Farmers Markets

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itsrebec
itsrebec Posts: 38
in Food and Nutrition
I adore farmers markets!

I don't enjoy cooking. During the school year, my husband and I switch off every other day, three days each (and go out to eat on Fridays). Because I'm off all summer and he still works, I feel that the responsibility falls on me, even though I hate it. I have a million food intolerances, so I end up making two separate meals too.

Cook books don't inspire me, though I have a ton of them. Cooking shows are entertainment, not motivators. But I finally stumbled onto the one thing that sort of gets me excited is farmers markets. I don't know what it is about it, but they make me happy. I love the vendors, love the smells, love the people who attend. I find myself buying all sorts of fruits and veggies that I probably would have walked past in a grocery store.

Anyone feel similarly? What's your favorite FM find?
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Replies

  • rivka_m
    rivka_m Posts: 1,007 Member
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    I love my farmer's market! I tend to buy a lot and pig out sat/sun/mon on fruits and veg. My two favorite finds are moonglow pears, tiny and sweet (none this year due to Michigan weather - boo!) and Hubbard squash - so ugly but soooo delicious. I also love that I can find huge carrots (easier to peel) and those tiny flying-saucer shaped pattypan squash. And the apricots (also none this year - boo again) are so much tastier than the ones from the store.
  • Kalynx
    Kalynx Posts: 707 Member
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    I have found the best grocery store ever! Its in Fall Creek WI and sells directly from the farms and all over the country and sometimes from the world..I trust just about everything I buy there. I have blogged about it and posted recipes using their products..I give their handcrafted treats away as small gifts (homemade scented soaps, fudge (turtle caramel chocolate OMG), flavored Amish noodles...sugars, fancy salt, veggies, cheese curds, meats....happy sigh. I just got 100 lbs of fresh tomatoes for $63. :):):)
  • itsrebec
    itsrebec Posts: 38
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    WOW! What a deal!

    I'm surprised more people didn't respond to this post. I guess farmers markets and local produce aren't as popular as I thought! (kinda disappointed about that)

    I wish I enjoyed cooking, but I usually eat my FM kinds right away. I will eat basil and tomatoes every day!
  • littlenoms
    littlenoms Posts: 46
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    I love Farmers Markets. They're my happy place. So much fresh, amazing produce, wonderful growers and low prices.

    This week I spent $22 and got 6 ears of corn, baby red potatoes, green beans, baby carrots (my FAVE!), blueberries, and a huge amount of cherries. I`ve been happily munching this weekend.

    I`ll be sad when fall arrives (probably quite quickly here in Canada!) and all my fresh, local produces goes bye-bye.
  • Ocarina
    Ocarina Posts: 1,550 Member
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    I would love to go to mine but it's downtown in the middle of a crazy city on a Saturday afternoon. Grocery store is MUCH easier sadly.
  • AwesomeSquirrel
    AwesomeSquirrel Posts: 632 Member
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    I love Farmer's Markets too! I get an organic oat blend for porridge and veg. Lately I've been really keen on berries, got about 1kg of raspberries for £5 last week. Most of all I adore the met vendors, I get buffalo mince, venison sausage and I'm looking forward to fall when I can buy mixed game casserole meat cheap. Such a change from the city centre grocery store. I'm even thinking about getting someone's fruit and veg box!
  • fitnessgal1318
    fitnessgal1318 Posts: 70
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    I love my local farmer's market! I go most Saturday mornings and buy so much for so little money...my favorites are always the delicious tomatoes but I also love the cukes, romaine and of course zucchini and summer squash!! I do agree....alot of folks don't take advantage of these markets and I believe if they just went once they would be hooked!
  • wildcelticrose
    wildcelticrose Posts: 40 Member
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    One of the great things about Farmers' Markets in addition to supporting local farms so they can afford to operate rather than being bulldozed to make way for strip malls, warehouses or sub divisions, is that the food is so much more fresh and healthy.

    At real farmers' market, you'll get to meet your farmers; many of them can actually give you great ideas (some even have recipe cards) as to how to prepare your wonderful food and you'll be surrounded by happy, positive people who are interested in healthy living.

    I love my local farmers' market so much, I decided to become its manager :)
  • justaskforbrandy
    justaskforbrandy Posts: 90 Member
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    We go to the farmers market every Saturday!! I LOVE IT! It's like my own little produce heaven, hahaha. I get my bread there, my fruit, veggies, honey and meat! I wish I would have started going way sooner! We've only been going for about 2 months... but now I don't know what I would do if we stopped! We have nicknames for some of our favourite vendors (like the melon man, the meat man, the bread ladies... okay, so they're not very creative haha) and they all recognize my face haha... the bread ladies save a loaf of potato bread for me every weekend!
  • nicoliravioli
    nicoliravioli Posts: 10
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    I have a CSA and I love getting fresh beets and tomatoes! I won't eat tomatoes unless they are fresh from the farm.. I'm a tomato snob ;) haha
  • wildcelticrose
    wildcelticrose Posts: 40 Member
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    Oh, and a GREAT thing about many markets here in WA State...

    We are able to accept EBT cards (food stamps) as well as senior and WIC vouchers, so fresh, local healthy food is available to those who need it most.
  • apriltrainer
    apriltrainer Posts: 732 Member
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    Cheese curds! I just bought some from my local Farmers Market not that long ago. SOOO good. Also bought the best cupcakes I have ever tasted at the Farmers Market and even though I am not vegan..there was a vegan booth with really good vegan dinners.
  • EKarma
    EKarma Posts: 594 Member
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    If you tell yourself that you don't enjoy cooking than you won't enjoy it.. It was like my Economics class. I told myself I hated it, and it was so hard for me.. But as soon as I started thinking that I liked economics, I started enjoying it more. Same goes for working out.. When I started doing this I hated working out and it was hard to work out.. But I started making myself think about all the good of working out and telling myself that I really do like it, and then I do like it.

    Some great cooking websites are skinnytaste.com and theyummylife.com I find so many good and easy recipes on there. It really makes cooking enjoyable.
  • riccoismydog
    riccoismydog Posts: 320 Member
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    I love my farmers market. We just moved and the one in our new town is sooo big! I just wish they had more organic. Sometimes the vendors tell me, well we don't spray too much. Lol. Okay then. I have lucked out and found some great organic meat, some lovely carrots and my husband is now using agave instead of sugar. So definitely it does encourage better eating. Sometimes the prices are great. Sometimes not so much.
  • jo3y20
    jo3y20 Posts: 89 Member
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    I have LOVED LOVED LOVED our FM. I've actually been going to 2 different ones whenever I get a chance to go. I can already see that the produce is starting to dwindle :cry: :cry:

    I've bought fresh beets (I love fresh beets), yellow squash, tomatoes, corn, red potatoes, red peppers, onions, lettuce, blackberries, blueberries (ate these in my oatmeal all summer) , peaches, watermelon.

    I started roasting a lot of the veggies and am in love with them. Everything tastes so much better.

    With all this lovely produce we've eaten a lot of veggies this summer. I don't know what we will eat this winter. :ohwell:
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
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    I hit the FM almost every weekend, missed it this weekend as there were others things going on in the area and too many ppl and no parking to be had,
    I've spent the better part of the summer restocking the freezer for the winter with all kinds of fruits and vegetables

    Kohlrabi was a new item for me, weirdest vegetable I have ever encountered, the taste was between a broccolli and cabbage but if you painted a face on it it looked like Shrek! did manage to grab a few extras for the freezer before they were out of season
    Golden beets were another good find, roasted on the grill or oven..a new favorite.

    Beets, zucchini, squashes, beans,cabbage, berries, tomatoes, peaches, melons, had to steer away from the Amish girls and their dessert tent they do like their sugar and lots of it but the raisin puffs are to die for, maybe before the end of the season I will treat myself
  • strongandhealthy78
    strongandhealthy78 Posts: 90 Member
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    Holy Moly!!
    You are amazing!

    That IS a fantastic deal for tomatoes!

    ----

    I love farmer's markets. The place I moved to, has one two blocks away! Shout out to Hillcrest in San Diego http://www.yelp.com/biz/hillcrest-farmers-market-san-diego !!
    I also really liked the ones I had access to when I lived in Los Angeles. They have this place called the farmer's kitchen which makes food / it's a restaurant out of all of its market goodies.http://www.hollywoodfarmerskitchen.org/ It also helps keep me inspired.
    My fav market in the Bay Area was the one in Oakland - Temescal. I love its vibrancy and its happy boy's greens http://www.happyboyfarms.com/ and lovely fruit at twin girls' farms http://cuesa.org/farm/twin-girls-farm. I love getting to know the farmers!

    I used to be part of a CSA and they sent out recipes with their box of the week. In Iowa, here is my fav organic farm / CSA http://genuinefauxfarm.com/ ) Here is my fav Bay Area one ( http://eatwell.com/ recipes below) and my fav San Diego one (http://www.suziesfarm.com/index.php?/site/comments/suzies_csa_box_contents_august_13_-_19/ recipes are on the left/bottom).

    I'm a sucker for organic foods so I only go to those stalls. I also really like cooking from Aarti Party's recipes/blog/show. I can usually find something yummy there. She makes this killer (in a good way) kale salad with mango that just makes me happy. Find it at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/massaged-kale-salad-recipe/index.html I also really like salads like this one similar to http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/watermelon-salad-with-feta-and-mint/ . They work well for me - as a vegetarian.

    Feel free to friend me for more suggestions!
    All the best,
    A
    :flowerforyou:
    I have found the best grocery store ever! Its in Fall Creek WI and sells directly from the farms and all over the country and sometimes from the world..I trust just about everything I buy there. I have blogged about it and posted recipes using their products..I give their handcrafted treats away as small gifts (homemade scented soaps, fudge (turtle caramel chocolate OMG), flavored Amish noodles...sugars, fancy salt, veggies, cheese curds, meats....happy sigh. I just got 100 lbs of fresh tomatoes for $63. :):):)
  • ladytinkerbell99
    ladytinkerbell99 Posts: 970 Member
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    I love going to Farmers Markets and I also support Farmers in my community - I think it is the best thing you can do for your community. It does not matter where you live in the world. Supporting your community, always helps. :drinker:

    Also, I forgot to add - it is a great date idea!!!
  • llstacy
    llstacy Posts: 91 Member
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    I don't even know where a farmers market it is but I need to find one. It sounds like the only place you can buy real food.
  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
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    I don't even know where a farmers market it is but I need to find one. It sounds like the only place you can buy real food.

    If you are in the US you can put in your zipcode and find one close by

    http://www.localharvest.org/

    this time of year they popup just about anywhere..mine is held in a City Hall parking lot

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