Peppers

Kristine Valenzuela is a corporate woman by day but spends her free time immersed in many passions. Besides developing a new food and lifestyle blog Is Everybody Listening?, she enjoys organic food, wine, her husband and two daughters (with a third on the way), guest blogging/writing and figuring out how to how to get the most out of life. Follow her thoughts and rants on Twitter @specialksd.

Farmers Market Update: San Diego (Little Italy)

by Kristine Valenzuela

Hello from sunny San Diego! There are so many great things to say about this area but I think what people most associate with San Diego is the near-perfect weather. Yes, we really do have it made living here! The constant moderate climate produces incredible fruits and veggies year-round so I’ve always been a fan of our local farmers markets. Obviously, summer is the highlight of the year and brings tons of varieties of produce with amazing colors. In particular, I’m a fan of the season’s strawberries, peaches and tomatoes, although there are plenty of good eats at any time.

Last weekend, I visited one of the area’s cornerstone markets, the Little Italy Mercado. The market is barely three years old but has grown from just a few hundred visitors each Saturday to well over 3,000. Seeing its growth over the years has been exciting to say the least. It’s located in San Diego’s urban enclave of Little Italy which is convenient to the area’s growing food scene.

Eggplant

The market features some of the county’s most established farms in addition to many up-and-coming vendors. Joes on the Nose is our local ‘big orange truck’ and has become everyone’s favorite wake up call. They can be found at other markets, driving through different business parks or catering events. If you ever see them, you MUST try their Aloha Latte with homemade coconut whipped cream. You won’t regret it.

Joes on the Nose

This spectacular bitter melon from Sage Mountain Farm was one of the first non-traditional vegetables I came across and couldn’t resist snapping a picture. They also had the most vibrant long eggplant. Simply beautiful.

Bitter Melon

Berries from Pudwill Berry Farms are a huge hit in my house and with such a variety to choose from, it’s not surprising. Sometimes I even share them with my kids 🙂 Southern California is also known for its avocados and many residents are lucky enough to have different varieties growing on trees in their yards. These Reed avocados were the size of softballs.

Reed Avocados

Berries

Fresh salsa is a staple at our local Mexican food establishments and in many households. Making it is easy thanks to having awesome peppers. These golden treasure peppers hail from Suzie’s Farm, a highly-regarded farm known for their meticulously ‘groomed’ produce.

Golden Treasure Peppers

Suzie’s Farm always has the biggest variety of micro greens. This is a photo of a third of what they offer through the markets. These would go fantastic in a summer salad with some lemon cucumbers.

Lemon Cucumbers

Micro Greens

Back to the subject of Mexican food, we are truly fortunate to have many great fisheries too. You haven’t lived until you’ve had ceviche from Poppa’s Fresh Fish! Even though I’m pregnant and supposed to stay away from it, I sneak some ceviche every now and then. My mouth literally waters just looking at a picture of it.

Ceviche

No summertime trip to Little Italy Mercado is complete without grabbing a ‘paleta’ from Viva Pops. They’ve become so popular at the market that they opened a shop in nearby Normal Heights, which I hear is also very busy. All of their gourmet pops are made with ingredients sourced from local farmers, many of whom are also vendors at the Mercado.

Viva Pops

To bring it back to the neighborhood, the market is in the middle of many small Italian food restaurants and vendors. This is why it’s great that places like Lisko Imports bring fresh pastas out to the street for even easier access.

Fresh Pasta

My purchases for the day:

• Nectarines
• White eggplant
• Tri color potatoes
• Lemon cucumbers
• Reed avocados
• Two gourmet pops from Viva Pops – strawberry and salted caramel
• A container of truffle salt

Stay classy San Diego!

Eastern Market District

I’m so excited to finally have a farmers market update from Detroit. Thanks so much to Mallory Jade for putting this together.

From Mallory:

I am a writer, graphic designer in Rochester, Michigan. I am a foodie and this has been a gateway drug to the thrill of experimenting in the kitchen and the jonesing for more than an apt balcony to garden. I am a beer enthusiast and travel when I can—which is never enough.

Detroit’s Eastern Farmers Market

by Mallory Jade

You can follow the Detroit Easter Market on Twitter @easternmarket and Facebook.

It’s no secret that Detroit has endured a tumultuous lifespan and survives today as a skeleton of its pre-riot heydays. Politics, economics, and its capacity for violent social rifts have painted Detroit its notoriously gritty reputation.

Detroit’s Eastern Market is just one true testament to our city’s fight to hang on—a historical site less than two miles from the city’s downtown. Since 1891, the market has expanded into the historical district it is today, remaining as one of the oldest and largest continuously operating market districts in the United States (the largest in the world in the 1920’s). Today’s beautiful weather will draw tens of thousands in from the city, the suburbs, and even other states.

Historic Sheds

This beautiful summer Saturday I couldn’t wait to see what sort of treasures the vendors have brought to their tables.

Beautiful Greens

Immediately I was floored by the happy abundance of beautiful greens. Fresh collards, kale, cabbage, spinach, chard, and broccoli, with vibrant rhubarb and stems of chard to break up the color. Even the beets looked bright in the vastness of green. Needless to say, it took a fair amount of willpower to avoid choosing one of each.

More Beautiful Greens

All sorts of herbs in all forms light up the senses from paces away, their delicious aromas were begging to be taken home.

Fragrant Herb Plants

Fragrant Herbs

The tables of summer squash hosted their newest arrival, the pattypan or “white flesh” variety. Even though it’s a summer squash, I can’t help but let it remind me that fall is in transition.

Summer Squash

I’ve never tried eggplant before, but with such an abundance of these mystery veggies, I definitely picked one up to grill later. Roasted redskins in olive oil and sprinkled with lemon pepper is one of my favorite potato dishes.

Eggplant and Redskins

A stand from Snover, Michigan, had a wide variety of beans sourced from all over the state. Regardless of season, I can’t resist soup! A 1.5 lb bag of bean soup mix is the prize I took with me for plenty of hearty bowls to last me well into the cold months.

Michigan Beans

One of my favorite vendors of the day was Green Organics Farm out of Lapeer, Michigan. The friendly Green Organics man was very knowledgeable and eager to explain the subtleties of each variety (much appreciated when garlic-lover meets indecision). I am now, gratefully, a more informed garlic consumer and very excited about my selections.

Green Organics Garlic

Because Eastern Market is host to nearly 250 vendors from local farms and retailers/wholesalers, be wary of product origin if your concern is buying strictly local and farm fresh. These peaches looked delectable, but I will wait because Michigan peaches will be available in the next couple of weeks.

Peaches

Enduring an unsavory climate this season, Michigan seems to be at an awkward standstill for fruit. Peaches are still being brought in from California to hold us over until they are direct from Michigan orchards.

This resident busker is delighted to serenade you while you browse some Michigan gladiolous.

Busking and Michigan Gladiolous

Grown in Detroit is as local as it gets, coming from community gardens and urban farmers on the fringes of the city. This Cooperative supports local growers by bringing their harvest to local markets.

Grown In Detroit

The flower sheds, potted plants, and floral items lining the sidewalks make me wish for the space to plant and hang them all. And perusing the colorful blooms is an exciting opportunity to explore more of the history-rich district.

Potted Plants For Yards

Potted Plants

Unknown to most is that the district remains open six days a week. Plenty of ethnic and local tastes, specialty shops, and fresh meat distributors encompass the main market. There’s a little Ethiopian on the corner I’m anxious to try.

At the end of the shopping, the smell of open barbeque and the Motown karaoke is a likely temptation to rest before heading back home. It’s hard not to stop and grab a bite with the droves of other market patrons sitting around tables and enjoying another beautiful summer Saturday in Detroit.

After Market Beats and Eats

Even though Eastern Market is now open for business on Tuesdays, it’s totally necessary to come out for at least one Saturday as it’s a Detroit staple. Don’t get me wrong, there is a smaller roster of vendors on Tuesdays, but still so much to choose from and enough goings-on to make the trip worthwhile.

If you can’t make Tuesdays at Eastern Market, Wayne State holds a public market on Wednesdays from 11-4pm, July through October, across from the public library.

It’s true, freshness has the capacity to thrive in Detroit; the city and its metropolitan areas are absolutely peppered with farmers’ markets and other fresh food options. From Garden City to Rochester, going east to Mt. Clemens and cities in-between—all within an hour radius of downtown Detroit. That doesn’t even include the uncharted gems and roadside stands you might drive by in areas with less urban development. If you love to taste and support the freshness of local harvest, finding a farmers market is not only a great way to dive into metro Detroit’s local food culture, but the quality for the quantity on your dollar is undeniable.

So, if you’re in the Detroit area and interested in discovering new things in small travels, I’ve included a list of metro Detroit farmer’s markets at the end of this post.

Purchases (~$17):

• 3 cucumbers
• 2 bunches of kale
• 4 garlic bulbs (approx .25 lb): German White, Music, Siberian, Spanish Roja
• 1 bunch spinach
• 1 eggplant
• ? dozen corn
• 1 loaf of cherry walnut Flemish desem (sourdough)

Factoids sourced from detroiteasternmarket.com and the Detroit News.

Places are listed by county, city, season, days and times of market, for quick reference. I’ve included links if you would like more information.

• Eastern Market: Sat 5 -5pm and Tuesdays 11-7pm; July – September (although district itself is open six days a week)
• Wayne State University: Wed 11-4pm; July – October
• 8 Mile Farmers Market: Thurs – Sun 10-9pm; Year-round
• NW Detroit Farmer’s Market: Thurs 4-8pm; June – Oct
• LINCOLN PARK Farmers Market: Thurs 11 – 4pm; May – Oct
• WYANDOTTE Farmers Market: Thurs 12 – 6pm; June – Oct
• REDFORD TWP Market at the Marquee: Sun 10 – 3pm; June – Oct
• LIVONIA Farmers Market: Sat 9 – 2pm; May – Oct
• NOVI Farmers Market & International Street Fair: Sun 10 – 2pm; May – Oct
• GARDEN CITY Farmers Market: Wed 11 – 6pm; May – Oct
• PLYMOTH Farmers Market: Sat 7:30 – 12:30pm; May – Oct
• OAKLAND COUNTY Farmers Market: Sat 6:30-2pm year-round, Tues and Thurs May –Christmas
• ROYAL OAK Farmers Market: Fri 7-1pm, May – Christmas; Sat 7-1pm, year-round
• BIRMINGHAM Farmers Market: Sun 9-2pm; May – Oct
• SOUTHFIELD Farmers Market: Thurs 3-7pm; June – October
• AUBURN HILLS Farmers Market: Thurs 3-7:30 (6:30 in Oct.)
• ROCHESTER Farmers Market: Sat 8-1pm; May – Oct
• FARMINGTON Farmers & Artisans Market: Sat 9 – 2pm; May – November
• WIXOM City of Wixom Farmers Market: Thurs 3 – 7pm; May – Oct
• LAKE ORION Lake Orion Farmers Market: Wed 2 – 7pm; June – Sept
• SHELBY TWP Farmers Market: Sat 9-2pm; July – Oct
• MT CLEMENS Farmers Market: 7 – 1pm; May – Nov
• CANADA Downtown Windsor Farmers Market: Sat 8 – 1pm; June – Oct
• Ann Arbor Farmers Market: Weds and Sat 7-3pm; May – December; Saturday only 8-3pm.

Gigantic Tomato

This is by far my favorite time of year to go to the farmers market, it’s truly amazing. (If you’re interested in joining me next week, there are still a few slots left in my two market tours, 8am and 10am).

More than any other time of year the market is overflowing with life and bounty. The fruits are sweet, juicy and abundant, making it hard to decide which delicate morsels to cradle into my bag and try to get home undamaged.

O'Henry Peaches

Sea of Strawberries

We’re finally entering late summer, which means all the best summer tomatoes are finally here. The dry farmed early girls are my favorite, because they’re easiest to get home and amazingly sweet and rich in flavor.

Early Girl Tomatoes

But today I was also blown away by these giant heirloom tomatoes. They were as big as pumpkins!

Heirloom Tomatoes

While we’ve had sweet peppers for several weeks now, the spicy chilies are just starting to appear. I got some jalepenos, but I’m excited to see Thai chilies are available as well.

Thai Chilies

Eggplants, my gateway vegetable, are also a late summer delicacy. As a former eggplant hater, I find that the long thin plants are easier to work with and often taste better than their rounder cousins. The light purple color of these were particularly striking this week.

Eggplant

Late summer is also the time for corn, which not coincidently pairs exceptionally well with all the above vegetables. I love it raw off the cob or pan cooked quickly with summer squash and peppers. But I’m going to experiment with some new techniques using the ones I bought today.

Corn

Summer Squash

Of course cooking is more fun with the abundance of summer herbs. This time of year I always have cilantro, dill and basil on hand.

Fresh Dill and Cilantro

If you love basil, look around your farmers market for vendors that sell it with the roots attached. You can bring it home and put it into a vase with water. I’m still using one I bought several weeks ago with one of my market classes. Just be sure to change the water 1-2x per week, and that the plant has access to light. I tried keeping some in my kitchen but it always wilted in one day if I didn’t move it near a window.

Rooted Basil

This is also my favorite time of year for salads. I make a big one most days for lunch, and the huge variety of greens like spinach and radicchio help mix it up and allow me to make something that tastes different every day. I love how the bloomsdale spinach is so deeply colored that it almost looks blue.

Radicchio

Bloomsdale Spinach

Fresh legumes including peas, green beans and shelling beans are staples in my kitchen this time of year as well.

Cranberry Shelling Beans

Though I don’t talk about it much, melons (particularly the heirloom varieties I often find at the market) are a completely different experience when I get them directly from farmers. The rich complexity of the smell alone is intoxicating, and the flavor is nothing like the typical honeydew, cantaloupe and watermelon I’ve had from the grocery store.

Watermelon

Lastly, the grapes are finally here. They’re particularly sweet and crisp this year, which is how I love them.

Red Flame Grapes

Today’s purchases (~$55):

• Dry farmed early girl tomatoes (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Green cippolini onions (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Tokyo turnips (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Heirloom tomatoes (The Peach Farm)
• Summer squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Eggplant (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Corn (Catalan Family Farm)
• Shelling peas (Iacopi Farm)
• Radicchio (Green Gulch Farm)
• Collards (Green Gulch Farm)
• Padron peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Sweet peppers (Happy Quail Farms)
• Jalepenos (Happy Quail Farms)
• Goat spare ribs (Marin Sun Farms)
• Ribeye (Marin Sun Farms)
• Eggs (Marin Sun Farms)

What did you find this week at the farmers market?

Purple Basil, Arugula and Garlic

Halona Black is a personal food shopping consultant, teaches raw and vegan cooking classes, and is building a personal chef business. To learn more you can subscribe to her blog, Garlic & Lemons, follow her on Twitter, or email at garlicandlemons@gmail.com

Farmers Market Update: Takoma Park

by Halona Black

What I love most about living in DC is being so close to small towns. Many people who have not visited DC do not realize that Maryland and Virginia are a quick train or bus ride away. So when I grow tired of looking at backyard alleyways lined with garbage cans, one of the places I head to is the Takoma Park Farmers Market.

Takoma Park Farmers Market

The Takoma Park Farmers Market is a year-round market that has been serving local residents every Sunday since 1982. It is located smack dab in the center of town on Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park’s own mini “main street.”

Cherry Tomatoes

Most main streets in America are closed on Sundays, but here the shops stay open during the market to take advantage of the traffic. So after picking produce, you can go antiquing, peruse a bead shop, or visit Middle Eastern Cuisine for a delicious brunch for under $10.

Garlic Scapes

What I like most about this market is their commitment to selling local produce. The sellers grow their food within a 125 mile radius of Takoma Park.

Summer Squash

I have been to a few other area farmer’s markets and have seen produce with the PLU code sticker on it. I’m not a farmer, but if the produce was picked and packaged for travel to the market within the last 24 hours, who has time for putting on stickers?

Halona Melons

On my last trip I was able to find a few goodies. Eager to utilize my new raw food skills I had learned in a recent class with raw food expert, Aris Latham, I was looking for a few fresh ingredients to use in a recipe.

Here are a few of the jewels I found:

1. arugula
2. purple basil
3. garlic
4. red early girl tomatoes (Blue Ridge Botanicals)
5. garlic scapes
6. savoy cabbage (Waterpenny Farm)
7. Halona melon (I’m excited about finding a melon that shares my name…) (Blue Ridge Botanicals)
8. cherry tomatoes
9. zucchini
10. hibiscus (Blue Ridge Botanicals)

I used some of these beautiful red early girl tomatoes and garlic to make a delicious, raw spaghetti.

Summer Tomatoes

Here’s the recipe:

Raw Spicy Spaghetti For Two

Ingredients:

• 1 package kelp noodles
• 1 fresh tomato
• 5 to 6 sundried tomatoes soaked in water (just enough to cover)
• 7 to 8 dried apricots
• 2 cloves of garlic
• season salt to taste
• cilantro leaves to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste

Remove kelp noodles from the package.  Soak in room temperature water for 5 minutes. Drain and put in a bowl. Put all the ingredients except the cilantro in a blender and mix until smooth. Add more fresh tomato if it’s too thick, more dried tomato if too thin.

Adjust seasoning according to your taste. Mix the sauce with noodles and add fresh cilantro leaves. Let it marinate for 5 to 10 minutes and enjoy.

Lotus Flower

Karen Merzenich is a former pastry chef from San Francisco. She writes (mostly) about recipes and travel at Off The (Meat)Hook. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter (@offthemeathook)

Farmers Market Update: Shanghai

by Karen Merzenich

I recently returned from a week’s vacation in Shanghai, and the highlight of the trip was a visit to Shanghai’s Wet Market on Lianhua Lu in the Minhang District. In a dizzying array of open-air lanes and buildings, the Wet Market serves both wholesale and retail customers.

In a fast-growing city of nearly 25 million people, it’s not surprising that the market remains open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Wet Market

If you want to visit the Wet Market, I highly recommend going with a guide who can introduce you to the vendors and answer all of your questions. As far as I know, the only guide service that does this kind of in-depth tour is Shanghai Pathways. It’s an unforgettable trip to an amazing market! I peppered our guide Janny with questions about what was in season, where the produce came from, the lives of the vendors and farmers, and more.

Wet Market

July in China means: watermelons! They are everywhere, and they are delicious. The Chinese watermelons are a round variety about the size of a volleyball. They are juicy and succulent and they sure taste great when it’s 100 degrees out.

Watermelons

The summer humidity brings a wealth of fresh mushrooms, including these monkey mushrooms, which were described as having “a mushroom inside a mushroom.”

Monkey Mushrooms

The first peaches and nectarines of summer are here too, as well as multiple varieties of corn. In China the yellow corn tends to be sweet, but the white corn has larger kernels and is referred to as glutinous corn.

Peaches and Glutinous Corn

An important lens to use when shopping for food in China is that of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) teachings–as most Chinese people believe that certain foods are beneficial to eat during certain times of the year for health reasons. For example, a popular Chinese summer food is winter melon, which is thought to cool you down in a hot summer. These winter melons were gargantuan!

Winter Melon

Another cooling summer vegetable is soft cucumber, a spiny, delicate cucumber. Wrinkly, knobby bitter melon fits the bill for refreshing the body in the summer heat as well.

Soft Cucumber and Bitter Melon

While lotus root (also a cooling food) is available year-round, the twisty, knobby part of the lotus appears only around the time the lotus flowers bloom, which is now. (I couldn’t find great information on this, but it seems like the thing we call “lotus root” is really the lotus rhizome, and this thing might actually be part of the root, but I’m not sure at all so don’t hold me to that.)

Lotus Shoot

All manner of rice and beans are also available at this market. Rows of bags and stacks of sacks offer whatever legume or grain your heart desires.

Rice, Grains, Beans

You can also find all sorts of noodles. A Shanghainese special is noodles made from rice and green beans, so some have a light green color.

Noodles

How about some spice and seasonings? Fresh ginger is available year round, and vendors place fans directly on piles of ginger to dry them out and keep them from molding in the humidity. You can see huge bags of peeled garlic cloves for sale too.

Ginger

Chili peppers are ground and sorted to varying consistency and size, per the customer’s request.

Chili Peppers

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wet Market without some meat, fish, and other interesting delicacies. If you are squeamish about meat and butchery, now might be a good time to scroll to the end. I’ll start with something reasonably tame, sides of pork on big iron hooks. You can see the marbled belly pieces, ready for making bacon, on the left.

Sides of Pork

If you want a century egg, ask the vendor to rinse off the ash, clay, lime, and mud mixture so you can break into that pungent dark green yolk. (I was too wimpy to try one!)

Century Eggs

Fresh frogs, snakes, and eels are on display; make a purchase and they’ll be butchered for you to order. (The frogs are in the mesh bag so they don’t jump away, and the snakes are tied up in the green bag, thank goodness.)

Frogs, Snakes and Eels

If you’re not quite up to eel or frog just yet, you can try beltfish, a popular Chinese seafood staple.

Belt Fish

If you’re after hens or roosters, you can peruse the quality of the show bird on top of the cage before picking one out to be beheaded for your soup pot.

Rooster

But good luck getting this teenager’s attention to skin you a fresh quail–he seems pretty engaged in his video game!

Quail Seller

Getting the purchases back to your home or restaurant means loading up your bicycle cart, scooter, or rickshaw.

Bicycle Cart

If you’ve left your scooter for too long, you might find one of the many alley cats that roams the market seeking scraps has taken over.

Cat on Scooter

Market work can be exhausting. Sometimes you just need a break from selling jellyfish all day.

Napping Woman

If you’re in Shanghai and you’d like to visit the market: contact Janny at Shanghai Pathways.

Would you like to share your farmers market with Summer Tomato readers? Find out more.

Omaha Farmers Market

Before we get started I wanted to let you know that we had another Farmers Market Boot Camp this weekend, and once again it was amazing. I scheduled two more classes on August 13, one at 8am and one at 10:15am. You can sign up here.

Kristin DeKay is co-owner of Image Made, an Omaha based web design company. She enjoys cooking, gardening, photography, and much more, which she writes about on her blog Everyday Potential.

Farmers Market: Omaha

by Kristin DeKay

Omaha’s largest farmer’s market is located in the Old Market. According to their website, the market traces its roots back to the turn of the century. Farmers, residents, and grocers would come together on the corner of 11th & Jackson to sell veggies, produce, jams, honey, and the like. The market continued in this fashion until 1964. Thirty years later, in 1994, the market was revived, and today continues to serve the Omaha community with access to beautiful farm-fresh goods.

Purple Broccoli

I went to the market around 9:30am (It was already approaching 90 degrees!) with my mother-in-law, who was on the lookout for kohlrabi and some bean sprouts. I was just planning to browse and pick up whatever looked good at the moment.

Swiss Chard

The first thing we found was some beautiful kohlrabi. I’d never eaten this before, but my mother-in-law insisted it was great, so I bought one. If you’ve never tried it before, I highly suggest it! It looks a little intimidating to peel and slice, but I assure you, its easier than it looks! Its taste is very neutral, and the consistency is nice and crisp. It’s perfect raw, in a salad, or lightly sautéed for a stir fry.

Kohlrabi

I spotted some bright-colored Swiss chard at the next booth, as well as a pile of yellow squash and zucchini. My dad lives in a small town, and always jokes, ”The only time anyone in town locks their car doors is when zucchini are in season. You might end up with a huge box of it in your back seat!” We had plans to grill some steaks the coming week, so I picked up some to skewer on the grill.

Summer Squash

I’ve always admired beets. They are so pretty and uniquely shaped. I’ve never actually tried fresh beets—I’ve only had the canned variety and didn’t like them. I’m making it a goal of mine to try as many kinds of veggies I can find, even those I’ve told myself I don’t like. Maybe when I’m feeling brave…

Beets

The next booth was full of Asian veggies—baby bok choy, Chinese spinach, and Thai eggplant.

Baby bok choy

I’d never seen Thai eggplant before, it’s about the size of a golf ball and is green with white stripes. They remind me of miniature watermelons. Apparently, they are commonly used in curry dishes, though in the U.S., the large purple eggplant is generally substituted.

Thai eggplant

I passed by a vibrant assortment of white and red radishes, and rhubarb.

Radishes, Rhubarb

I always stop by the Razee’s Berry Farm Booth. In addition to berries, they grow over 92 different varieties of garlic. I always buy some, their garlic is a must-have. I bought three varieties: Nootka Rose, Ontario Giant, and my favorite, Transylvania.

Garlic

On our quest for sprouts, I happened to notice these little guys. They are called patty pan squash, also known as scallop squash. They are so adorable! I did a little research and found that they are one of the first squashes domesticated by the Native Americans before the English settlers came to America. These particular squashes only measured about 2 inches in diameter.

Patty Pan Squash

I love seeing common vegetables in bright colors.

Colorful Carrots

I purchased a savoy cabbage to split with my mother-in-law (they are so big!). I like to throw cabbage in with my salad. I prefer it raw instead of cooked.

Savoy Cabbage

There were beans, beans, and more beans at the market Saturday.

Burgandy Bush Beans, Wax Beans

These beautiful purple onions are sold by Rhizoshpere Farms. They are just a tad sweeter than green onions.

Purple Onion

I don’t usually purchase herbs (I grow my own), but I had to stop and admire this Thai basil.

Thai Basil

As we were heading back to the car, we found them. Squeaky Green Organics, a family run farm located about 30 minutes from Omaha, had a booth with all kinds of sprouts. Bean sprouts, sunflower sprouts, pea tendrils, and a bunch of other varieties!

Pea Tendrils, Sunflower Sprouts

My purchases:

• Baby Bok Choy
• Savoy Cabbage
• Purple Onion
• Kohlrabi
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Cucumber
• Sprouts

Kohlrabi

Carol Matasci is originally from Hawaii, but has been living in Perth, Western Australia for a year and a half. She’s an engineer who loves food and farmers markets.

Farmers Market Update: Perth, Australia

by Carol Matasci

The Subiaco Farmers Market is held on the local primary school grounds every Saturday morning and has become a bit of a ritual for us. All produce comes from Western Australia, with an emphasis on those who produce what they sell and on organic and ethical production. I get excited to see people getting closer to where their food comes from, especially young children.

Subiaco Farmers Market

The market is always bustling with families, people of all ages, and their furry companions. Farmers and vendors sell the freshest fruits and vegetables, ethically raised meats, seafood, honey, olive oil, cheese, eggs, and a variety of cooked foods and treats. I love to get breakfast at the market and listen to the live music.

Alice’s stall and her creations

This week I indulged in some stewed apples topped with muesli, yogurt, and honey from Alice Duzevich of Food Well Thought. Alice is passionate about fresh foods made with whole food ingredients that have been minimally processed. She let me taste biscotti she made with kaffir lime leaves from Myaravale Farm a few stalls down. Her foods are so creative and her flavor pairings are inspiring.

Rhubarb

It’s the middle of winter here in Australia, and although I envy those of you in the northern hemisphere with your peaches and tomatoes, I can’t be too upset with the variety that is still available in Perth. Rhubarb is in season almost all year here, and the ruby red stalks look (and taste) so happy despite the cooler weather.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are also in season all year here. Fresh Mushrooms is here every week with button and portobello mushrooms from Casuarina, Western Australia peeking out of their brown paper bags. Their flavor is hard to resist, and I’ve never found supermarket mushrooms that compare.

Apples

Apples, pears and citrus are at their peak this time of year. We picked up a bag of oranges, and I have an Alice Waters recipe for an orange and olive salad in mind. I also stopped by Alive Juice for some freshly squeezed orange juice slushy. This week, they had juice from Valencia oranges. Alive Juice uses only fresh oranges, not ones that have been stored. They will be squeezing more Navel oranges in the coming weeks as those come into season.

Lemonades

Passing by the Myaravale Farm stall, I tasted their lemonades. A cross between an orange and a lemon, the lemonades look like lemons but are sweeter and less acidic. The lemonade trees at Myaravale Farm in Keysbrook, Western Australia are still young, so the crop is small. I couldn’t resist taking a bag of them home with me.

Beets

I like to buy a new vegetable or fruit every time I go to the farmers market. Past experiments have included rhubarb, fennel, and broccoflower. This week I picked up a few beets, which I have very little experience with. Next week I think I’ll try kohlrabi. Does anyone have any inspired, wintry recipe suggestions for either?

Broccoli

This broccoli is always delicious simply sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper, and freshly squeezed lemon.

Lilies

Photo:  Lilies

Caption:  Valley Flower Farm Lilies

My sweet boyfriend buys me lilies from Valley Flower Farm every other week because he knows how much I enjoy them. Valley Flower Farm could make more money if their flowers weren’t so fresh: one bunch lasts a full two weeks, which is a prime example of the quality you find at a farmers market.

There was also a new stall this week selling blueberries and blueberry plants – I briefly considered buying a plant, but I’m a little intimidated. It looks like the kind of plant I could kill, and I take it personally when my plants die. I think for now I will focus on seeing the plants I already have through the winter, but I might get up the courage to grow blueberries in a few weeks.

Today’s purchases:

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Apples (Lady Williams, Pink Lady, Granny Smith)
• Navel oranges
• Lemonades (Myaravale)
• Avocadoes
• Garlic
• Snow peas
• Roasted carrot, cashew, and mint dip (Food Well Thought)

Green Zebra Tomatos

This weekend marked the first ever Summer Tomato Farmers Market Boot Camp! A small group of people met up with me at the farmers market for a tour and lessons on how to tackle shopping when overwhelmed with awesomeness.

First Farmers Market Boot Camp

I had such a good time with the class that I scheduled another one in two weeks, and I expect to be doing more throughout the summer. If you’re in San Francisco for one of them I’d love to meet you.

Dirty Girl Strawberries

We went a little nuts today, I’ll admit. I got so excited explaining to the group how good everything is I bought way more stuff than I normally do. I don’t regret a bit of it, and I’ll certainly eat well this week, but if you compare today’s shopping list (below) with previous weeks you’ll see what I mean. It was amazing.

Tokyo Turnips

SF has officially migrated to summer. The stone fruits (those with pits like cherries, plums, peaches, etc.) are out of control delicious right now. At the sampling dishes we all had the same experience: 1) Gently choose fruit piece with tongs, 2) place fruit in mouth, 3) moment of silence, 4) “Oh my god. I have to buy those.” Today it was the yummy rosa pluots that had us all hypnotized.

Yummy Rosa Pluots

Fruit is always spectacular, but for my day-to-day cooking I’m most excited about all the fresh greens, vegetables and herbs.

Lemon Cucumbers

I’ve been making the best salads with radishes, turnips, carrots, cucumbers and other bits of deliciousness.

Summer Tomatoes

Today I even got some green zebra heirloom tomatoes (top) to add to the salad mix.

Salad Fixins

The shear volume of herbs is also incredible. Today we found not one, not two, but four different varietals of basil. There was sweet Italian basil, Thai basil, purple basil and lemon basil. Who knew?

Lemon Basil

I also found chervil at the market today, an herb I’ve read about but never tried (pics weren’t that great). Any serving suggests are welcome.

Purple Basil

Other summer vegetables are also starting to appear. For the past few weeks I haven’t been able to get enough summer squash. The yellow and green zephyr squash I’ve been getting are so good when cooked with eggs I sometimes mistake it for cheese. I know it sounds weird, but it’s something about the chewy texture and earthy, salty, sweet texture that puts the zucchini I grew up eating to shame. These days you might be lucky enough to find squash with their blossoms still attached.

Zucchini Flowers

I was excited to see yellow wax and green beans this week, they always look so inviting it’s almost impossible to resist digging your hand into the basket and grabbing some to take home.

Yellow and Green Beans

Oh yeah, and I discovered a variety of kale today I’d never heard of before. Anyone familiar with spigariello kale? I didn’t have room for it in my bag this week, but I’ll probably pick some up next time I see it.

Spigariello Kale

Every week I see more varieties of peppers, which makes me ecstatic. Peppers might be my favorite summer treat. These padrons are a little ripe for my taste (they’re best when dark green), but they sure look pretty.

Padrons

I also saw corn for the first time this week, and I went ahead and grabbed an ear, just in case. I’m thinking I’m going to throw it in a stir fry with peppers, beans, squash, cilantro and tomatoes. Yum.

First White Corn

I saw okra too, but I did manage to restrain myself from this one. Next week.

Okra

Did I mention that the flowers are beautiful too? I love this time of year.

Sunflower

Today’s purchases (~$55):

• Summer squash (Lucero Organic Farms)
• Italian basil (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Green shallots (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Broccoli (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Tokyo turnips (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Strawberries (Dirty Girl Produce)
• Collards (Green Gulch Farm)
• Tea bouquet (Green Gulch Farm)
• Green beans (Catalán Family Farm)
• White corn (G&S Farms)
• Blue berries (Triple Delight Blueberries)
• Salad greens (County Line Harvest)
• Cioggia beets (County Line Harvest)
• Dill (County Line Harvest)
• Chervil (Star Route Farms)
• Italian garlic (Star Route Farms)
• Breakfast radishes (Star Route Farms)
• Yummy rosa pluots (Kashiwase Farms)
• Green zebra heirloom tomatoes (Bruins Farms)
• Eureka lemon (Brokaw Nursery)
• Sea beans (Far West Fungi)

What did you find at the market this week?

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)