Farmers' Market Failure

[dawn_felagund]

Saturday is Scavenging Day in the House of Felagund, i.e., Bobby and I get our food for the week. We start out by going to the farmers' market, if it's open, and then to the farm where we get our animal products, filling in at the grocery store, Shrewsbury market, and the bison farm as needed. There are two farmers' markets in Westminster. One is held outdoors in one of the town parking lots, about ten minutes from our house. The second is held indoors at the Ag Center on the other side of town, about twenty minutes from home. We've always gone to the first one, the parking-lot market. We have been able to get everything that we need there and, by now, we know a lot of the farmers there that we deal with regularly. However, at Baronial Birthday this year, I noticed that the Tea Guy had a flier for the other Westminster farmers' market, and I asked, and he said that he would be occasionally selling there this year. I mentioned that we had not been to that one because we went to the parking-lot market, and he said that we were missing out; the market in the Ag Center was much bigger and better.

Bobby and I went to the parking-lot market this morning; I told him that, even if the Ag Center market is bigger and better, we know a lot of the people at the parking-lot market and they do nice things for us like throw in extras when the produce is small or they need to get rid of something, so I'd like to continue giving them our business. We bought enough today that one of the farmers asked us if we wanted a flat to carry it all and, when we laughed, said, "I'm serious! I'll give you a flat if it will make it easier." We got it all into our bag, though. Barely.

Then we headed over to the Ag Center market. And were terribly disappointed! It was much bigger--the Ag Center is a huge facility, and they had tables from end to end--but hardly anyone was selling produce! I saw some greens, spring onions, and a couple of tomatoes, and that was it. Most people were selling crafts or baked goods. We kept going from room to room, thinking, "This will be the room with the produce," and found more chocolate chip cookies and afghans and strawberry preserves.

Not that I mean to knock that stuff, but it really isn't what Bobby and I are interested in. And the Tea Guy wasn't there either.

After farmers' market, we drove out to Monkton to have lunch at the vegetarian cafe and walk a section of the North Central Railroad (NCR) Trail. The NCR trail is a "rail trail," meaning that it was converted from an unused railroad. It's flat, so it's easy, and meanders alongside the Gunpowder River, so it's pretty. We went out from Monkton to the Little Gunpowder bridge and back. On our way back, we were both really thirsty, and my feet were starting to get tired. I was thinking, "Damn, I am out of shape if I'm getting tired from the NCR!" When we got home and I checked a trail map, I realized why--we wanted to do only a couple miles and ended up doing around seven!

It's pretty hot today. It's 90F/32C at the house, which is unusually warm. I can only imagine what it's like in Baltimore right now. Bobby is currently in the "air conditioned" part of the house, i.e., the basement. (We haven't put the AC units in yet. Bobby's been very brave about sticking out the few hot days we've had. I think that I should have been born in the tropics anyway, so I'm quite content right now.)

I'm also trying a new ice cream recipe today: cherry fudge swirl. I don't have a recipe; this one is straight out of the wildland that is my head. The cherries are doing their thing in sugar right now. Hopefully, it will turn out well.

Comments

[dreamflower]

It would be very disappointing to go looking for produce and finding everything but!

Cherry fudge swirl-- ooh, that sounds scrumptious!

[dawn_felagund]

We'll see how it turns out! I haven't had a complete ice cream flop in a while, which either means I'm starting to learn what I'm doing or coming due for one! ;)

[lilith-lessfair.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's not terribly unusual at all. I've been disappointed at farmers' markets in many places where I expected to find produce and found candles, incense, and jewelry instead. As you said, none of this is bad, simply not what I wanted.

It's partly why I order from a co-op for most of our produce instead.

[dawn_felagund]

I didn't see incense but ... jewelry? Check. Candles?? (Beeswax but still.) Check.

We were hoping to do a CSA this year because we would easily use a whole box of produce in a week. But money was thin at the time, and even a half-share was beyond us, so that's yet another thing to look forward to once I'm done with school and we ain't so po' anymore. :)

[lilith-lessfair.livejournal.com]

We were lucky with our first co-op. At the time, we really didn't have much money to spare at all, but the farmers had made an arrangement where they sold the extra produce, when they had it, so we were able to buy shares of the crop when we were able but didn't have to worry about it when we couldn't. You only needed to buy as much as you could afford too. It worked well, but they had some sponsorship from Tulane, so that helped.

[lady-roisin.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry the big farmers market was disappointing. :-( But something will soon be on its way to you from the farmer's market here that might cheer you (no, it's not produce, sorry! And no it's not cookies, afghans, or tea.)

[dawn_felagund]

Well, we still have our old familiar market! :) And we don't have to drive an extra ten minutes to get there!

I will be sending you something this week as well. ;)

[lady-roisin.livejournal.com]

Oooo niffty! The one by my in laws is very smal, but nice, lots of produce, fresh flowers, ect. Very yummy crepes. I would send you some crepes with fresh fruit, but I don't know if they would make it to you in the same yummy condition, lol!

[dawn_felagund]

Yeah, I think that would pose the same challenges that I find when trying to mail my ice cream to friends who want to try it! ;)

[independence1776]

Oh, that's terrible about the second farmers' market. We have one near our house, and we're even getting fresh eggs there this year.

That trail sounds fun. :)

(I'll be answering your questions tomorrow. Haven't forgotten.)

[dawn_felagund]

No worries and no hurries! :) I haven't even finished writing questions for everyone who requested them so ... ._.

Fresh eggs are the best! We currently get ours from a local farm, but we'll be getting our own chickens soon!

[samtyr.livejournal.com]

The farmers market isn't really going here yet. But so far they pretty much focus on veggies, honey, eggs and misc. baked goods.

[dawn_felagund]

Now that's more like a farmers' market! :)

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Hmmmmmm icecream!

Hubby has been contemplating to get ac for his room, since when such warmth period hits us, it is extremely clammy. The downsides so far are the energy costs and well, he has to eave his office at a certain moment, so yeah. Hitting that warm wall and moisty air is really no fun. The best tactic is to adjust to the weather, take it easy and do your chores either early in the morning or late at night. Or stick your feet in the kiddie pool when your kids are splashing around :D That always worked for me after the insane summers we had the past years (weeks 90F to above 100F).

[dawn_felagund]

This reminds me of the differences between where most of my flist lives in Europe and the U.S.! :D In most parts of Maryland, it is unheard of to not have air conditioning, and most houses have central air that can cool the whole house at the click of a button. Where we live, fewer people use AC and, of those who do, most people use window units versus central air because it doesn't get as hot here as it does in central Maryland, nor as humid. Throughout July and August in Baltimore, temperatures in the mid-90s F are pretty normal and, with humidity taken into account, the heat index frequently spikes over 100F.

I remember when my sister moved to England, many people were amazed that almost no one had AC over there. And I remember when Europe started getting hit by heat waves a lot like what we have in Baltimore, a lot of people behaving like typical ignorant United Statians who didn't know better scoffed at the "wimpy Europeans who couldn't take the heat." Yeah, it's easy to "take the heat" when you walk from a climate-controlled house to a climate-controlled car to a climate-controlled shopping mall!

We are lucky here because it doesn't get terribly hot, and I've learned to adapt. I've also found that being in AC all of the time also makes the heat feel worse when you do have to deal with it. At the WAU, I never put my AC on, and temps would get high in my office, but it trained me to ignore it. And then, when you walk into a shop that has AC, it feels so good, a real treat! :)

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

The larger market doesn't sound like ti should even be called a farmers market. It's more like a craft fair.

I've missed our local farmer's market three weeks running now, which is very frustrating! It's by far the best place to get really fresh produce, plus they have several vendors who sell humanely-raised meat and eggs. If only the market met more than once a week for half a day...

[dawn_felagund]

Ours is the same ... well, we have several farmers' markets in our county, but they all meet on Saturday mornings. That's usually a good day for us, but when we're out of town on a Saturday, we're stuck trying to patch together a week's worth of meals with limited access to produce. Recently, though, the local farm where we buy our animal products started carrying produce from another local farm that grows vegetables. That makes it somewhat easier.

Hopefully, as natural, organic, and local foods become more popular, more options will become available.

[ithilwen.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right - I'd definitely buy more locally-grown stuff if it was easier to find it when I actually have the time to go shopping.

We do have a small store in town that just opened recently, which stocks locally-grown produce and meats. i need to check out their hours; it may prove to be a nice alternative to the farmer's market on the weekends when I can't make it to the market in time. But the store's located in a part of town I rarely shop in, so it's easy for me to forget it's there.