Veg*n Cooking and Other Random Musings: Weekly Local Booty - Farmer's Market May 9, 2009

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Weekly Local Booty - Farmer's Market May 9, 2009

It was another successful trip to the market. Though sadly, asparagus is on its way out. We had a pretty short season this year as we didn't seem to have much in the way of spring. Our first CSA share also had to be postponed until next weekend due to yet another unusually wet spring here in Mid-Missouri. I have noticed an abundance in mushrooms though, I think some things fare just fine in this type of weather. Anyway, all that aside, we made out really well at the market this weekend.

Check out this week's loot:















Starting from the bottom right: 2 bunches of asparagus, spring onions, cilantro, lemon balm, 4 tomatoes, 1/2 lb. oyster mushrooms (we really like these mushrooms), baby garlic, chard, a head of gorgeous lettuce, 2 bags of baby spinach, and some more penne pasta.

As you can see, the lack of asparagus thwarted my plan to freeze some. Last week the vendors were overloaded with it - it seemed like everyone was selling it. This week there were maybe half a dozen stands that had any. I went for the organic kind. I was especially stoked about the cilantro, chard, spinach, and gorgeous organic tomatoes.

We've already eaten some of our grub, but the rest is destined for some Mexican goodness and I'm thinking a fried rice dish. Those are super yummy and really easy.

We are also planning on getting some stuff in the ground at the community garden sometime this week. It rained today ruining my chances of getting stuff into the ground today as I had hoped, but we'll get it in sometime this week. Then...let the garden updates begin!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Am I the only one who thinks that they are just never long enough?

'Til next time.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Its so interesting how local food works, we are just starting to see asparagus here. I went to the farmers market and saw bunches of it for $4.00 - still too much! It'll come down in price in a few weeks, so waiting it is. Right now we are in cucumbers, lettuces, spring onions, and leeks, with LOTS of plants for sale.
And YES, the weekend seems to fly by way to quickly, even though so much may get accomplished, so much still seems to be on the list.

Catherine Weber said...

I completely agree with you -- the weekends are NEVER long enough! Rats.

Unknown said...

let me tell you... it seemed like every single booth was selling asparagus in IN on saturday. i got 4lbs of the stuff to can. w00t! Bring it!

and its still really cold here. well not really cold, but not warm. about low-mid 60's which feels cold because the damn wind is always blowing. but thank goodness its sunny.

stupid tomatoes.

jessy said...

oh man, that stinks that asparagus is on its way out already! sadface! i never would have thought about more rain = more mushrooms. that’s just too awesome! the oyster mushrooms look so cute, and i love me some swiss chard! hooray for organic tomatoes, and we loooooove baby garlic! we chopped some up last night & used ‘em in our pierogie mix. good call on saving some of your loot for mexican yummies and a super tasty fried rice dish! it’s been too long since we’ve had fried rice – now we may just have to make some! mmmmmmmm! i can’t wait for your garden updates to start again, Jennifer! seeing all the awesomeness you & Brett grow makes me so superhappyfaced! yay!

Bianca said...

Ooh tomatoes already! I'm jealous! As for asparagus, our market hasn't ever had it. I have to buy that in the grocery store (boo!).

Anonymous said...

Weekends are NEVER long enough! They go by way too quickly...

I still cannot get over the fact that you already have tomatoes at your farmers market! That is amazing! I saw asparagus at our farmers market for the first time this weekend, and I was super excited--hopefully our season is just getting started!

Courtney

veggievixen said...

it has been ridiculously wet. my cucumber plants and my spinach plants are pretty unhappy about it :(

great booty! i went to the farmer's market for the first time a week ago and although there wasn't much it made me really excited. apparently strawberries are this weekend here!

DP Nguyen said...

Yum, I love asparagus. It is hard to grow though. We had asparagus in one section of our garden, but the stems were very thin and they didn't do well. I think we put them in partial shade and they need lots of sun.

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Look at all that green, yum!

J said...

Living in a Local Zone - There are such subtle differences and nuances in the growing seasons of places that aren't even very far apart, it is amazing.

That is a bit pricy for the asparagus, I'm sure it will be lower at some point. Though last year, even with their abundance, tomatoes were more expensive than usual and stayed that way (though they were still cheaper than what they pass off as tomatoes at the store).

My list of things to do seems to always get longer, rarely shorter. I am also a Queen of Laziness, so I have a way of being able to overlook things that need to be done as well. ;-)

Catherine - I'm not sure they could be long enough unless there were more days in the weekend than there are in the work week.

Selina - Damn your cool Indiana weather.

That sucks that it is still cold. It is close to 80 here today and a bit on the sticky side. I'm glad pools open soon. This is great weather for peppers, tomatoes, and melons though, so I can't complain too much.

Oh yes, the glorious beautiful red orbs of joy. Don't you wish you lived in Mid-Missouri? ;-)

Jessy - I guess at least we didn't miss the season completely. But I am enjoying the mushrooms due to all the moist weather. They are cute and they are so good, I think they may be fast becoming my favorite mushroom. I'd expect to see a bag of those most weeks they are available.

Isn't the baby garlic awesome? It has such a full flavor but it is more smooth, I love it.

I can't wait for the garden updates either, I am pleased with the transplants progress so far and we are going to get our other stuff and more seeds in the ground at the community garden at some point this week. I think we may break down and get some tomato starts as well since our seedlings are a little behind. We are going to keep these going, but also get some more mature plants as well.

I am excited to see what yummies you and Dan get from your garden this year!

Bianca - I truly was surprised, but pleasantly so, to see them. What, no asparagus?!?! That is such a shame!

Courtney - I could't agree more. I am thinking they should just outlaw working during the summer.

I can't either, it was a shock to see them, I think they got a nice head start in a greenhouse. It is definitely possible to already have production of summer crops already. We had a cayenne plant going inside all winter and it already has a full sized pepper on it. In May no less!

Awesome about the asparagus. Isn't spring wonderful.

Veggie Vixen - I know it has, oh, I bet those plants don't like it at all. We haven't gotten our cukes in the ground yet, but we are growing our spinach in a container on our porch. It has been able to be protected from all the excess moisture.

Oooooh strawberries! You better take advantage of that. I think strawberries will start popping up around here pretty soon. I am going to try to freeze some and make some jam.

DP Nguyen - I do too. I bet it IS hard to grow. Doesn't it have to overwinter like garlic? Until we have some soil of our own, we won't be able to do anything like that sadly.

Melisser - It has certainly been tasty.