The market season is winding down here. Only about 5 weeks left I believe. I'm so thankful it's cooler now. We've had a few hot days interspersed between typical Fall weather, but starting Sunday it will stay in the low to mid 60s for the next two weeks with plenty of rain and storms. I helped yet again at the Farmers Market booth. Really, really long days. Takes a lot out of me. This is my account of last Saturday.
It was a cold morning last Saturday. No question it was Fall weather. Such a relief to me. It was additionally nice because they packed us hand warmers. I thought ahead to bring my gloves which is where I put the warmers, in the palms. I showed up representing in my Garden Gangster Hoodie, as well.
We were between "the honey lady" and Alvin, the Amish man from the Amish booth. He brought his daughter this time, mentioning how much she helps him get everything ready to sell. He is a pleasant chatty man who proclaimed his love for early mornings, singing hymns as he unpacked his heirloom tomatoes. Apparently a driver transports him and his produce almost 120 miles each way to this Saturday Market. That means he has to be packing his goods by 3:30-4 am.
The start of the market was actually pretty slow. It was clear why shortly afterward because the news came that the local fall community parade was a street away. That was a little discouraging but ultimately the day worked out about average only with a lot more looky-looes at the end of the day; people who might not have known that there was a farmers market every Saturday. Overall it was a great day. I definitely did better in the cold, but boy it sure is taxing to sell at the farmers markets.
This time I got some good pictures at the beginning of the market before our booth was close to sold out on everything. Here is Sal, "the mushroom man" standing proudly before the display of produce they painstakingly grow.
This week there were Pearl, Blue, King, and Pink oyster mushrooms, Lion's mane and Shitake mushrooms, mushroom grow kits, some organic pasture raised eggs, purple green beans, italian flat roma beans, baby beets, radishes, white turnips, cherry tomatoes, huge zucchini, paste tomatoes, chili peppers, and aquaponically grown lettuce.
Here are some fresh picked pink oyster mushrooms. The ones that when you fry them crispy in unsalted butter or ghee they taste like bacon. Yes, you read that right. They are good cooked in stirfry or soups like other oyster mushrooms, having a earthy mushroom flavor, but you absolutely can mimic the taste of bacon if you fry them in unsalted butter. If you salt before they are crispy they will release their juices and wont get that crunch.
Here is a kit to grow the pink oyster mushrooms. They cultivate their own mushrooms in these sterilized grow bags by mimicking the growing conditions of the mushrooms in the wild.
The purple beans and italian flat roma beans were huge. Each of these baskets weighed aprox 2 pounds. The purple beans are an eye catcher. Most definitely pleasing to the eye. They are a string-less variety which turns green when cooked. The italian flat roma beans are the same type you might have only seen sold in cans in the store. I've never seen anyone else sell them fresh, for sure. Rarely someone walked by who knew what they were. They were always the ones to buy them because they knew how rare they are at the farmers market.
Sometimes he posts signs with cooking suggestions for the items he's selling. This helps curious shoppers think of a way to eat the produce. You might be surprised that people have problems with that, which is why it's quite helpful to show them the way. He had some massively large zucchini for sale. Most of the passersby had never seen such large zukes. Of course, anyone who has grown their own zukes know they can get super large in the span of just a day or two, but a lot of the shoppers like to eat fresh, even though they don't have experience growing their own food. This is why he has the sign with suggestions of how to eat these extra large, some bordering on 5 pounds, zukes.
This is a variety of lettuce called Mischelle (I think). They grow this in the green house in their aquaponics system. It was a gorgeous head of loose leaf lettuce having just a tinge of red on the tips.
Those cherry tomatoes were the most ripe and sweetest I've tasted in recent memory. They were a deeper red than even the radishes. It was like they were infused with sugar with very little acidity. I could have downed a whole pound of them as if they were candy. The baby beets were not such a big hit this time I think because the shoppers are used to seeing them larger in the store. The babies eat well, though. They are sweet, delicate, and make a great size for pickling.
The radishes are one of those items he sells which bring regular customers every week. I'm not a fan of radishes but his regulars say they have almost no heat to them making them a treat to eat raw. The white turnips are also a variety which does not have a hot quality to it. People often mistook them for radishes but they are just a sweet white variety of turnips.
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One of these days I might have to try those oyster mushrooms.
You should! They are great if you like mushrooms. Sorry I'm not around much lately. I dunno I'm just not feeling it lately. Not being a very good friend lately I guess. Sorry I didn't see or reply to your comment sooner. How are you doing @amberyooper?
I just wanted to say lately one more time
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