiful vegetables (there are plenty from previous weeks if you want a peek).

Though most people don’t think about eggs as a seasonal product, they are. Chickens don’t lay as many eggs when it’s cold. Plus, pastured grass is lush and filled with plump, tasty bugs once spring arrives. We got some pullet eggs this morning from Eatwell Farm. We had asked for the extra-large eggs, but apparently they sold out before the market even opened this morning. They’re that good.

Pasture Raised Eggs

For farmers market noobies, one of the most impressive things you can introduce them to is Meyer lemons. Lemons are sour and their peels are bitter, right? Not Meyers. While they aren’t exactly sweet, their acid is not harsh. And their peels are so thin and tender you can eat them raw. Meyer lemons are divine.

Perfect Meyer Lemons

But one of the best aspects of spring is the hints of summer that sneak in from week to week. Now we have strawberries, and they’re actually getting good.

Endless Strawberries

We also have some early tomatoes and ripe, creamy avocados, two of my absolute favorite summer ingredients.

Haas Avocados

As a last throwback to winter I plan to make a soup with one of these celery roots later this week.

Celery Root

Today’s purchases:

• Rainbow chard (Iacopi Farm)
• Red Russian kale (Eatwell Farm)
• Oregano (Eatwell Farm)
• Pullet eggs (Eatwell Farm)
• Leeks (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Spring onions (Everything Under The Sun)
• Meyer Lemons (Hamada Farms)
• Cara cara oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Tomatoes (Bruin Farms)
• Cioggia beets (Star Route Farms)

Beautiful Carrots

If you ever wondered why Forrest Gump thought peas and carrots went so well together, it must have been because he loves springtime.

Sugar Snap Peas

The reason we think most foods go together, in fact, is because they tend to be in season around the same time and traditional recipes put them together.

Cute Asparagus

But it turns out lot of things go well with carrots. Their sweetness and crunch is a wonderful contrast to many of my favorite spring treats, like spinach, asparagus and collards.

Collards, Potatoes & Asparagus

As I mentioned last week, chard is fantastic right now as well. These red and white Swiss chard bunches were so bright I actually had to turn down the saturation in Photoshop, which most photogs know is almost never done on food photos. The pink was just blinding.

Beautiful Chard

It’s also a great time to get beets, fennel, lettuces, artichokes, herbs and other vegetables.

Red Beets

Hearts of Romaine

Spring Artichokes

Not always associated with spring, but a seasonal treat nonetheless are fresh walnuts and mushrooms.

Walnuts In Shell

Trumpet Mushrooms

I’m still waiting for the spring fruits to appear. Though a few strawberries have popped up here and there, they haven’t looked good enough to buy yet. So while I’m waiting, we’re still eating up the delicious oranges, mandarins, pomelo and tangelos while we can.

Golden Nuggets

Finally, if you’re into lilacs (the best smelling flowers ever), this is the most lovely season I’ve seen in years.

Lilacs

Today’s purchases:

• Purple carrots (Star Route Farms)
• Artichoke (Iacopi Farm)
• Rapini (Capay Organics)
• Fennel (Chue’s Farm)
• Broccolini (Chue’s Farm)
• Cara cara oranges (Paredez Farms)
• Mandarins (Paredez Farms)
• Tomatoes (Bruins Farm)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Walnuts (Kashiwase Farms)

Artistic Oranges

I’m still not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the settings on my camera were really messed up this weekend and I didn’t notice until I got home and looked at the images on my computer. Yes, that makes 2 unrelated camera fails in a row.

Oops.

To get around the issue I did what any dedicated geek would do, I screwed around in Photoshop until the images looked cool.

Artistic Lobok

It’s a shame too, because the produce was beautiful today at the market, and the overcast weather would have normally made for perfect photos. But I discovered a world of crazy effects and filters, and I hope you enjoy the new perspective.

Artistic Radishes

At the market this week I’m loving the spring greens and salad fixings. Radishes, while normally not my favorite food, are divine right now and I’m using them whenever possible. Same with carrots and beets.

Artistic Beets

Salad greens like lettuce, spinach and arugula are amazing, but so is the Swiss chard, which is a fluffy and crisp as I have ever seen.

Artistic Chard

Another spring signature is the asparagus, and I’ve been eating my fair share. Especially with eggs. If asparagus isn’t your favorite but you’d like to get better acquainted, try cooking it in a bit of acid, like balsamic vinegar or lemon juice. It does wonders.

Artistic Asparagus

I’m also trying to take advantage of artichoke season, indulging in both the small baby artichokes as well as the larger varieties. I love them all (and really need to publish my recipe for making a perfect steamed artichoke).

Artistic Artichokes

Other spring treats including olives, horseradish, walnuts (and walnut oil), avocados and citrus.

Artistic Olives

Oh, and of course fresh shetland fleece.

Artistic Fleece

Today’s purchases (~$20):

• Swiss chard (Capay Organics)
• Red Russian Kale (Catalán Family Farm)
• Artichoke (Iacopi Farm)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Navel oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Meyer lemons (Hamada Farms)
• Mint (Marin Roots Farm)

Osaka Market Customer Line

Huge thanks again to Joan Bailey for sharing another Japanese farmers market with us, this time from Osaka. (The first was Tokyo). I absolutely love Joan’s narrative descriptions of the Japanese markets and all the unique offerings, it makes me hunger to do more traveling.

I also asked Joan for a brief update on the situation in Tokyo, where she lives. You can read more about the what is happening there at the bottom of her post.

Joan lives, farms and gardens in Tokyo. Follow her from seed to harvest to market at Popcorn Homestead and Everyday Gardens as well as Twitter.

Farmers Market Update: Odona Farmer’s Market in Osaka

by Joan Bailey

Our final fling in Osaka before returning to Tokyo was a trip to the Odona Farmer’s Market. I’d missed it on a visit to the city in early January, and since we’d self-evacuated there after the March 11^th earthquake it seemed as good a time as any to do a bit of exploring. (Nothing like a farmer’s market to scare off the aftershock-radiation blues, I say.)

Japan’s third largest city, Osaka lies about 320 miles south of Tokyo. A charming city with slightly rougher edges than its sleek northern cousin (think Chicago versus New York), it offers the market-goer a veritable cornucopia of shopping locations year-round.

While not the largest in the city, the Odona Market was certainly one of the busiest I’ve seen in Osaka so far. Named for the posh department store whose front sidewalk it fills, market vendors benefit from being on a direct path to Yodoyabashi Station in a major business-shopping-touristy area. Even as we arrived shortly after the market opened a number of serious shoppers were already on the scene and one stall had already sold out of their supply of dried beans.

Seafood Stall

Bundled up against a brisk March wind that whipped along the high-rise lined street, shoppers and vendors alike surveyed a scene of fantastic winter bounty. Citrus, a wide assortment of winter greens and vegetables mingled with some early spring favorites like nanohana (a signature spring green) and strawberries, heaps of onions, beautiful brown eggs, white and brown rice, homemade mochi, miso, tsukemono (pickles), cakes, jam, tea, assorted mushrooms, and even bubbling styrofoam crates of fresh (a.k.a. living) seafood were on offer.

Throwing myself into the fray of bicycling housewives, cane-toting grandmothers bent at the waist, black-suited office workers, and young mothers towing uniformed school children, I started shopping.

Narakiyorisa Farmers

Starting at the end farthest from the station, I first visited Narakiyorisa Farms from nearby Minami Awajishi. Like most vendors this afternoon, three people worked the stall. Two stood behind to answer questions and handle sales while a third stood out front welcoming customers, answering questions, and monitoring restocking needs. While their onions, broccoli, and nanohana tempted, it was the big bag of homemade mochi that had me sidling up for a closer look.

Mochi

Mochi, made from pounded rice, can be eaten savory or sweet, grilled or plunked in a bowl of hot miso. Really, the possibilities are endless, and while the texture puts some folks off (a bit gooey and chewy) it is one of my favorite things ever. The varieties are nearly endless, as are the regional variations in flavor, shape and style, and I never pass up an opportunity to purchase it at market. In hindsight, I wish I’d also grabbed some of their dried onion soup. Made with their own onions and a selection of herbs and spices, it did sound like a perfect treat for a chilly spring evening. Instead, I snapped up a bag of their pickled daikon for our journey home. I know what I’ll buy next time!

Just down the line from Narakiyorisa I stopped at a table overflowing with vegetable goodness. Sourced from a number of area farms I was greeted by tight round heads of red cabbage, brilliant white daikon, celery stalks, and bright early strawberries; however, it was Kaizukashi Sobura’s shiitake mushrooms that stole the show. Raised on the outskirts of the city, my mouth watered at the site of those fat little fellows. Before I knew it they were in my bag as the perfect souvenir – light as well as tasty – to carry home.

Strawberries

Since Osaka hosts a number of markets (at least five that I know of) spread throughout the week at varying locations, it’s perhaps no surprise that I ran into two growers I met during my January roamings. Numa-san and her bottles of homemade yuzu, tomato, and orange juices were easy to spot. Last time I had purchased Shishiyuzu (a softball sized yuzu) for marmalade, and this time I gave serious thought to the large bags of yuzu seeds for sale. Showing me the sample jar of them soaking in alcohol (the rubbing, not drinking variety), she recommended the mixture as a refreshing and cleansing spray for face or hands. (A single yuzu holds a huge number of seeds, so discovering a use for all of them would take some of the tedium out of the marmalade process.) I opted instead for her homemade daifuku mochi. After tasting a sample of her komugi (mugwort) mochi with perfectly sweetened anko (sweet adzuki bean paste) centers, I was helpless.

Yuzu Seeds

Koroku and Nakama Farms split their time between a Saturday market on one of the river walks and the Odona Market. Located in Izumi and Nara (one of Japan’s ancient capital cities and home to some of the most spectacular architecture in the country) respectively, the real attraction of their stall are their heirloom vegetables. (Heirlooms can be hard to find in Japan, even at farmer’s markets. Like the US, most people only know one kind of tomato, soy bean, or squash, despite a long and deep tradition of regional varieties.)

Two kinds of renkon (lotus root), some of the first sansai (mountain vegetables) I’d seen this year, joined a mix of greens. Sensuji, a hardier looking version of mizuna that resembles kale a bit in texture and taste, and Yamatomanna, an older and mixed version of nanohana (rape), had me striking up a conversation in my bad Japanese in short order. Both can be quickly steamed and tossed with soy sauce and sugar like shingiku or thrown in traditional winter dishes like nabe (a dream of a boiled dinner) for a bit of green crunch in a season when it is most desired.

Remembering that we were traveling that evening, I chose instead a bag of hasaku or, as the farmer called them, Japanese grapefruit. Sour with a spark of sweetness, they nearly glowed in their newspaper lined crate at the front of the stall, and they looked like a cheerful gift to bring back to somewhat stressful Tokyo.* It would travel well, and the season for citrus will begin to come to a close shortly. It seemed only prudent to make the most of the opportunity.

Sakezuke

As the sun began setting and lights flickered on at the stalls, I stopped at Yamato-Shokuhin’s stall to sample their sakezuke. Pieces of eggplant, cucumber, ginger, and daikon are set in sake lees (the dregs of the sake making process) for a period of time, which preserves and flavor them. It’s a fermentation/pickling process similar to what we do with sauerkraut or even quick refrigerator pickles. Usually served in tiny bowls amongst a myriad of other tiny bowls full of delightful and surprising flavors, sakezuke is just one part of a pickle tradition that varies from region to region, town to town. This little flavor of Osaka would come to Tokyo, but this time just for us.

What I bought:

• Daifuku Mochi from Numa-san
• Hasaku from Kiroku Farm
• Regular mochi and pickled daikon from Narakiyoisa Farm
• Shiitake mushrooms from Kaizukashi Sobura
• Ginger and cucumber sakezuke from Yamato-Shokuhin

We’ve since returned to a calmer Tokyo. The aftershocks are gradually lessening, although up north in the Tohoku region where the damage is worst, they continue. Our concerns about radiation and earthquakes, while valid, seem tiny in comparison to what is happening there. Supplies to the evacuation shelters continue to be a challenge, although organizations like Second Harvest work to meet it and care for survivors. And while there are also valid worries about radiation contaminated vegetables from Ibaraki, Fukushima, and Chiba prefectures, it perhaps pays more to worry about the farmers themselves. The majority of them are small growers who willingly destroyed valuable spring crops to protect themselves and those they feed. Now, more than ever, it pays – for the farmer as well as the consumer – to buy vegetables from local growers at small stands or at farmer’s markets.