Farmers Market Day

Today was another farmers' market day, and this time I didn't have a cold, thank goodness. Today was one of the hottest so far this year, with temperatures in the 90's. There is one lovely shady pedestrian avenue between two buildings at the very entrance to the area used by the farmers' market, and I wish they'd station all the food stalls there. It would be so nice to be able to shop for food in two neat rows of stalls in the shade, and not have to run around in the sun at all. But then, I guess that's just incentive to get to the market as early as possible--to beat the heat.

This week I didn't have to buy any spinach, though I did buy some mixed lettuce. My heirloom 4 seasons lettuce is looking very good and so is my romaine, but they won't be mature for probably about a week. My spinach, however, is going nuts, and the 4 squares of heirloom spinach I planted just this spring is already almost as big as the older spinach in the other bed that was planted late last fall. So I'll have a great spinach harvest for the next little while, but I know it won't last long; the plants in the older bed are already wanting to bolt. We're supposed to drop temperatures about ten degrees or so on Tuesday, with temps in the 70's expected for several days following that, so maybe we'll catch a break and spinach season will be able to hang on for just a bit longer.

Today's biggest finds at the market were the locally-grown, no-pesticides potatoes, which included a nice little bag full and some nice big bakers. I can't remember the exact price, but I thought it was very reasonable. The other prize of note was a bundle of huge green onions for a dollar, and by huge, I mean nearly the size of leeks. I don't think I've ever seen any that large before. I was really glad I brought the mid-sized cooler today, and not the small one. It's finds like these that make you realize the whole local thing is just as worthwhile as they say. You'd never find potatoes or green onions of that size or quality in a big-box grocery, where everything has to be uniform. There was also a lady with heirloom tomato plants, and I was able to get my two Principe Borghese from her. So it was better than a grocery/department store--one stop shopping, but with fresh air and no chemicals. The only thing I needed but couldn't get at the market was some Ball freezer containers for the spinach I'll be blanching and freezing.

In our own garden, I managed to transplant the tomato plants I'd grown from seed. This was one reason I was a little late to market--I actually got up and worked in the garden in the morning. I finished transplanting the last two tomatoes and all the peppers this evening. Just a few more things to get into the ground and then all there'll be to do will be water, weed, and wait.