Well, to begin with, it was a rainy, rainy early morning. And cold. Well, for June. (Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the low 90s. I prefer today's high 50s and rain, actually.)
But Julia and I set out with our raincoats and umbrellas because that's the kind of hardy, fearless chicks we are.
We reached Goodard State Park Farmers' Market a little after they opened at nine. There were maybe 7 vendors there, with the truck from Palmieri's Bakery pulling in just ahead of us. I made sure we dawdled long enough for them to set up, so we could get some bread.
Julia picked out a plain bagel for herself (it was our last stop, and this was for the ride), and a raspberry danish for Alex. I picked out a couple of plain long Italian loaves...
And a huge multigrain loaf (part of which was already gone when I shot the picture, sure don't know how that happened...heh heh heh)
But I should back up a bit.
We only said hi to the man who sells the lobsters - can't do that EVERY week - and told him we enjoyed the lobsters we'd bought last week.
We did stop at the Ledge Ends Produce booth for two pints of strawberries,
a bag of baby spinach,
a dozen eggs,
and a "Pretty in Purple" hot pepper plant.
I figured it would be fun to see what these peppers are like. We're already growning jalapenos, cayenne, a couple of varieties of habanero, and...oh, yeah, poblanos. But nothing purple, that I'm aware of.
We also meandered across the mud to the Cedar Edge Farm (yes, I know, we were "livin' on the edge" this morning. hahaha. sorry.) booth and got two huge bunches of greens - mibuna and mizuna.
Mibuna (the one on the left) is a Japanese green that tastes like a mild arugula - it has a faint mustardy flavor, but isn't as strong as arugula or the even sharper flavored mustard greens.
Mizuna (the one on the right), is also Japanese and categorized as a mustard green, although its flavor is mild and sweet, more like a lettuce than a mustard green in flavor.
I couldn't decide which I wanted, so I got both. And no, I don't know what I'm going to do with them - yet - but when I've sorted that out, I'll let you know. I figure at the very least I can make a great salad with the baby spinach, mibuna, mizuna, the remaining few garlic scallions I got last Friday, some green and red lettuces from our garden (not that we have a lot yet) and some fresh herbs...some kind of cheese...maybe leftover grilled halibut (if there is any) after tomorrow night...oh, the possibilities.
And as for the rest - well, the eggs will be eaten right up by all of us in relatively short order - most likely for breakfasts this weekend - over easy.
And the strawberries? If my kids don't get to them first, then I plan to make my Tuesdays With Dorie assignment with them for dessert tomorrow night. My sister's kids are staying over, and I figure that's as good an occasion as any!
Even though there weren't as many booths this morning, the season is still moving forward, and so there was a greater variety of produce to choose from. I look forward to next week. And the week after that.
As far as Julia was concerned, though, I don't think it was such a success. Only one dog in attendance. And for some reason Julia didn't even want to pet him. She kept saying she did, but then she'd shy away.
She cheered up once she'd picked out a bagel, though....
The Pretty in Purple peppers are very ornamental! They are small and turn red when they are ripe. Also extremely hot! hot! hot!
Posted by: Barbara A. | June 06, 2008 at 07:13 PM
I love it! Everything is so beautiful. I took similar photos to capture my haul recently too. Farmers markets simply rock!
Posted by: food librarian | June 06, 2008 at 07:56 PM
Barbara A. - thanks! We'd had other hot little ornamental peppers several years ago, but haven't had these yet. The hotter the better!
Food Librarian - I know - the Farmers Market is the highlight of my week, food-wise. I'll have to go see what you got!
Posted by: Jayne | June 07, 2008 at 08:04 AM