As I suspected a few weeks ago, spring is almost here. The hints are popping up all over the place at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

Today I bought pea greens, the delicate green shoots and tendrils from a pea plant. They are beautiful, sweet and delicious (I’m thinking lunch tomorrow…). I’m always excited to see these little guys because they are a sure sign of the changing seasons.

Asparagus, another hallmark of springtime, also made its debut today. The stalks were thick and had a brownish hint, so I didn’t buy any just yet. But it will only be a matter of weeks before the thin, brilliant green spears make their way into my meals.

The most prominent asparagus vendor at the market is Zuckerman’s, and they assured me their famous deep fried asparagus will be available soon. I also got an insiders tip today that Dirty Girl Produce is growing white asparagus for the first time, and it should be available in a couple weeks as well. Exciting!

Brokaw Nursery has been featuring white cherimoyas for the past couple weeks, and I finally shelled out the $8.75 to get one today. I have not tried one before, so I will let you know what it’s like when it ripens–I was told to wait 3-4 days. The fruit is supposed to be very delicate, so I hope it was not damaged on its journey to my kitchen.

It is rare for me to have an agenda at the market, I usually just buy what looks the best and figure out what to do with it once I get home. Today, however, I was assigned to pick up vegetables for making sushi with my friends (someone else is on fish duty).

In addition to collecting ingredients for the sushi rolls (daikon and carrots), I want to try out this amazing looking miso soup recipe I found this week. I am skipping the noodles and tofu (we already have plenty of protein and carbs), but I bought some beautiful looking watercress and golden enoki mushrooms that should be wonderful additions to this dish.

The last thing I will mention is that collard greens are my new favorite vegetable. It is peak season, so I highly recommend you go get yourself some!

Today’s purchases:

• White cherimoya (Brokaw Nursery)
• Golden enoki mushrooms (Faw West Fungi)
• Daikon (Chue’s)
• Carrots (Capay Organics)
• Collard greens (Capay Organics)
• Pea greens (Capay Organics)
• Watercress (Four Sisters Farms)
• Kiwi (Four Sisters Farms)
• Navel oranges (Hamada Farms)
• Clementines (Hamada Farms)
• Meyer lemon (Hamada Farms)
• Pink pomelo (Paredez Farms)
• Broccoli shoots (Dirty Girl Produce)

Have you ever tried to roll sushi?