May 3, 2011 by Christine
I went to my first Farmer's Market of the season tonight and might have gone a little overboard...
I purchased a whole lot of food. Lots of it is green. I'm excited! But can I admit to you, also a little nervous? Now I have to put my money where my mouth is (literally!) and figure out how to fix all this food to feed my family.
Let's scan through what I came home with today, shall we?
Plants to grow and love and provide me with fresh food as the season progresses: Basil in the front. I love basil a whole lot. Really looking forward to some more basil tomato mozzarella sandwiches. Also bought some parsley and oregano. Then the guy that I bought the parsley and oregano from threw in the kale starters for free. Not sure about growing kale, but I'll try not to kill it.
Next up: green stuff. A type of lettuce that I don't recall the name of, mixed greens, and cilantro.
Onions... and here is where I get to be embarrassed. I didn't remember the name of this veggie after the farmer told me twice. All three of us sampled the purple one and really enjoyed it, so it should be tasty again. After going back to the farmer's website, I am proud to announce that flanking the onions you see green and purple kohlrabi. Now if I can only remember that name for next week. Maybe if I repeat it again and again. Kohlrabi! Kohlrabi! Kohlrabi!
Next up: more underground foods! Green onions, turnips, and beets. I had some of the green onion in an omelette tonight, and Micah actually had beet greens on a taco he made. Verdict from both of us: delicious!
And some more yummy food: cluster of mint, two of the three tomatoes I purchased (one was already eaten!), asparagus, multi-grain bread, and cherry-rhubarb jam.
And my final pic of the night. I bought this cherry tomato hanging basket. I LOVE this idea. If it works out this summer, I'm hoping I can do my own next year. Since we have a high deer population in our neighborhood, having a proper garden isn't really an option. But if I treat this tomato plant right it should give me some sweet little tomatoes this season. Love when something is pretty and functional. :)
So that's what I got at the farmer's market. It's a lot! I mentioned in my last post that I'm joining two CSA's. CSA's (Community-Supported Agriculture) are an agreement between the farmer and the buyer. Basically, I pay upfront, and then throughout the season I get delicious food. Micah suggests: It's like a magazine subscription for food.
The produce one began this week, and included the lettuce(s), cilantro, kohlrabi, green onions, turnips, and beets. I met and spoke with the guy from the meat CSA, which will begin in two weeks.
Phew. Lots to do, lots to think about, lots of recipes to scour. I'm hoping to report back with our meal plans for this week tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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PS- tell us what you do with the kohlrabi. Last year we got some in our CSA and all we could figure out was to grate it over salads and such... Crazy looking vegetable:)